Moving out!

The transition back to work has been a tad bumpy for the entire family (as you can tell by my absenteeism). One of the major issues has been the early wake-up call. I set my alarm for 5:45 - 6am (usually necessitating some pounding of the snooze button!). My husband can sleep through a tornado, so that's not the problem. My son, however, isn't so keen on the 6am alarm; herein lies the problem. Shall I take this opportunity to divulge my deepest, darkest secret? I'm a co-sleeper. Shhhhh...don't tell!

For almost four years, we've shared our bed with at least one of our children. Our daughter co-slept with us until she moved into her own room at 21 months. The move was prompted by the birth of our son. Don't think we didn't try to accommodate both children at first. The project failed with our son waking every hour on the hour for feeding, and our daughter walking around in a sleep-deprived daze. Out went the girl & in came the boy! Our son, who will be 2 years old in a few weeks, had been sharing our bed up until this past weekend. It was necessary for him to move out so that he could get an extra hour or two of dream time. We found him to be cranky when he woke earlier due to my new routine. Add to that the fact that everyone is adjusting to not having mommy around at all times, and you've got one ticked-off toddler.

I didn't want him to move out, honest! I'd still have both kids in our room if I didn't have to get up so early in the morning. The great (sad) part is that both children adjusted so well to being in their own room. My husband doesn't mind having more room either. I think I'm the only one suffering! I'm missing having my children cuddled up against me in the morning (sniff sniff).

I know co-sleeping is a huge issue of debate; I've heard from both sides. Certain people would scold me about raising overly-needy children while others thought what we did was sweet. I didn't find it sweet at all! In my mind, at least in the beginning, it was more a survival tactic. He slept - we slept...simple as that. Well, it appears now that everyone is sleeping, that is, except for me. I've spent the past few nights in a very light sleep pattern, awakening at every sound. I'm sure I'll get over it....in a few years...perhaps.