Bedsharing....Again

Warning:  The pictures in this blog include sleeping children and nursing babies, if that offends you..... don't read.


Last night the whole family slept together.  The twins asked to sleep upstairs too.  Which I thought was cute, Paul thought was not as cute.  LOL  None the less.  Here is a picture of the set up.  I was over with the red, black, grey blanket.  and though you can't see her that is where Elise is as well.

Sorry the pic quality aint great.  I was trying to get a quick snap shot without waking any of the sleeping LO's!  But so from left to right.  It was Me, Elise, Paul.  Then from top to bottom it was Maya, Jasperlyn, Mason.  :)  And everyone slept great. 

We need to rearrange up there to  get things better situated.  But all in all I like the set up.  I do think now we should move to a cheaper smaller place if we are all gonna be in one room!  J/K  LOL  The twins normally do sleep seperate.  But they are still fairly young, so you gotta cut them some slack.  The night before last there was a  lot of nightmares.  Sleeping this way gives them a lot of comfort.

Here is a picture of Elise from the other night.  The reason its so easy to sleep well with a Breastfeeding infant is that the buffet is right next door.  I just roll over and she helps her self.  LOL

What you can't see in the picture is that she has my hair in her other hand and is whipping it back and forth and cuddling it.  While her eyes are closed.  LOL

Bed-Sharing vs Co-Sleeping

Recently I was told that co-sleeping is sharing a room, but not a bed. And bed sharing was as it says, sharing a bed.  Recently we became a bed-sharing family.  Well not all of us, but most of us.  LOL  The twins do not sleep in our bed, but everyone else does.  We have two full size beds mashed up together.  And I won't say who sleeps where, because we don't really have "spots".  But Jasperlyn used to sleep in the same room as Maya, but she was always sneaking into our bed and then crying hysterically when we would move her back into her bed.  So traumatic for her and me!  So I decided that she could just sleep with us.  Elise does.  And last night everyone laid down for bed and all were happy.  And though it may be a step backwards of sorts it is a step forward in taking back our sleep! 


Now for those of you with dirty minds who are already wondering were the "adult time" is gonna happen.  The answer is easy.  Obviously not in the bed!  LOL  Here is a favorite article I read of Mayim Bialik's (you may know her as Blossom).  Aside from being an actress she is also a Neuroscientist and a holistic parent. Here is what she says about bed-sharing.

"Mayim Bialik: Why we let our children sleep in our bed
Two kids, no cribs... no problem? Sharing a bed with your kids isn't the norm in the U.S., but former "Blossom" actress Mayim Bialik explains how it works for her family -- and why she doesn't think it's so weird.

Denise Herrick Borchert

By Mayim Bialik, Ph.D., TODAY Moms contributor

We sleep with our two kids. They are 5 and 2, and I have never owned a crib or a bassinet. Our family bed consists of two futons on the floor side by side: one with black sheets, the other adorned with knights, castles and dragons. We don’t co-sleep, which means sleeping in the same room; we sleep in the same bed. That’s called bed-sharing.

I know some of you think it’s unsafe. I know some of you think it’s unhealthy. I know some of you think my spoiled, coddled kids will never outgrow it. And let’s just be brutally honest: I know you think it’s weird.

Unsafe. Sleeping with your children is not unsafe. It’s actually really safe and really smart: you know the condition of your child at any time at an arm’s length. There are well-established guidelines for how to sleep safely with your baby. When you sleep with your baby, you know if they are coughing, congested, starting to fuss, or if they’re too cold or too hot. A mother’s body is designed to adjust to help her newborn achieve optimal body temperature; talk about smart! Rolling onto a baby is an exaggerated fear that is not based on any research. It is not hard to make a bed safe for a baby. Either put it on the floor or get a bed rail to keep your little one from rolling out. So it looks ugly? Sorry. So does my tummy after two kids.

Unhealthy. Sleeping with your baby facilitates easier and less stressful breast-feeding, which is the healthiest thing you can do for your child in the first year of life. Sleeping with your baby stimulates hormones that encourage bonding, reduce anxiety and depression, and increase the chances that you will establish a strong supply of breast milk. The vigilance a new mother has for her baby is programmed into our DNA. Mammals sleep with other mammals; we are supposed to do it. You don’t sleep alone, why should babies and children?

Outgrowing it. Do you know any 18-year-olds sleeping with their parents? Nursing? Using a pacifier? Wearing a diaper? I didn’t think so. Early dependence on our parents for comfort, warmth, safety, and love at night, as well as in the day, is natural and normal. Children outgrow the “need” when they are developmentally ready to do so. There is no evidence that children who sleep with their parents are whiny, clingy, spoiled, or less able to become productive, sensitive and caring adults. On the contrary, families who sleep together report feelings of security, closeness and trust that I think our society could use more of.

