Sleeping

I forgot a big "first" for Lola in my 3-week post - her first night sleeping in her crib!

Before Lola was born, we decided that she would sleep in our room with us at the beginning, either in the bassinet or the Snuggle Nest.  The bassinet has sentimental value, as it was Joseph's father's (meaning he slept in it as a baby) and Joseph and all of his siblings AND all of their children slept in it as well.  So it's kind of family tradition for the baby to sleep in it.  We bought a Snuggle Nest as an alternative; it is a little bed that sits on our bed in between our pillows.  We thought it might be more convenient for middle-of-the-night feedings since we wouldn't have to get out of bed to get Lola.

Well we thought this sleeping situation would last for a couple of months, at least until I went back to work.  But it ended up only lasting two weeks.  Lola makes a lot of noise - not necessarily crying, but just little sounds, and when I heard her, I would then be waiting for her to start crying.  So that was one problem.  The other problem was that I liked to turn the light on when I nursed her in the middle of the night.  It helped me make sure she was latching properly, and (selfishly) it also enabled me to read on my kindle while nursing.  Having the light on obviously affected Joseph's sleep.

We decided to give the crib a try, and so far it's working very well.  Lola sleeps for about 3-5 hours at a time, and I just go upstairs and nurse her in the glider when she wakes up.  Walking upstairs isn't too much of a hassle; when she was in our room, I'd get out of bed to change her diaper anyway.  She is also taking her naps in her crib, and those are going pretty well.

It has been a bit tough emotionally.  I liked having her close to us so I could make sure she was breathing, and it was just nice to have her nearby and be able to cuddle with her.  I had also read a lot about how babies benefit from sleeping close to their parents for the first few months, so I was hesitant to stop so soon.  But it seems like it's the best thing for our family right now, as we are all certainly more rested.  We're kind of doing a combination too, as Joseph has been getting Lola out of the crib in the morning and bringing her to me in bed to nurse, so she gets a few hours of sleep in the morning with me.