from our bed to hers: our bed-sharing journey!

At 8 weeks old, I discovered how amazing, convenient, and blissful bed-sharing was. Breastfeeding at night became a cinch and I was sold on the ease & comfort of being so close to her. Plus, I could keep an eye on her and felt more secure knowing that she was safe and sound right by me.

Little Toot was sold too. She loved being near Mama - though she never actually slept near me in the bed and we each had our own space. (Remember, Daddy was deployed for our first 6 months of bed-sharing, so we had all that extra room!)

But as time went on, Toot discovered that she could nurse all.the.time, and it was like a 24-hour restaurant right next to her in bed! Not so wonderful for me, though. Sometimes she would wake up to nurse every hour. I kept thinking Oh surely this will end in a few months.. She'll definitely be sleeping through the night by "X" months old..

But that day never came. At 15 months, she was still waking at least twice a night. Sometimes she would go to bed at 8pm and already be awake at 8:30. It was getting ridiculous! I had kind of just accepted that she needed comfort at night, and I was completely used to being woken up at night. Plus, I would only wake up for about 5 minutes each time. She just needed a smidge of comfort, then she'd be back to sleep. ....Usually...

But at 16 months, I was just kind of done. I knew in my heart (I KNEW IT!!) that she would STTN if she could just be in her own room. But we'd tried this before - trying to put her in her own room. And she always still woke up. But this time I had a new plan.. and it was to completely depend on Daddy!!

Daddy definitely has no "milky" so I knew that if she only had him for comfort, she would decide to just stay asleep. So for the first night, Mark laid next to her in her big girl bed until she fell asleep. (Only about 5 minutes total), and Mark stayed in her bed.. she woke up twice that night, but she immediately went back to sleep when he redirected her back down.

The second night, he did the same - laid next to her until she was asleep, but the second night? SHE SLEPT ALL NIGHT! For the *very first time in her life*

I'm pretty sure angels were singing :)

The third night, he came back to our room and she still slept. Last night was the 4th night, and she continued to sleep all night. It's a miracle, you guys. Nothing short of a miracle!! I am so, SO proud of her. She took this transition like a champ with ZERO crying. I knew that if I just followed my mommy heart and took her lead, that she would tell me when she was ready to make this change. And I felt it was time to move her, and she just did so amazingly well.

And really, it's more of a transition for me than anything! I still wake up multiple times a night wondering about Adalyn. Missing her next to me in bed. Wondering if she's okay in hers. I'm sure that sounds a little ridiculous, but I absolutely loved our bed-sharing months. Nothing (and I mean nothing!) beats sleeping so close to your little angel and looking right into their eyes as they wake up each morning.





She always woke up SO happy. And recently, she would wake up, grin from ear-to-ear, then rest her head on me and hug me. Best feeling in the world, I'm pretty sure.

I'm so thankful for the 14 months of cosleeping and the millions of cuddles that we shared. But I'm also thankful for my big girl who transitioned like an angel. She's getting so big!! :)