His bed isn't comfortable.
In his defense, it is a playpen with a thin, hard little mat. He stopped needing to nurse to resettle, but he still wanted to come to our bed. Once on our mattress, he would curl up and fall right back to sleep. A couple other moms said their babies started sleeping better once they moved to their crib mattress, so we gave it a trial run. We still don't have a crib, though, so we pulled our spare twin mattress up next to our bed and let him sleep on that. He slept soundly and happily, only waking to feed once or twice all night (which has always been usual for him.) We've had two nights of good sleep now, and I am feeling soooo much better. Sleep is a wonderful thing. When we finally figured it out, I thought, "Why didn't you just tell us?!" But then I realized he was trying awfully hard to tell us, and we just weren't comprehending. We need a crib, but I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to shop one out with the paint project in full swing.
His communication skills have become so much better over the last week. He definitely understands a lot of what we say. He will point at things he wants (or just has something to say about), come and tell me when he wants to nurse ("Na-na-na-na!" and pointing if I don't get the picture fast enough...so much for being discrete in public), or go to the door when he wants to go outside. Or if he's fussing, we can start listing options and when we hit the right one, he gets all happy and excited. I love it! It's like having a little friend around all the time.
honestly, he is getting old to consider buying a crib now (unless you just view it as it can be also for another baby down the line), especially being he has a lot of gross motor skills down, standing, cruising, climbing, starting to walk. Around 12 mths we started having safety concerns, and we were done fully with the crib before 18 mths, cause of gross motor skills. Sounds like you might just transition to his own mattress on the floor. We just put a gate on his bedroom door for safety, though usually we could/can hear when he gets up anyways.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I like the idea of building my own crib, but I certainly don't have time for that right now. But we could go ahead an buy a crib mattress and put it on the floor, and build the crib later for the next one.
ReplyDeleteYay! Glad the problem is solved. Don't you love how it's always the most obvious (in retrospect!) things that are the problems? I remember being confused when Evan started waking up in the middle of the night only to realize he was getting cold and all he needed was a sleep sack. Yep, I'm a great mommy.
ReplyDeleteAs far as cribs go, you could always look for a convertible one on Craigslist and then you have lots of options. If you get one without a drop side it's pretty easy to tell whether or not everything is in good working condition (i.e. safe) -- and you can use it as a crib for Tiernan and/or the next baby, or a toddler bed. Both of our cribs are convertible and we only paid $125 for Evan's (came with a dresser, mattress and bedding) and $100 for Nathan's (came with a really nice mattress). Both of them retail in the $300-500 range. Of course, making your own sounds awesome if you have the time!
I LOVED your note "It's like having a little friend around all the time". You'll find that's one of the many joys of having your children near you -- along with sharing in their sense of wonder, rejoicing in the sound of their laughter, enjoying their freely given love and trust, marveling at how fast they grow and how quickly they learn, etc.
ReplyDeleteOh, and some people don't do a gate, they just close the door. But I like to be able to see in at any given time, and check he is in his bed(I am neurotic like that). So that is why we do a gate rather than a closed door.
ReplyDeleteheck you can stick with the twin (old or new), Roland is on a twin mattress in his room.
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