Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Children Are Nestled All Snug in Their Beds

The choice of sleeping arrangements is a hot topic amongst young mothers. Vicki Iovine, who writes "The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy" explains it this way. She says there are those who choose to keep their bed for themselves and their spouse. The second choice being the family bed where everyone in the house sleeps together. And the "Chef's Surprise" meaning parents accommodate whatever happens on any given night and don't fully sign up in either camp.

My husband and I tried valiantly at first to keep everyone in their own beds. Then we tried Chef's Surprise. Now we choose the family bed. The irony of this is that when we lived in a tiny two bedroom cottage we did separate spaces and now that we live in a home twice that size we sleep all together.

It is a pain to climb over bodies in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. It is lovely, however, to cuddle with children who want to held. It is also very convenient for the soothing of nightmares and for nursing (although we have passed that stage here).

I'm sure there will come a day when they go back to their own rooms and sleep by themselves. But until then I will hold them close and enjoy the quaint sounds of teeth grinding and tiny snoring. It's pretty toasty in my bed these days.


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