My journey to co-sleeping

I had never planned to cosleep with my child.  I thought for sure he would sleep on me and we might both doze off on the couch, but actually sleeping in bed with my child was not something that I planned on doing.I was just plain uncomfortable with the idea.  A child should sleep in their own bed and that was that.

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.

 













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Wordless Wednesday 7-27-11

More posts coming soon

The life of a new mother is never predictable.  Sometimes their child sleeps well in the evening and other times they don't.  This is one of those times.  In the evening, I have not really had a chance to type with both hands which makes blogging more difficult.  But I do have some how-to's coming including how to make your own car seat cover.  Stay tuned.

Mother- Ease Cloth Diaper Review

I recently won a diaper giveaway from One Smiley Monkey.  I won a diaper set from Mother-Ease

This is the diaper I received  from Mother-Ease. It is a one size diaper in unbleached cotton, a snap in insert and a rikki cover wrap.

I really like the soft feel of the diaper.  It feels very plush.  It washed very easily and although it was not fully dry after a spell in the dryer, it quickly finished drying.

Benjy is 16lbs and easily fits into the diaper on the middle size.  Rather than the traditional way of one size, you fold the front panel depending on the size that you need.   I imagine on a smaller baby it would be quite thick, but probably still quite comfortable.  It was very easy to put on even with my little kicker kicking and hugs Benjy quite nicely.

The Rikki Wrap is sized and made of PUL.  I ordered a large as it goes 20-35lbs and did not want Benjy to size out of the medium which went to 20lbs.   The cover is very nice and has gusseted legs.  The hook and loop on the front is very thick and it grips very nicely.  As you can see even in the large, it is not too big in the waist.  However in the bottom area, there is still lots of room.   

 The big test for me is if the diaper will work overnight.  Benjy is beginning to become quite the heavy wetter at night and by about half way through the night he is leaking out of his diapers.

I have tried this diaper a few times overnight and it works great.  Benjy does not leak at all.  The diaper is soaked when I change him in the morning, but the sheets stay dry which is nice.

Monkey Doodlez Wipe Cubes Review

Today my review of Monkey Doodlez Wipe Cubes is being featured at Eco Mama Baby Drama.

Go check out my review.  This blog has lots of great giveaways and reviews of products that are friendlier to the earth and your family.

Kawaii Diapers

The first diapers I bought were Kawaiis.  Kawaiis are pockets that are fairly inexpensive.  The cool thing about Kawaiis is that they come in many different types, even though they are one size. I recently bought two Heavy Duty with Heavy Duty and 2 Square Tab to add to my collection of cloth diapers.  

The Heavy Duty

The plus side of the Heavy Duty is that it is easily adjustable and can make for easy diaper changes especially when you have a wiggly worm to try to change.

The inside of the Heavy Duty is suede which wicks the moisture away from the baby's skin.

It comes with laundry tabs to hook the Velcro onto.  The great thing is that the laundry tabs work well and stay put in the wash.

It comes with a 2 microfibre inserts which easily stuffs into the pocket. For daytime I only use one, but night time I make sure that there are 2 in there.  Two inserts were working at night, but Benjy is wetting heavier than he used to and after a few hours he is leaking out of them.  He is also a side sleeper which could be contributing to the problem.

The other set of diapers I bought were the Square Tab.

The inside of the square tab is microfleece instead of suede.  

The snaps are very adjustable and allow the diaper to be made smaller if need be.

Both of these diapers are slightly larger in size compared to the other Kawaiis I have which are a Bamboo Minky and Fun Print Snap.  The PUL feels thicker and they do feel more heavy duty as their names imply.  Unfortunately they do not come in a collection of prints, but only solid colours.

These diapers are not bad for nighttime use, but for me I need to change my son midway through the night.

I am planning on ordering more of the ones with Velcro.  Although I do like the snaps, I find that in cases of quick diaper changes or being out, that I prefer to be able to just slap on the velcro.  Also I find that I can adjust the fit with the Velcro just a bit more than the rigid placements of the snaps.   Overall I really like my Kawaiis.  They are good quality diapers without having to pay quite a lot.

The Square Tab and Velcro Kawaiis both retail for $6.99.  They are an excellent value and a good way to grow your stash without having to break the bank.  For less than $100, you can purchase 14 diapers.

Homemade Nursing Pads

I had blogged about this before, but it was posted with other stuff as well.  I thought it should have its own post. I already made some homemade nursing pads using two layers of flannel and one layer of fleece.  They work quite well and stay in place better than the commercial ones a friend bought me.

Here is how I made them.

 I folded a piece of flannel in half.  I happened to find this piece at a second hand store and I washed it up.  I traced circles on it that were 4.5 inches wide.

I traced the circles using this trusty flower pot and a pen.  Not the best way, but I didn't have a fabric pen.

Here is the pile of circles after I cut them out.  You will need two flannel circles and 1 fleece circle for each nursing pad.  I also cut out circles from fleece.  The flannel is absorbent  and the fleece is water proof.   The fleece I used was from a blanket at the dollar store.

Here is the final product.  I sewed together the two flannel pieces with a fleece piece and trimmed the excess off.  I used polyester thread as it helps to make sure that no liquid is carried via thread to the clothing I am wearing.  I find that these stay in place better than the commercial ones someone bought for me.