My little girl is growing up, and that means making the dreaded transition from bed-sharing to her big girl bed. Bug hated her crib from day one, and refused to sleep in it. It didn't matter how asleep she might be, happily snoring on my lap, the second her body hit that crib she was up! I tried it all, warm blankets, inclined mattress, sound machines and all. Nope, nada, not happening.
So she slept in a Fisher Price Rock N Play next to our bed for 7 months, at which point she was able to crawl out of it and we were left with the option of moving her into our bed, or trying the crib again. First, we tried the crib again, and did not sleep. After 2 nights we decided to buy a King sized mattress and move the Bug in with us.
Now, we heard it all, from everyone. "Bed-sharing is dangerous" "She'll never leave!" "But when will you and your husband have time for yourselves?"
But I did my research. Bed-sharing is not dangerous IF you do it correctly. Yes, that's is right, there is a correct way and an incorrect way. If you cannot follow the guidelines for bed-sharing safely, then don't do it.
The third issue was a non-issue because my husband and I never had any time for ourselves anyway. My butt was so exhausted that I was asleep by 8pm most nights (or as soon as the kid went down) and he works such odd shifts that some days he's still at work until 11pm and others he's waking up at 2am to go in.
I confess, I was worried about the second point. "She'll never leave" but not worried enough to not do it because I was tired and she's a really good snuggler.
But, the time came when I started wanting my bed back, and she seemed like she was getting ready to go out on her own. So we bought her twin bed (which is PERFECT for her, she can easily get in and out but has enough room to flop around) and made a big deal about her picking out her comforter.
*side note - I was totally not into bringing character bedding into the house yet, just because. The kiddo went straight the Little Mermaid bedroom set and was unwavering in her request for "Ar'el pease, mommy!" so Ariel it was.
The first day we had it, she happily napped in what is now known as her Ariel bed.
But it was the middle of June, and we would be leaving in a few weeks for a family vacation where we would once again be bed-sharing since there was only one bed for us. We got back from vacation and I said, "okay, we'll take a week to adjust and then start moving her."
I thought it was going to be a battle, because that's all I had heard from others. Do you know what happened? The second day we were home Bug goes, "Mommy, Baby sleep in Ar'el bed, okay?"
Oh...um..oh...okay. And we tucked her into her Ariel bed, and she never looked back. Two weeks later and she happily naps and sleeps in her bed, and wants nothing to do with our big bed. I'm still adjusting to her being in another room (it's only across the hall but it feels so strange not to hear her breathing next to me) but I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
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