Before we had our first baby, I was open to the idea of a family bed, but I felt that it might not work for us. I figured I would keep an open mind and see what happened. I made sure I got all the trappings of cradle and nursery, because that's what people are supposed to do. I had read all the books, I knew it all ^^
Fast forward to his birth, which was at home, but we transported to the hospital, because he had problems. He ended up spending two weeks in the hospital, where we had a harder time bonding with him. It almost felt like he was the hospital's baby, we had to ask permission for a lot of things I now would just do (yes, we were young, and inexperienced).
When we finally could take him home, I felt I had missed out on soooooooo much with him, that I felt very strongly about keeping him as close to me as possible. Naturally, this included having him close to us at night. I had a hard time envisioning him sleeping in a different room than I was. I wanted to see him, smell him, enjoy him. I wanted to be sure he still was alive. I wanted to be sure he wouldn't spit up and we wouldn't hear. I wanted to nurse him whenever he showed interest (he had a hard time gaining weight). I just wanted to be with him. The nursery was empty, but our bed got fuller and fuller.
Over the years, we got to experience the joys and challenges of sleeping together. The snuggliness of a sleeping baby. Waking up with the toddler's feet in your face. The rich feeling of having a brand new baby in your bed. The 2am throw up parties. The early morning smiles. The middle-of-the-night temper tantrums. We have seen them all.
It has been an awesome experience, I would not change a single thing. After a hard day with a toddler, it is nice to see him asleep and reconnect with him on a very basic level. Yes, sleeping together has been good for us as a family.
The picture is baby Tara, with hubby and Cees, on a camping trip. It is one of my favorite co-sleeping pictures.
Happy Love Thursday!
17 comments:
That is so sweet!
What a great photo... it made me smile and have a wonderful warm feeling inside. It's the perfect sleeping photo. :)
I love love and love this picture.
I guess I already said it to you in my email. LOVE is never enough...
What a beautiful picture!
I've always loved having our girls in bed with us too. The family bed rocks! :)
Tina
Love indeed!
Happy Love Thursday!
What a great picture! Happy Love Thursday and sweet dreams!
Meid, wat een prachtige foto! Technisch sowieso al een hele mooie plaat qua kleur en zo..
Maardan de rust die eruit straalt. En de liefde....
Geweldig! Het maakt me lachen op de vroege morgen!
what a beautiful picture!
There is something very dreamy about this photo...lovely, just lovely!
What a great picture! We too were a co-sleeping family, but now we're in kind of a bind. My kids just won't sleep without one of us. My eldest will be 6 this week, for goodness sakes, and he still won't stay in his bed. And the youngest is 3 and just as dependent as ever. I wouldn't trade the younger co-sleeping years for anything, but I wish we'd come up with a way to get them to sleep in their own room now that they're older. Even my king-sized bed is small for the four of us now! Happy Love Thursday!
such a lovely picture. happy love thursday.
Awww I love it.
We never 'officially' co slept, cept Adam always ends up in our bed anyway...Caity doesn't like it..she prefers her own bed.
But I looooove the snuggles.
Oh this makes me miss cosleeping so much. My girl decided that she was to go "night night" in her own bed at 14 months. I miss her every night. Enjoy this amazing time! THanks for sharing such a sweet photo.
Oh Karen I loved what you said about having that basic time to reconnect with our toddlers after a busy day, sometimes of too many tears and tantrums it is wonderful to see their peaceful sleeping face.
Loved the picture.
gosh that's a sweet photo. i can see why it's your favorite.
happy love thursday!
lovely photo
great photo!
we didn't sleep with the first 3 and did with the last and I like sleeping together better. At least I can sleep a little then!
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