Then I had a C-section. I was in a lot of pain and my baby even in the hospital did not want to sleep in his bassinet. The nurses were the only ones that were able to swaddle him and get him to settle down to sleep. As I said the idea of co-sleeping was not what I wanted to do. In my head, I said to myself that I couldn't sleep with my child in the bed. So if Benjy was awake or asleep, I was up. After two days in the hospital, I only had about 7 hrs of sleep. I was run pretty ragged. On my third and last night there, the nurse took him and gave him formula and me a sleeping pill so I could get some much needed rest.
The first few hours home were a whirlwind. I was a bit tired, but couldn't sleep as I now had a newborn to take care off. The first night home, as planned I went to put my child to bed in his crib, turned on the monitor and tried to sleep. He lasted like 20 mins in his crib before he started to cry. I went and comforted him and got him back to sleep and again he woke up. So out to the living room we went. I had a very unrestful sleep with the baby on me as I slept on the couch.
Benjy would sleep for little stints in his playpen bassinet, but not for more than 45 mins to 1hr. He slept best on me, on my chest. This meant I had to sleep on my back, propped up with pillows. I can't say that it was the most comfortable way to have slept, but I was getting rest and Benjy was getting rest. Both of us would wake up rather sore. I do have to say it was funny to wake up to him rooting on my chest. He would sleep for a few hours at a time on me like that.
I moved the pack n play into our room and he would sleep in that for a hour or two ( I found out he was cold from the window he was under). Then my husband and myself switched sides so the playpen was away from the window. He slept slightly longer.
As Benjy started to get older and I got a bit better at nursing, I decided to try nursing laying down. And since that point, I have never looked back. During the day, he nurses regularly ( in my lap on a nursing pillow), but at night he is usually sleeping next to me.
When I got to bed, he has often been asleep for an hour or two. I put him in the pack n play next to me where he will sleep for an hour or two alone. This gives me a bit of time of deep restful sleep. When he wakes up, I take him into to bed with me and nurse him. I often fall asleep with my glasses on and my light still on ( on the lowest setting). Sometimes he will nurse a lot during the night, like right now as it is hot out and he is thirsty, other times he will only wake up once.
My husband has moved into the guest bedroom now to sleep as we have a queen sized bed, but we are not the smallest people either. My husband also sleeps very hard and has rolled onto the cat before. We both think it is best that he sleeps elsewhere.
Since we started co-sleeping, we are both getting more sleep. I had read somewhere that if your child was always falling alseep in the car/ stroller that they were overtired and were not getting enough sleep. Let me tell you, in the car he is often looking out the window and in the stroller he is usually looking around then too. I will admit that the sleep I get with him in the bed is not always the best as I don't totally relax, but the important thing is that we are both getting the rest that we need.
He really likes to cuddle up next to me. A few times I have tried to put him on the other side of the bed, but within a few minutes he will begin to search with his arms for me.
I do not want to co-sleep forever as I would like my husband to come back into our bed, but for now it is what works to help us ( all three of us) get the rest that we need.
yy
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