Bedtime routines and Mommy time

I managed to escape.

Escape… that sounds so bad.

Our co-sleeping routine used to be that Wyatt settled down for the night whenever I decided to go to bed. Prior to my bedtime, he typically slept on either Mike or I if we were relaxing at home or in the carrier if we happened to be out (which is a rare occurrence).

Over the past month, he’s been ready to go to sleep by 8:30-9pm. The issue here is: he won’t go to bed without the boob or without me. Since I was sick for almost 3 weeks, this earlier routine worked to my advantage as I was needing the extra sleep. Now, I’m too alert to go down at 8:30 pm.

Tonight once Wyatt fell asleep, I told Mike to snuggle in closer to him and I snuck out of the room. Often if Wyatt isn’t in a deep enough sleep, he will fuss for me. Tonight, he reached for me, but was content enough to go right back to sleep. Mike loves going to bed early especially since he’s been working overtime lately. This arrangement might work well moving forward.

I finished stuffing diapers and put away a load of baby laundry. Now, I’m sitting at the kitchen table with the dimmer lights down enjoying a cup of tea. Wyatt’s been a major Mommy suck lately. I can’t recall the last time I got this many minutes alone.

But you know…

The second my tea is done I’ll crawl into bed and snuggle in close. Because as much as I appreciate the freedom, I absolutely love my time with my little man.

When I was sick we struggled with the 4 month sleep regression. Even though he was going down earlier, Wyatt was up every 2-3 hours for days on end.  I’m very happy to say I got a few 7 hours stretches over the past few nights (but we all know that it’s never 7 straight hours. I still wake up to check on him). Wyatt will typically sleep until sometime between 8-9am with a few feedings in between usually starting around 3-4am.

We’ve just been honouring Wyatt’s tired cues, but do most babies go to bed earlier? What time did/does your 4.5-5 month old go to sleep?

Why does my parenting approach matter to you?

I sent a news article about how you won’t spoil your baby by picking them up to my Dad and he responded with,”You will pay for it later…” 

How?

How will I pay later for loving and tending to my child’s needs now?

I told my Dad I actually think my husband and I will pay less as our son (hopefully) won’t be in counselling dealing with all of the childhood issues that my husband and I both struggle with. HA HA HA HA 🙂

My Mom encouraged my SIL to move my nephew to his crib at 3 months.

My husband’s Uncle constantly tells us to let Wyatt “cry it out”.

His Aunt thinks that co-sleeping is dangerous, that my breast milk isn’t enough to sustain my son, and that we should already be feeding him mashed potatoes.

Why does everyone have an opinion? Why is our parenting style so difficult for our families to understand and accept?

I’m not hardcore with schedules, but I am fairly crunchy.

I breastfeed on demand.

Wyatt is 100% in cloth diapers.

I baby wear when it works for us, particularly for afternoon naps. We often use the stroller for outings though.

Wyatt gets a ton of cuddles and snuggles, but he also gets equal play time on his floor mat and in the exersaucer.

For me, parenting is about balance. It’s about listening to my child and trusting that my husband and I know what’s best for him.

Some days  I have no trouble ignoring the unsolicited advice, but other days I can help but want to scream at them, “WHO ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION ANYWAY?”

Deep breath.