If you put co sleeping and sleep training together, what does it spell?
The absolutely primal and uncontrollable impulse to stay close to your baby is so deeply rooted in our DNA that it’s almost frightening sometimes. I’m sure evolutionary defensive instincts are what’s at play in this phenomenon. However, it feels more like love to me.
I just love this little human to the point where I want to be in contact with them, a lot! The baby doesn’t seem to mind! There’s just something so beautiful, so maternal, about sleeping next to your baby, that it almost seems crazy not to.
Or at least that’s how you felt until you tried it.. It was more like, “Listen, I love you, you love me, that’s established, however, I can’t sleep next to someone who hasn’t yet figured out the etiquette involved in sleeping next to another person. Jamming your thumb in my eye at 3:30am is just simply outside of the lines.”
I have friends who co-sleep and swear by it.
Some of them even have more than one kid sleeping in bed with them. Power to them. If they enjoy it and they’re doing it safely, I say co-sleep your heart out.
I’ve spoken to more than a few parents who are big on co-sleeping. They are, however, being woken up by feet in their face or thumbs in their eyes, or have a child constantly attached to their breast, or at least several times a night.
They want to know if sleep training will get their little ones to stop squirming or stop them from waking up fifteen times a night to nurse.
I really wish I had a more satisfying answer for those parents.
I understand wanting those two scenarios to live in harmony. Sleep next to your baby but have them not wake you up repeatedly through the night. That would be pretty cool.
Unfortunately, it’s not really all that likely for a couple of reasons.
Number one:
Babies and toddlers are often very animated sleepers.
It’s just a fact. They twist and turn and readjust themselves a thousand times a night. They will often end up completely on the other side of a queen-sized bed with their feet towards the headboard.
Number two:
Your baby thinks you’re just the greatest.
When they wake up in the night and see you lying next to them, they get excited.
They want you to interact with them so they try to engage with you, and since they’re still not aware of societal norms, they don’t know enough to lay a hand on your shoulder and quietly whisper, “Are you awake?” They do it by, say, jamming their finger in your ear or slapping you on the forehead. It’s not polite, but man it’s effective!
So why can’t sleep training alleviate this?
Simply put, because it’s not a sedative.
Sleep training is all about teaching your baby the skills to fall back to sleep on their own when they wake up in the night.
That’s a slight simplification, but at its core, that’s what we’re doing. We’re not doing anything that will get your baby to fall into stage 3 deep sleep and stay there for a solid 11 hours.
So while it’s possible that you could see some success in your child’s sleep habits by teaching them elements of independent sleep skills, you’re not likely to see the same kind of results you will if you get them sleeping in their own cot or bed, in their own room, without any distractions. Older children often won’t ‘believe’ they can sleep in their bed all night if they have never been helped to do it.
For those of you who are leery about giving up those magical cuddles in your bed, I have a suggestion that has helped my own family and many of those that I’ve worked with.
Set aside fifteen or twenty minutes every morning, after your kids are out of bed and well-rested, and bring them into your bed.
Cuddle them, play with them, sing some songs, play-wrestle, whatever their hearts desire. You can both still enjoy the closeness and familial bond that comes with sharing a bed without creating any associations that might mess with their ability to get to sleep at night, and without waking each other up.
If you’ve already been co-sleeping for quite a while and have decided it’s time to reclaim your bedroom, but your little one has other ideas, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ve worked with families to get them through this exact scenario with tremendous success and I can help yours too.