You may remember our sleep issues with Ainsley. I may have written about it a time or two...okay maybe three times.
Well, we have basically the same sleep issues with Cohen. He has to be rocked to sleep, he wakes up in the middle of the night, he comes to bed with me. Same story, different kid.
But there is something different. Big time different. Me. And probably Clif too.
Poor Ainsley. She's our guinea pig kid. I'm really glad she's so laid back and perky, because I definitely would have turned that kid into an anxious mess if she just had one ounce of stress in her little body.
It dawned on me yesterday that I don't even consider having sleep issues with Cohen. He gets put to bed, he wakes up, we bring him to our bed. No big deal. But yesterday, I was browsing pinterest and I saw a few pins for fixing sleep issues in toddlers. At first I didn't even notice them because they weren't recipes or organizational tips or ways to improve my finances. But then there were quite a few, so finally I clicked one.
How to get your toddler to sleep through the night.
Well, my toddler does not sleep through the night, so maybe I should read this. I couldn't even make it through the first paragraph. Because know what? I don't care if he doesn't sleep through the night.
Let me tell you the tiniest of secrets. Ready? You can't tell anyone, especially my husband.
I kind of like sleeping with my kids.
So when I put the kids to bed, I snuggle between them. (Side note: Yes they have separate beds but they choose to sleep together.) And sometimes when I snuggle between them, I let myself drift off, and I always wish that I had nothing left to do so I could stay there. When I go upstairs at night, I always check in on them and sometimes I push one of them over and get in bed with them for a bit. When I finally do make it to my bed, I fall asleep thinking that Cohen will be cuddled up with me in a few hours.
So what does that mean? All that angst and worry and craziness over Ainsley's sleeping habits...what a freaking waste of time! We should all really have our third kid first. Or at least be the parent to our first kid that we are to our third.
I started reading that article and in the first few lines it told me that I shouldn't rock my babies or comfort them in the middle of the night or nurse back to sleep or any of the things that I do on the regular. No thank you! I'll take a few years of sleep deprivation in exchange for all that quiet warmth that comes from holding a baby in the wee hours. I wouldn't change a moment of it.
My mom always says "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
And while I'm here, living, I'll just buy a bigger bed.
