Sweet Dreams

Before Frances was born we planned to have her sleep in her cradle in our room for three months since most SIDS prevention websites recommended rooming in during the early days. After this she would make the transition to the crib in her room. I had read about co-sleeping on these sites as well: cultures that practice, cultures that don't, advantages, disadvantages, etc. While some suggested that it was a key prevention strategy overall the research was inconclusive. And so we decided that co-sleeping wasn't for us.

Then Frances was born with her own thoughts and feelings on how and where she should sleep. Here is how our first few nights together went down: nurse, fall asleep, move to cradle, wake up, nurse, fall asleep, move to cradle, wake up, repeat until morning. Ugh. Until we tried having her sleep in our bed.

Of course, this won't last forever. We want her to be able to sleep on her own and eventually (after three months) in her own room. We want to have a good night time routine that comforts her and helps her to fall asleep peacefully. But for now (while she's still so little and unsure of the world around her) this allows all of us to get a good nights sleep. It's kind of neat actually discovering her little preferences and what works and what doesn't despite what we may have thought would work in theory. It feels like we're slowly learning all the idiosyncrasies and nuances that make up wee Frances.