KING-SIZED BED-Kate
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 11:15AM
We have a king-sized bed. We bought this bed when our youngest child turned 3 years old. Both Gary and I were excited to replace the old queen that had served us through 3 children. We searched for many months looking for the “right” bed. We sat and lay upon many beds. We spoke with many bed store representatives. We saved our money to pay cash for our bed. Finally, after we gathered our resources, and research-we bought our bed. Because we didn’t have extra money to pay for delivery, we placed the mattresses in the back of our truck and hauled the new bed across town in 2 trips. We removed the old queen bed, and gleefully set up and made our new king-sized bed. Little did we know, that our bed would no longer be ours...
As a young mother, I co-slept with the first 3 of our children. I truly enjoyed snuggling up each night with their sweet heads under my nose. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night, go into their room, pull them from their crib, and then nurse them while rocking in a rocker. Instead, when they awakened, I would simply pull them close, help them latch on, and doze in and out while they nursed. When they finished nursing, I would move them slightly apart and we would both drift into slumber. Rolling on them was never an issue for my husband or myself.
When the children got older (usually around 3), and the next child came along, we slowly weaned them into their own “big” kid bed. This was always a traumatic time for both the child being weaned, and myself. But there was just no room in our queen-sized bed for Gary, Child #1, Katie, and Baby #2. Gary and I spent hours sleeping next to them in their new bed while they adjusted to sleeping alone. When Leah, our 4th child, appeared, she did not follow the same manner of the other 3. At 2 weeks of age, Leah refused to co-sleep. She insisted on her own space in her own crib! I was frantic. How was I supposed to know if she was still breathing? How was I supposed to sleep without that sweet little body cuddled next to me? How was I supposed to keep Gary from attacking me with sex and possibly getting me pregnant again? My life was changed!
Leah spent the first 7 months of her life sleeping next to my bed in a porta-crib. During those first 7 months, I would frequently awaken throughout the night nervous that she was still breathing. We moved her into her own room around 8 months of age, of course, keeping a monitor on her at all times. Throughout the next 2 ½ years, I began to realize the freedom of NO CHILD IN BED WITH ME!!! The freedom of sleeping with no one attached to me, or pushing me, or sucking on me, or....the list goes on. Of course there was still the husband attacks, but those I could work around to get the occasional good night’s rest. It was time to splurge on the bed of our dreams-the KING-SIZED bed. Woo-hoo!
Our joy was short-lived when Leah turned 3 years old. Leah became afraid of the dark. Since that fateful night 3 ½ years ago, Leah has religiously slept in our bed (yes, she's 6 1/2 years old now). Gary has taken to grumbling about how it “used” to be when no child slept in our bed-all 2 years of it. Me, I just smile as I cuddle next to that sweet head and breathe deeply of the peaceful innocence slumbering next to me. Peaceful innocence that occasionally kicks me during the night. I know that Leah will not always sleep next to us. Soon she will want nothing to do with us as parents. So even though she is a late bloomer, I’m going to love every minute of it. Especially since she cuddles more on Gary’s side than mine!
Kate Briggs, co-sleep, kids, king-size, queen-size, raising kids, sleep
Reader Comments (1)
a night with no kids in the bed??? I am not sure I can comprehend that...tell me in full detail what it feels like. Don't hold back - I want every little detail! I guess there will come a day that I appreciate the moments...