What was DD's reaction to the swat?
The swat appeared to have no effect at all. Either that or it made things worse; I'm not really sure. It certainly didn't stop anything, nor slow it down.
Co-sleeping is... I dunno. I suppose it's like breastfeeding. Either you think it's the most natural thing, or you don't. I found it to be very useful in solidifying DD's and my connection during a time when every minute we had together needed to be used to built our attachment.
I understand that.
Not really a connection thing, but I was willing to have kids in the bed until they were comfortable in their own. It wasn't a "put them to bed with me." More of if they wandered in it was okay. Luckily, they were anxious to be in their own room with their own bed. Still did the crawl in if they got frightened on occasion even at 6 and 7.
It probably helped that hubby and I both snore.
That's the way we do it too. When they were babies, they slept with us. At around 2 or 3 years, they got their own beds and had to go to sleep in them, but if they got scared or woke up they were/are allowed to come to our bed. They are 5 and 7 now. The younger one still wonders in. The older one sometimes has nightmares and we bring him to our bed when they wake him up.
I never studied or made a conscious decision to "do" co-sleeping. It just felt natural to have my babies that close when they were so little, vulnerable, and frequently hungry. I dare say I got more sleep as a new mommy, too, not having to actually get up out of bed to feed my waking infant.
Yeah, it wasn't something we decided ahead of time, either. Breastfeeding, yes, but co-sleeping kind of happened. Then I researched it like mad (you know me) and reading about how common it is world-wide, how recently it became unusual here, and the many benefits there are to it helped me feel good about it.
Particularly, I got plenty of rest when sozlet was a baby. People with babies her age who were in cribs would be telling me, "ugh, the baby was up 5 times last night, I'm exhausted," while we'd all had a good night's sleep. I was able to feed her without waking up all the way -- the actual action-requiring part of it was only a few seconds, anyway.
By the way, I like a lot about William and Martha Sears and Attachment Parenting as a concept, and in particular I recommend their "Baby Book" because it is chock-full of useful advice (not just on the hot-button issues but stuff like how to handle it when your baby has a fever, stuff like that). But I'm not one of those who proclaim that they "practice Attachment Parenting" and accept everything that the Sears' say at face value -- I pick and choose. (That's not directed at ThyPeace btw, I used to post on a parenting board where people got pretty militant about various aspects of AP.)
I'm not sure if the Portal is available anymore but I wrote a review of "The Baby Book" there where I said something like, they can be annoying in their perfection -- "Oh, that worked for you, did it?? Well it's not working for US!" -- but there is enough good info that I highly recommend the book.
One of the biggest weaknesses with the Sears' and co-sleeping is that they have a zillion kids (8?) and only started with co-sleeping midway through. So the first co-sleepers had older siblings to join when it was time to leave the parents' bed. I had to really encourage the transition -- I think I described the reward chart already -- and it took a lot of effort, but it worked.
Sozlet still likes for me to be with her when she falls asleep, if only holding her hand -- that's fine with me.
All's quiet on the DD front, but then again, I've only seen her for about 7 hours in the last five days. Hard for her to get into too much trouble in that time. I did watch my ex be completely unable to get her to do what she wanted. So I loaned her my 1-2-3 Magic book. I hope she reads it.
This week will be interesting and difficult. Her other mom is 8.95 months pregnant and I'm having a bunch of people in for my 40th birthday. DD is going to get too much attention and not enough sleep and too much sweets and not enough down time. Ah, well, every kid has plenty of times like these in life.
(As a gift to myself, I got myself a marzipan Rittersport bar yesterday. And ate it. ALL. BY. MY. SELF.
)
ThyPeace--
Happy Birthday. May you start your new decade as a Woman With Defined Limits and may it be a happy time for all.
You probably mentioned the sex of DD's coming sibling, but I've forgotten. I think a boy would be easier all around, but no one gave me a vote.
DD tells me it's a boy. My ex is doing the "we're not telling anyone" thing. Which is fine. Except that DD told me it's a boy -- and told me the story of how she found out, which was entirely adorable and lots of fun. So when my ex does the "we're not telling anyone" thing, I just smile and nod.
ThyPeace--
Good. A boy can be a simplicity of the complexities.
Boy... born today. Healthy, from the reports I got. DD is excited, my ex sounds grounded, happy, and calm. Her husband looks stressed.
ThyPeace--
Please give my congratulations to the Big Sister.
