I’ve loved co-sleeping with my daughter. When we started it wasn’t for any big motive like attaching, it was because I was just scared.

K came with a few health problems, and every time she laid down flat she’d start choking. As soon as I picked her up, she’d be ok again. We tried her crib and putting one of those crib wedges under her sheet for her, but within a few minutes she would slide down and be flat again, choking. It just wasn’t working for her.

The doctor said she could sleep in her car seat, so we put the car seat on our bed, between us, and let her sleep there for a few days. It wasn’t very comfortable, every time I rolled over there was this big bulky plastic thing on the bed! So I moved the car seat with K away from our bed, but then I got NO sleep because I was so worried about her. I was afraid I wouldn’t hear her, or get to her in time if she choked.

(Of course, during the day, I could hear her from three rooms away if she moved her pinky finger and touched her nose, but in the middle of the night scary thoughts took over in my head instead of reason.)

So, K started sleeping on my chest. First we slept in the rocking chair, but I didn’t sleep well, so I moved her to our bed and I propped myself up on pillows to keep her at an angle. I was getting a bit of sleep, and K was sleeping well. As she got older, and didn’t need to lay up at an angle anymore, I put her in her crib, but by them I was trained to hear her breathing, and feel her on me and beside me every night. I missed her warm breathe and comfort. I’d find myself reaching out every few mintues to touch her little fingers in the bassinet.

Yea well, the sleep thing won, and I got over missing her pretty quick, and within a few days the whole house was sleeping well - everyone in their own place and bed.

Then, we went on an overnight trip. The family stayed in a hotel in one big king size bed, and K slept between us again for a few nights. When we got home, K wasn’t having anything to do with her bassinet. She wanted in our bed.

Now call me a wimp if you like, but I couldn’t stand the crying when I put her in the crib. I don’t believe in the school of parenting called ‘just let a child cry it out’. Maybe it is because I’m a first time mom, or just a wimp. (I call it good parenting instincts.) If my child is crying, I want to comfort. So, I didn’t make her sleep in her crib or bassinet again, I’d pick her up and let her sleep with me.

So, here we are over two years later, and K is still sleeping with us. She has her own bed, and often takes naps in it. It is a pretty toddler bed with Dora sheets and sits in a corner of our bedroom. If I stack laundry or throw a book on her bed, K screams mine, my bed, mine,off and wants it clear of clutter. She loves her bed, and plays on it, and puts her dolls to sleep in it, but she just won’t go to sleep willingly in it. That's ok. I figure we will both grow out of this eventually.

Now there is a small downside to co-sleeping, (and it’s not what you are thinking.) A couple of nights ago K screamed MOMMY and promptly threw up all over the bed and me. A huge mess in the middle of the bed in the middle of the night. We all got up, cleaned, changed sheets, did medicine and K seemed fine. (Must have been something she ate, or something that went into her mouth, I reasoned. She didn’t seem sick.) We all went back to sleep until I hear the MOMMY scream again. I reached for the towel but she had spun around and threw up all over Daddy. Sigh.

So, for the next two days, all of us had stomach flu. It came and went pretty quickly, and we all feel better now, but if I hear MOMMY, I’m running with a towel in hand.

Still, last night was back to normal. We all slept soundly, K, hubby and I in one bed. Sometime, around three last night, I reached over and felt K. I smiled inside. Life is good.