Musings and Mutterings..

The Family Bed

I was inspired to write this after reading the

article on ReikiMom's site about it.

I've been inadvertantly attachment parenting for almost

10 years. All this time I thought I was just following my

instincts, and doing what was best for my kids,

now I find out there's a name for it.

At times over the years I've had many names for

it, but attachment parenting never occured to me :0))

OK, seriously, I could really identify with a lot of the

article and personally would like to encourage anyone

thinking about it to give it a try.

I found that even as a stay at home mom, the

nights were treasures after a long, hectic day.

I still recall how my son used to love to snuggle into

my arms, we spent many hours that way and I think

it went a long way in the lifelong

 process of bonding.

My daughter, on the other hand, had the

unfortunate combination of reduced sleeping space

(well, a mother that was afraid to boot Dad onto the couch)

so we tried to put her in a crib. For the first year, I

looked like a walking zombie, and felt like one.

She was up so many times in the night I lost count.

To this day we haven't bonded the way I would

like. When daughter number two came along, she slept

with me right from the start. At this point I think we're

bonding quite nicely, and I get a lot more sleep.

My older daughter now sleeps with us too most

nights, and my son sleeps on a futon mattress

that I keep under the bed. (I let him slide it out at night

:0) Yes, they both have beds, and bedrooms, but they like to

sleep with me, and I like it. Sometimes, it works better

if they sleep in their bedrooms, and they do that

nicely too, although they prefer to sleep together.

Update: It's now Dec. 2000, my son is 10 and prefers to sleep

in his own room. My daughter who slept in her crib when she

was a babe, is afraid so I sleep on another bed in her room

with my second daughter who just turned 3 and does

sleep through, but better if I'm with her so I

don't mind. I feel this time will be over soon

enough so I'm enjoying all the snuggles I can get while

their still available!