Maya has been sharing a bed with her beloved parents since Day 1.
Yes, we co-sleep!
When I was still pregnant with Maya, I was adamant about not practicing co-sleeping. But it all changed. I’ll get back to this after I brief you a little about my history and what I thought about co-sleeping.
Growing up, my sister and I shared a room and occasionally we’ll sleep on a mattress in mommy’s room. Well, occasionally is more to 50-50.We did it because sometimes we would want to “manja-manja”. Co-sleeping with mommy wasn’t a nuisance to any of us because it was willingly and not forcefully.
Most of my younger cousins co-slept with their parents for many many years and it was a little hard at first for them when they were asked to leave and start sleeping in their respective rooms. They slept with their parents because, I think, they were afraid of supernatural beings. For God knows why, my cousins are/were chickens. I pity my aunts and uncles: How are they going to get jiggy-with-it when they have their brood just few feet away?
I also admire how some parents that I know of, who do not practice co-sleeping have kids that are very discipline and independent. If you want your kids to sleep on their own (in your room but in a crib or in their own room), you have to start from day 1 to avoid any tantrums from your drama queen/king. I have utmost respect for parents who are able to train their kids to sleep on their own. It’s no easy work.
So when we were going to have Maya, I really wanted a crib for Maya because I want her to get use to sleeping on her own just like how she is used to sitting in her car seat (note: she does sometimes refuses to sit in it. It’s typical for any babies to do so). So off we went to shop for the best (well, within our budget) anti-microbial mattress and white crib. I was ecstatic of our purchase and was looking forward to lay Maya to sleep in it; but plans DO change.
To be honest, Maya’s crib is under-usage. We co-sleep for many STRONG reasons and I am glad we did. The following are some reasons that I could think of at the moment =p :
(1) I breastfeed her. It’s so much easier to breastfeed her while sleeping (started doing this when she was a little older, about 3 months old). I work full-time so co-sleeping helped a lot. My colleagues are amazed to see me not groggy for having a baby.
(2) Faliq is away 80% of the time for work. It’s nice to have a sleeping buddy to snuggle up to when I wake up in the middle of the night.
(3) I’m a scaredy cat. Hence, I need someone to sleep with me. You can’t blame me since I grew up sharing a bed with my sister.
(4) Beautiful bonding: Since I work full time, I hardly spend time with Maya. By sleeping together, we get to spend quality time together with all the time we have.
(5) I could monitor her just to make sure she’s still breathing and not suffocating.
And the list goes on….
I really love sharing a bed with Maya. Back then I thought it could interfere the romance of a married couple but I can assure you it doesn’t; not a tiny bit. ☺
Would you co-sleep too?
p/s: Maya fell of the bed for the very first time two nights ago. She sleep-crawled (I was dead asleep). I was awaken by a loud fall sound and her cries. Thank god she didn’t fall head first. I soothed her and fed her and she was all OK. I feel rotten about it to this day. Soryy my lil munchkin.
Sweet Dreams Mommy
Farah~
