Four in the morning,

[Carrie]

Cmom, your method sounds really great!

[prose]

Anna comes to bed with us if she is inconsolable, which isn't very often... Maybe once every few weeks. Otherwise I can normally let her wake up, cry a bit, and then she drifts back to sleep.

I don't think I would punish her for waking up. It isn't her fault. If someone punished me everytime I woke up (especially since I have been pregnant), I would certainly not like it.

Besides, I find it comforting to cuddle with her every so often. She is like a really warm, really big teddy bear

[IcePrincessKRS]

Oh, we don't punish Adrienne for waking up. Sometimes we have to punish her for not going to bed in the first place and repeated getting out of bed. She gets warned, and then if the bad behavior continues she gets a spank. I don't mind the cuddles and snuggles before bed, its when she KNOWS she is supposed to be in bed and keeps getting up. She won't cry and then fall back to sleep, I have to get her a drink or she will climb all over me, scream like a banshee, or cry till she throws up (which is why I never tried the "cry it out" method).

[Christie_M]

My sister can't go to sleep unless she has the raido on...then she'll fall asleep. but I can't sleep because of the reason in the other post! other times she is too scared to sleep, so I will give her my hand and she will fall asleep-usually very fast.

[homeschoolmom]

And while we're on the subject.... Why in the world do children insist on sleeping crosswise on the bed? No matter how many times I move them, they always go back to sticking their feet in my back... Good thing they aren't very tall.

[marielapin]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Aug 18 2005, 12:45 PM']And while we're on the subject.... Why in the world do children insist on sleeping crosswise on the bed? No matter how many times I move them, they always go back to sticking their feet in my back... Good thing they aren't very tall.
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Dominic does the same thing.

I was against sleeping with my kids at first. Then I had a baby that wouldn't stay asleep. I ended up falling asleep with him and found out it wasn't so bad. In fact, him sleeping with us was the only way WE could get sleep. Dominic wakes up anywhere between 2 and 12 times a night screaming. He never physically wakes up - he is always like sleep walking - it is more like night terrors. I am hoping he will grow out of them. Jared did (and he was worse as an infant).

Dr. Sears advocates the family bed. It has been proven to be very beneficial and if you plan on doing ecological breastfeeding it actually goes right along with it (it is actually one of the "rules").

[prose]

Holy cow!

Does every child do the sideways thing? Anna is exactly the same. In our queen sized bed, my hubby sometimes leaves to sleep on the couch while she kicks me over to the last 4 inches of the bed!!!

Silly kids!

[marielapin]

[quote name='prose' date='Aug 18 2005, 01:54 PM']Holy cow!

Does every child do the sideways thing?  Anna is exactly the same.  In our queen sized bed, my hubby sometimes leaves to sleep on the couch while she kicks me over to the last 4 inches of the bed!!!

Silly kids!
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Dominic will either put his head on my chest or his feet up there. One night I woke up and his head was laying across my neck - that hurt.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='marielapin' date='Aug 18 2005, 03:07 PM']Dominic will either put his head on my chest or his feet up there.  One night I woke up and his head was laying across my neck - that hurt.
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I woke once to discover my then seven year old and my then four year old were snuggled up on either side of me and my arms were completely up over my head, as they had nowhere else to go. Ow.

And yes, they pretty much all like to make Hs out of their parents.

[prose]

I can't imagine never sharing a bed with my kids.

I like the bonding.

[marielapin]

[quote name='prose' date='Aug 18 2005, 03:32 PM']I can't imagine never sharing a bed with my kids. 

I like the bonding. 


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Me too. A friend of mine who doesn't co-sleep has been recently taking naps with her 14 month old. She told me today that she awoke to her baby giving her kisses and how wonderful it was. I told her that was what it was like every morning for me!

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='prose' date='Aug 18 2005, 03:54 PM']Holy cow!

Does every child do the sideways thing?  Anna is exactly the same.  In our queen sized bed, my hubby sometimes leaves to sleep on the couch while she kicks me over to the last 4 inches of the bed!!!

Silly kids!
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Children are not born to sleep alone, so they sleep much better if they have physical contact when sleeping. Thats why the family bed works so well. its natural.

[FlyLikeABird]

Don't know about the bonding thing... I do remember that my mom would wake me up for a potty break (I tended to be a very heavy sleeper) and occasionally I would fall asleep on the toilet.

[jasJis]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Aug 19 2005, 08:42 AM']Children are not born to sleep alone, so they sleep much better if they have physical contact when sleeping. Thats why the family bed works so well. its natural.
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Kids ARE born to sleep alone. We don't need the amount of sleep a child does, while a child NEEDS the sleep to develop properly. Kids MUST learn to relax and becomfortable to fall asleep by themselves. Can you imagine the behavior of a 3 yo who only goes to sleep if somebody lays with them. Either the parent won't ever get anything done, or the kid will become a psycho-rug-rat.

I mean it's nice to hang out and fall asleep together, but it should be the exception, not the rule. We never let our kids regularly sleep with us, but as teens they still like to lay on the couch or in our bed with us to watch tv or read and sometimes sleep half the night. I'm pretty sure we didn't create cold-hearted kids.

[prose]

I think it is important that kids can fall asleep (and stay asleep) on their own also, but every so often it is so nice to cuddle with her!

Anna slept with us until she was about 4 months old, then for about a year she would sleep in her crib for the first half of the night and then come into our bed at like 6 in the morning. That was nice.

Now, she rarely joins us (she is 2 next month).

They sure grow up fast...

[jasJis]

[quote name='prose' date='Aug 19 2005, 11:51 AM']I think it is important that kids can fall asleep (and stay asleep) on their own also, but every so often it is so nice to cuddle with her!

Anna slept with us until she was about 4 months old, then for about a year she would sleep in her crib for the first half of the night and then come into our bed at like 6 in the morning.  That was nice.

Now, she rarely joins us (she is 2 next month).

They sure grow up fast...
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[/quote]Too fast. That's why you need one of those lazyboy rocking chairs. For the longest time, I would occaisionally read with my girls on my lap at bed time and fall asleep with them. I really miss that.