The Closet Co-Sleepers

Appa and I are not raising a co-sleeping family. We think everyone wins when everyone has their own sleeping space. That is what works for our family.

With that being said, we occasionally have brought Little Bug into our bed when he needs some extra loving. Sometimes he cuddles right in and falls into a deep sleep, and sometimes he thinks it is party time and ushers in some of the darkest, most frustrating hours of our week. Things are definitely LESS cute at 3:45 am. NO amount of silly smiles changes that truth.

When we transitioned him into the big boy bed recently, I thought we would have a lot of evenings where we would put him back in his bed throughout the night. Indeed, it started out that way, but it has now morphed into what I think might be the future of our family for some time to come.

The Closet Co-Sleeping family.

Around 2 am, Little Bug wakes himself up and starts to cry. My ears perk up in anticipation of one of my favorite sounds in the world.

Thump
pitter patter...pitter patter
[Door Opening]
pitter Patter Pitter Patter PITTER PATTER

For some reason, the sound of my little jammie-clad baby booking it down the hallway in bare feet to find us is the cutest thing in the world at 2 am. I lay still and wait for his little face to pop up right next to my face and beg in a groaning, scratchy, sometimes still 3/4 asleep voice...."Mama, up. Mama, UPPPPPPPPPPP!"

So I pull him up and he snuggles in between Appa and I and almost immediately falls back asleep, alternating between cuddling into Appa and shoving his face right into mine, to the point that we are almost breathing in each others' mouths. Appa throws an arm lovingly over his son and rests it on my side. Even in my sleep-reduced mind (or maybe because of it), I always have this moment of clarity right then...that my little family is the best thing in my life.

So that is what our sleeping arrangements have become. Little Bug falls asleep in his own big boy bed, and then sometime in the night comes to have some cuddle time with his mom and dad....just like Appa and I both did with our parents when we were little. Instead of forcing him back to bed, we're going to let this one ride out for a while, since we're all getting something good from it.

Unless Little Bug declares the evening "party time." Because NOTHING good comes from having your son's finger shoved up your nose as he sings "mmmbbaaapaadaa" and laughs while the world around you sleeps. Nothing good.