First Night

I've left y'all out of our process a bit, but to catch you up: When we moved to Northampton the idea was to get The Boy into the crib asap. We were accidental co-sleepers from the get-go, in that neither of us ever read an attachment parenting book without getting a little eye-rolly at the preciousness and righteousness of it all. I mean, it's great and all, but don't parents get to have a life, too? As in, have fun, have freedom, have sex...without compromising the fundamental well-being and safety of their children?

Buuuuut, the Boy was (is) a... difficult child. High needs, demanding, irascible...whatever you want to call it. From the start, sleep was hard to come by in more than hour or two increments, especially for me. Once I started to work again, the only way to deal was to move him into the bed so I could sleep-nurse Sir Insatiable. That was at 10 weeks. And then 10 weeks became 3, 4, 5 months...

And 5 months became 6, 7, 8... and then we were all, "We're laying down the law when we move to Mass!" Until we moved into the House of Doom, which was not a place we felt safe trying to get him into the crib. So, the Boy turned a year while we were still maneuvering ourselves out of the House of Doom. And then there was the looming trip to NYC that we took last week...13 months...and then all of a sudden, we were out of obstacles and excuses. That and the fact that the Boy had begun a fierce new campaign to keep me awake every nightly hour by digging, clawing, pawing and groping at my b00bs even when not nursing, meant it was finally time.

Last night was the first night. We had done a dry run in the past and read enough sleep books that we knew our plan. Bath time, lotion, teeth, jammies, book, and crib- sleepy but awake. Speedy took the first down because the proximity to my b00bs has become unbearable to him when nursing is not allowed. She put him in his crib, which we had pulled away from the wall, with any nearby objects tucked safely out of reach. We provisioned him with 6 pacis and a nice nightlight. She lay him in the crib, tiptoed out and eased the door closed with a look on her face like "Holy $hitballs!!!" Then we heard a disbelieving squawk, which slowly rose into a protest cry. He cried for 10 minutes, I went in to check on him; then he cried for 15 minutes (on and off) and Speedy went in to check on him. Then he continued to cry intermittently for another 10-15 minutes... and just as I was about to go in, he stopped. It was quiet! I tiptoed in, to find him slumped in seated position, fast asleep with his forehead against the rails of the crib.

And he stayed asleep-- from 7 until 1 a.m., when he fussed for about 3 minutes and went back to sleep until about 3-- there was some more fussing between 3 and 4 but never more than 2-3 minutes at a time... and then nothing until 5. At 5, we had already decided we would bring him back to bed with us so I went in to get him and found that he was fussing, but lying on his side apparently sleeping. I brought him into bed with us and he nursed and slept on and off until 7, when he was up for the day.

All in all, I call that a tremendous success! He was cheerful and happy when he got up, and I think he actually slept better than he usually does in our bed, when the Siren's call of of my b00bs is inescapable throughout the night. I am really looking forward to Night 2. The fact that Speedy and I have our bed back is huge. In a few days, I might even want to use it for more than juts sleeping!

P.S. I have heard from a few people that comments are hard to make for whatever reason. I changed the settings, but if anyone has specific advice I'd love to hear it. Meanwhile, if you are having trouble, you can always email me at kgsavoie....gmail and I can post it for you. Thanks for still reading!