So, Cameron moved to his crib last Monday night.
Kinda.
I guess I should start at the beginning, because honesty? This one simple change of beds wasn’t so simple.
When Cameron came home from the hospital, he spent all of his nights in the cradle that I spent my first nights in. We have a lovely heirloom cradle that my Mom’s uncle made for her when I was born. It has held all of my sisters and is now providing a little rocking bed for the next generation.
Before Cameron was born, our plan was for him to sleep in our room in his cradle by our bed (co-sleeping or roomsharing) until he was roughly 3 months old. And then at three months old? Well, of course I would be perfectly fine to let Cameron sleep all on his own in his huge crib. Right?
Wrong.
Three months came and went, and Cameron was still in our room. I was totally okay with this (Hubs… not so much). You see, I had recently read that it is now recommended that babies sleep in your room until at least six months of age (most publications suggest roomsharing for six to twelve months). And trust me, I didn’t need pages upon pages of resources telling me to keep my baby close.
So, when Cameron outgrew his cradle, he moved into his pack ‘n play – right beside my bed.
Here’s the thing though – I’m not Cameron’s only parent. Which means I’m not the only one who makes the parenting decisions. And the other parent? He wanted Cameron to sleep in his crib in the nursery.
But, unless I’m not home for whatever reason, I am the only parent who puts Cameron to bed every night, goes to him whenever he fusses, and feeds him in the middle of the night. Doesn’t that at least entitle me to decide where and how my baby sleeps?
You, see, it isn’t even as easy as just walking to a different room and laying my baby down in a different bed.
This is Cameron’s nursery (please excuse the mess and the lousy photo-skills. We have little storage space, and my 50mm lens couldn’t grab a good view of the room).
The nursery pretty much consists of a crib, a keyboard, and a change table. Did you notice what’s missing? That’s right – somewhere to nurse my baby.
This means that if I am to move Cameron into his bedroom, I have to get up from my bed every time Cameron gets hungry at night, go to his room, and then take him either back to my bed or to the living room to nurse him, then bring him back to his room. This is not ideal for a sleepy Mommy and baby.
So, I gave Dan some ultimatums. You want Cameron in his own room? You put him to bed at night. You get up with him every time he fusses and you nurse him.
I did tell you that Cameron has moved into his own crib in his own room. Does that mean that Dan grew a pair of boobs and learned to produce milk? Nope.
It means that I (we) have compromised.
Cameron will start off in his crib during the nights. Once Cameron is down for the count, Dan and I have the evening and our bedroom to ourselves. But, as soon as Cameron wakes up to eat, he comes back to our room and sleeps in his pack ‘n play by our bed for the rest of the night.
It is a scenario I can live with.
So, Cameron has finally moved to his own room and into his own bed.
Kinda.
