Operation Sleep-In-Your-Own-Room-Now-Please

Our kids have always co-slept with us. I know, I know. Tsk-tsk and all that. It's just something we got used to and it works for us. Age 4 is when we usually try to transition them into their own rooms and, believe it or not, Alfred and I get sad when our kids move out of our bed and into their own.

When Desiree was a baby, she slept with me all the time. My ex-husband was hardly ever home in the evenings and when he was home, he'd have a bunch of friends over and they'd be playing cards or dice or up to no good. When Desiree was about a year-and-a-half, I split up with her dad and we moved back home with my parents. Desiree slept with me since we only had a room to share. When Desiree was about 4, she began sleeping on the bed and I slept on the trundle on the floor. At first she needed me to lay next to her so she could fall asleep and I'd move to the trundle on the floor after she was asleep. Then she just needed me to hold her hand as I lay in bed on the floor. Eventually she was able to sleep on her own as I watched TV from the living room. About a year later, Alfred and I were engaged, bought our own home and Desiree was able to sleep in her room with no problem at all.

Alana was only a baby when Alfred and I began dating (long story). Alana was adamant - she was NOT going to drink out of a bottle, even after Alfred had tried buying every single kind of nipple ever made. That being said, she could not sleep over at Alfred's house until she had been weaned. Alana slept with her mom when she was at her mom's house and, when she was a little bit older and began sleeping over at Alfred's house, she slept with Alfred. After we moved into our own home, she slept in our bed whenever she was over. We encouraged her to sleep in her own room after she turned 4 but it was harder for her, since she still slept in her mom and step-dad's bed at home for the majority of the week. She would sleep in her own bed at our house but would come into our room in the middle of the night to sleep with us. Evenutally she only came in after 5 AM. She did this until she was about 6. After that, she couldn't sleep with us anymore because there wasn't any more room in our bed. By then, Katelyn was born and had taken Alana's spot.

For the first couple of months, Katelyn slept in a bassinet in our room. I had every intention of moving her into her own crib, in her own room once she outgrew the bassinet. When I went back to work, getting up every couple of hours to feed her was starting to take a toll on me so I began laying her next to me to feed her. She slept longer next to me and I didn't have to get up to feed her. It was so convenient FOR ME. Sorry, I'll take what I can get. It's not like Alfred could get up to breastfeed her. Four years later and there she still is.

Jacob slept in a bassinet in our room and once he outgrew it, he slept IN HIS CRIB, in the room that he and Katelyn share (the room that used to be Desiree's; she now shares a room with Alana). Are you blown away right now? I don't blame ya! That's crazy talk, right? Part of the reason why Jacob had to sleep in his crib is because Katelyn was still in our bed. There's barely room for the four of us. Jacob is also bottle-fed so I don't have to be the only one getting up to feed him. Don't get me wrong. I still bring him in bed with us, especially if he's being unusually fussy or isn't feeling well. But he was the FIRST of our kids to sleep primarily in his own crib as a baby. He WAS, that is, until that really bad heat wave that hit us a few weeks ago. That room gets so hot and the fan does nothing for him so he's grumpy, fussy and irritable the whole night. So I brought him to our room that night, then the next, then the next, then the next.... um, yeah. You get the picture.

A few nights ago, the four of us are sleeping in bed. Around midnight, Jacob woke up crying so I change his diaper. He's laying right next to Katelyn as I'm changing him and suddenly decides to start peeing as soon as I opened up his diaper and was reaching for wipes. I wasn't fast enough with the cover-up. My reflexes are slow in the middle of the night. He got himself, me AND Katelyn. So I end up having to change the two kids clothes and my top. A couple hours later, I wake up and am soaking wet. I'm talking SOAKING wet. Apparently, Katelyn had an accident. She hasn't had an accident in a long, long time. Now all of us have to get up. Alfred changes the kids clothes (notice how he remained unscathed on both occassions? Grrrrr!) while I go change my own. The sheets had to be stripped from the bed. My side is soaked so Jacob and I go sleep on Katelyn's bed and Alfred and Katelyn sleep on the dry side of our bed. Augh! I took this as a sign. Time for Operation Sleep-In-Your-Own-Room-Now-Please.

First I tried putting Jacob in his crib to sleep but he kept standing up, crying. So I decided to put a futon mattress on the ground for him (for now) so that I could lay with him until he fell asleep and so he wouldn't fall if I left him alone. He usually goes to bed way before Katelyn, which is good because I also have to lay down with Katelyn until SHE falls asleep. For now, I've been sleeping with them in their room until they get used to being asleep in there (especially Katelyn). The first night, the two woke up pretty often and I had to go back and forth between them, from the futon to the bed. The second night (last night), the two only woke up ONCE in the middle of the night. I'm hoping they will only need another night or so of my presence. I know I should let them "cry it out" or whatever but that just doesn't work for me. I don't mind doing it the "long way" with little transitions at a time. My babies will only be babies once. I don't see anything wrong with indulging them a little. It worked for our older two so why not?

Alfred has been sleeping alone in our room for the past couple of nights, the lucky guy poor thing. When he and I talked about getting Katelyn to sleep in her own room, he said he was going to miss her and I really believe it to be true because I know I will miss her too. It's kind of bittersweet - the idea of Alfred and I having our bed back to ourselves. And being able to sleep NEXT to each other? Cuh-ra-zee!!! Actually, on the rare occasion that he and I DO get the bed to ourselves, we end up sleeping on the edges of the bed because we're so used to having kids in the middle of us. He and I will have to re-learn to sleep in the middle of the bed. Oh, and I promised Alfred some time ago that once the kids were out of our bed, we'd buy a new mattress. If you don't get why, go back up two paragraphs and read that again. Note that she hadn't had an accident "in a long, long time". That does not translate to NEVER.

Anyway, wish us luck! And a Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there! Hope you all have a fantabulous weekend!