Suburban Saving Mama: ...Sleep in Heavenly Peace...

I remember watching my hubby rock Lauren one night around Christmas singing 'Silent Night' and reflecting on the words of the song: "holy infant, so tender and mild...sleep in heavenly peace". Lauren was just about four months old and our sleep was HORRIBLE. She was sleeping in her crib and waking up about every 2-3 hours to eat. It would take about one hour to get her settled back into her crib so I was only getting about 1-2 hour stretches of sleep at night.

One morning after about five hours of interrupted sleep, I asked hubby, "What does 'sleep in heavenly peace' mean??" For me, sleep was interrupted far before Lauren even came along with pregnancy sickness, frequent trips to the bathroom, worrying about everything that needed to get accomplished, and so forth. I couldn't remember the last time I had sleep in heavenly peace the entire night!! When she did on occasion sleep longer stretches, my body would automatically wake up and immediately I would wonder how she was doing and have to get up and check on her.

This morning while I was nursing Lauren down for her morning nap, I laid beside her on the bed with my hand on her belly until she was fast asleep and chuckled because I remembered a funny invention I saw on my friend's blog awhile back... introducing the Zaky or what the The Poop likes to refer to as 'Dismembered Mommy Hands'.

Taken from The Poop: The Chronicle Baby Blog

For you see, it wasn't until we realized what Lauren needed from us and responded to her that our sleep become much better. She needed us! She needed the safety and warmth of her mommy's arms, the availability of her favorite coping mechanism and source of food, someone to respond to her breathing cues, and someone to wake up next to in the morning.

I understand that co-sleeping is not for every family. My philosophy on baby sleep is this, 'do what works for your family' in regards to where baby sleeps best. If your current sleeping situation is not working for you, re-evaluate what the needs are of everyone and figure out an alternative. Everyone functions much better when a good night of sleep is achieved!

1 comments:

The Beckers, March 2, 2010 6:18 PM: I totally agree about doing what is best in regards to sleeping. I think sometimes whats best isn't even what was initially desired. I think you need to figure out what works for your child. I was really wanting to co-sleep, but have discovered that he sleeps better in a bassinet next to our bed then in bed with us. (Daddy is a restless sleeper!) And i usually lay my hand on him until he falls asleep, or anytime he stirs at night, and it has worked wonders!