Why I sleep with my baby.

It's an endless debate and one of the most challenging things you will have to decide  as a parent. I know that my choice was not made until after our oldest was born and we'll nothing was how I expected.

Before having RL I imagined multiple  nightly baby wake up calls. I imagined that dad would wake up with us girls, walk to the baby's bed, bring me baby, I would nurse, and then daddy would put back the quietly sleeping baby. Yeah....No that never happened.

What did happen is daddy slept on the couch and me and baby discovered  co-sleeping. It was something I never imagined happening, and honestly  had not done any research on. But I found it both successful  and satisfying in achieving  relatively restful nights. I tried to put miss stubborn down in the bassinet and her eyes would shoot open the moment her back touched the bed, and then they would close again and off to sleep she went nestled in my arm. So I gave in and decided okay co-sleeping was the only way we would get rest.

Five reasons I co-sleep,

1-  I get more sleep.  I figure that I am more of a risk to my baby, myself, and well anyone if I am well rested. To push myself beyond what I know I am capable of makes for a pretty mean Krissy... I find that when I have baby nestled beside me I sleep pretty great, and i almost have a crazy awareness of baby as we sleep. I feel that that getting sleep is better because then I dont risk falling into an unintended deep sleep of exhaustion.

2. Benefits to breastfeeding. Keeping baby close and skin to skin helps your body establish a healthy supply for your baby! Not to mention how easy it is to just latch baby for midnight feedings.

3. Body temperature regulation. Another awesome thing about a mothers chest is that it can help regulate a baby's body temperature. I never really feel like baby gets too hot or cold laying next to me.

4. I love the snuggles. It really is as simple as that. I really do sleep better with my baby close.

5. Trigger warning. Should my baby ever pass due to SIDS (as my older brother did at just 5 months old) I would want them to pass away next to me, even smothered by me, because I would never want my child to die in a bed alone. It is my worst fear.