Sleeping like a Baby

traditional crib set up

Montessori floor bed photo from Sew Liberated 

Side car crib photo from Soul Mothering 

Why is it that anyone would ever use the expression "sleeping like a baby" to refer to someone who sleeps so well! From the mom's I've talked to, getting your baby to sleep through the night is one of the biggest challenges of the first year (and beyond!). We have definitely had our fair share of trials and tribulations. We started out with a bassinet right beside our bed with the intention that our baby would sleep in our bed the majority of the time. When Lily was born she slept on and off in her bassinet and in our bed but generally she slept amazingly well in her bassinet. It was as if she preferred it. By three weeks old she was sleeping through the night, I mean twelve hours people. This continued until she turned four months old, started teething and we moved places. She had grown out of her bassinet by this point as well so we just moved her into our bed, well things got worse from there. Months and months went by with Lily waking up anywhere from 7-30 times a night and having to be nursed or soothed back to sleep. Next we tried the side car crib, I was determined to be "crunchy" and alternative and not have her in a crib, god knows why. The side car crib was a great idea, it gave her her own space while still having her close by. Well she didn't think so and she didn't go for it at all, her sleep seemed to get worse or stay the same. Next we decided to try the montessori method of using a floor bed, we were still determined to have her in our room so we set up a mattress in one area of our room. It worked okay and she didn't try to crawl off or anything but one of us would inevitably end up sleeping on the floor with her. It just wasn't sustainable. An emergency renovation on our house that landed us staying with family led us once again to bed-sharing. Well the same thing happened, she was waking up countless times during the night, almost constantly it felt like. My mother in law said to me, when Danny was little he really loved his crib, we couldn't get him out of that thing, he slept so well in his crib. I decided there was nothing else to try, I gave up trying alternatives. We set up a crib at the end of our bed and she took to it right away. She was still waking up 2 or 3 times a night but this was a huge improvement over the 7 plus times. After almost 3 months of sleeping in her crib in our room, we moved back home and decided to see how she would sleep in her own room. The first night we set up the crib, did our nighttime routine as usual and put her to sleep in her crib, in her own room. Well imagine our surprise when our girl slept from 8pm to 6am and then again until 8am. She slept through the friggin' night. Maybe she has grown up, maybe it would have taken this long anyway but despite my feelings, she needed her own crib in her own room. This really taught me a huge lesson, despite what you might want for your children, or how you might envision how a certain event is going to go, they are their own person. They will have preferences for things that you may not. Ultimately we both got what we want, a baby who is sleeping well and happy.