My Safe Haven

I am sure this blog will stir controversy. Many of my blogs do. I dont know, I just cant keep my mouth shut once I have something on my mind.

Topic of Discusion: Co-Sleeping

**Disclaimer** I could care less if people let their children sleep with them. I am a firm believer that each family is different and what works for some doesnt work for others and vice versa. With that...

This is what has worked with our 2 kids: They sleep next to me in the basinet until they are fully sleeping through the night (ab 3 months) then we transition them to the crib. When Audrie was 18 months old we transitioned her to a twin bed.

We dont chose co-sleeping because our bed is the only thing we have that is ONLY ours after 8pm (minus the two boston terriers). It is a sacred place for my husband and I to come together and watch movies, have pillow talk and be intimate. The rest of our lives we share with our children. We eat with them. We play with them. They go to the bathroom with us. I feel a sense of relief when my children are in bed and I can go to my safe haven...my bed where no kids are allowed after 8! :)

As my disclaimer states, I think if co-sleeping works for your family then thats awesome! What I cant stand is when people chose to co-sleep but complain about it. You see, I am all about the parents being the authority and laying down the law. **Note: my child is only 2, I might change my story in years to come** But at this point, her door gets locked if she wont go to sleep and tries to escape. To the point, where we changed her door handle so it locks on the outside. Some think this is cruel. However, this is how I keep my sanity. I need alone time. I need time just me and my hubs. I WOULD go NUTS if I never got a break.

I was watching GMA this morning and they had a segment about co-sleeping where 2 of the anchors were complaining about their children still sleeping with them. I wanted to tell them, it is nobody's fault but your own.

Edit: If she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, I do go and check on her because it usually means she is sick or had a bad dream. At this point, I lay in her bed until she falls back asleep. There have been times she has slept in my bed when she is sick or when we have been on vacation.