Funny how I had all of these ideas on how it would be when baby Kai was born. Even funnier how most of them have taken an entirely new meaning now that Kai is on the outside.
I remember crib shopping while pregnant thinking that it wasn’t in the cards for baby Kai to sleep with us. First, I didn’t feel it was safe to sleep with him because I’m a deep sleeper. Second, I read so much about co-sleeping and decided it wasn’t for me. I hear other people talk very highly of it so think it’s different for everyone.
For his first few weeks of life, baby Kai slept in a bassinet next to our bed. Then around 3 weeks old, he moved into the snuggle nest. This handy baby bed was nice because he was contained in his own little nest but still in our bed. It folded up nice and tight so was especially cool when when we traveled to New York. Around 3 months he seemed “stuffed” into the snuggle nest and got really squirmy. He’d slide down and get stuck between the mini pillow bumpers and wake himself up so the snuggle nest was put to rest.
From about 3-6 months baby Kai slept fine in his crib, in his own room. Sure, I’d bring him to our bed around 2 or 4 am but mostly he slept in his own bed.
Probably the biggest reason I wanted Kai to sleep in his crib was that I couldn’t relax and fall asleep next to him. I felt nervous about our big down comforter and all the pillows that we like to sleep with. Seriously, we have a pillow problem. When we travel, I immediately scout out the extra pillows in the closet and order 2-4 extra pillows from the front desk. Three pillows each is nice for us, so it can be a pretty crowded scene in our bed between the pillows and the covers. Can you blame me for not wanting to put add an infant to our pillow party?
Then came Kauai when Kai was about 6 months old. He screamed bloody murder in the hotel crib on that first night so we brought him to our bed for survival sleep. Little did I know what that would be like. Oh my god, I felt like an all night diner as he wanted to breastfeed constantly. I didn’t sleep much in Kauai because I was constantly pulling a boob out. And with the 3 hour time difference he wanted to fall asleep by 5pm and wake up around 4 or 5am. He never adjusted to the local time and stayed right on his baby schedule.
Now, we’re in New Zealand for a month while Kai is 7 1/2 months old. He shows great emotional distaste toward his baby cot or “pak ‘n’ play. It’s jammed into our bedroom and he initially screams every time he lays down. He still takes naps in there and “starts” the night in there though. Anyway, desperate for sleep after our 14hour flight from the US to Auckland New Zealand we brought him into our cozy queen sized bed. We all slept great for the first two nights and then he started waking every 3 hours to “dine.” However, lately he has been waking up every 2-3 hours screaming so loudly I feel like we could get kicked out of our apartment. When we asked our next door neighbors is they could hear him screaming they said no, but I have my doubts.
My only goal at this point is good sleep for everyone. Before Kai was born, I would’ve bet that we wouldn’t be co sleeping with our baby. Now, it seems challenging for sure but sort of sweet in a way. Especially, when he rolls toward daddy to snuggle and I can put my CLOSED for sleep sign in the diner window. Doesn’t happen for more than a couple of hours but when it does, it’s glorious.
Sweet Dreams!
Tags: baby, Co-Sleeping, cosleeping
