Sleep

I'm laying here on the couch with Jackson so he'll take a nap. He doesn't like to sleep anywhere other than with me or Christopher, or sometimes in his swing. Sometimes this is a pain in the ass, but usually I love it. Today I'm leaning toward pain in the ass. We're about to go to Kindermusik with my sister in law and her daughter, so I'd like to get some stuff done before we go. However, last week Jackson and his cranky self had a melt down in the class because he was so tired. I'd not like to repeat that. So in case I try and do something stupid like sleep training, let me list the reasons I like having him sleep with me.

1. His heart

Whenever he has an episode, he lets me know by doing something strange. I feel like I'd miss something if he were in another room. Also, I can feel his pulse periodically throughout the night for reassurance with minimal consciousness.

2. Sleep

This one may be backfiring because he still wakes up so often, but I'm going to believe that he would no matter where he slept. Anyway, it's much much easier to latch him on while we're both laying down. We don't actually have to wake up all that much. It also eliminates the crying baby on the monitor stumble around in the dark to get to him problem. It's easier to get back to sleep when you don't have to get out of bed.

3. Cuddles

I don't know if you knew, but people are at their most cuddly as infants. A baby is what you wanted your teddy bear to be. Especially now that he's so active during the day, it's nice to have a time when I can cuddle him all I want; and he won't complain.

4. Anxiety relief

So everyone's made fun of new parents for checking to see if the baby's breathing. Yea, it's a compulsion. I don't haveto worry about him as much when he's right next to me. This is why we started cosleeping, actually. The first night we had him in the hospital, I couldn't sleep because I kept checking to make sure he wasn't hungry. The nurse yelled at me for bringing him into the bed with me, but I slept so much better knowing I'd wake up to him wiggling because he was hungry, not crying because he was starving.