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Weird. There is nothing inherently weird or wrong about sleeping with your children. It feels good to cuddle, doesn’t it? Babies and kids think so, too. It’s NORMAL. Worried about your fantastic sex life taking a hit? Find other places to have sex besides your bed. End of story. If your kid kicks, get a bed attachment like the Arm's Reach co-sleeper. If you are such a light sleeper that you feel homicidal every morning, I am not going to tell you that you have to sleep with your kid. Do I sleep as well with my kids in our bed as I would without? No. But it will be over soon, and it’s not weird to want to be close to your children when their physiological and psychological development dictates that they need to be held close.

The Lowdown. We used to have one futon for me, my husband and baby No. 1. Then I got pregnant and we added the “big brother” futon where my husband and the soon-to-be “big brother” started sleeping. Invariably, when baby No. 2 arrived, I slept with both boys. The family bed is the great unifier: It’s the place we are all equal. Even when our first son’s role in the family shifted because of the newborn, when the sun went down, we were all equal in our one big bed. These days (and nights), my husband sleeps in the knights and castles bed with our older son, and I sleep with our younger son. A few nights a week, our older son bounces over to “my bed” and returns to my husband for morning cuddles as I nurse our younger son into the new day.

The moments we share in the dawn I would not give up for anything: the whispers, the giggles, the just-awakening dreams and musings of a very small person who is happy and safe in my arms. “Mama, I’m going to sleep with you even when I’m a teenager” was whispered to me before my eyes even popped open last week. I simply laughed; little does he know how undesirable that would be for all involved!

The moments we share after we recite the Jewish blessings of nighttime are also precious to us -- watching our boys go from awake and fiery to restful and angelic: asleep at last. I find myself gazing at those faces many times a night; a reminder that although my husband and I may not be perfect, the boys who carry our names might just be. And that’s a reminder that gives us comfort -- all night long.

REference: http://moms.today.com/_news/2011/03/07/6212018-mayim-bialik-why-we-let-our-children-sleep-in-our-bed , Retrieved 7/26/2011

Mayim Bialik starred in the early-1990s television show “Blossom” and currently appears on the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” She earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA in 2007, and wrote her thesis on Prader-Willi syndrome. The spokesperson for the Holistic Moms Network and a certified lactation educator, Bialik is writing a book about attachment parenting, and she has two sons, Miles, 5, and Frederick, 2. She blogs regularly at TODAYMoms.com."

Camping, Cloth Diapering, Poison Ivy

So for several years Paul and I have been going to Cornerstone Festival.  For those who do not know what C-stone is it is a Christian music festival with hundreds of bands, lots of food, and lots of merchandise.  You spend the week camping out.  This year I was pretty worried of the aspect of camping out for a week with 4 children 5 and under in the blistering heat of July.  We left at 10 - 11 pm the night before the festival.  We knew we wouldn't get in until 9 am the next day, but we also knew some had been camping out for days and the line would already be in place.  We wanted a good camping spot so off we went.  We got there around 1:30 or so.  We were in the fourth row in the line. And we slept in the van.

So although we got there so early when we finally got in around 9:00 am we still didn't get our usual spot.  But we were close.  We still got in the shade and in the general area.  All in all I was pleased with where we ended up.

We set up our tent, and the kids tent.  The kids have their own tent that they love.  Although only Mason and Maya slept in that one, which was right next to ours.

Jasperlyn slept in her own bed in our tent per her request and Elise slept in our bed.  All kids slept amazingly all week despite any weather, noisy campers, or blaring music.

Although Maya immediately came down with a horrid case of poison ivy.  That she continued to break out in throughout the week.

We did spend some time in the van in the air conditioning.  And a couple naps were spent there as well.  But other than that we used the golf cart for rides to cool down when needed.

We lived on that golf cart.  It was a life saver.  Not only did it always get us from our camp site that was a mile or more away, but also kept the kids entertained whenever they were stressed out, bored, or hot.

The kids loved to dance and in some cases mosh around.  But when it got late they slept wherever they were.  Even if it was P.O.D blaring from the stage!

I was continuing to cloth diaper for the week despite the camping trip.  This is obviously more proof that I am absolutely in love with cloth diapering!  I hand washed every diaper and insert and then set them out to dry in the sun.  Which is what they do at home anyway since my dryer is broken.

Maya's favorite music group was SHEL which is a group of 4 sisters.  They were amazing and so very talented.  She loved their hats!

All in all the week was a lot of fun.  We did end up leaving super late on Sunday night. But everyone has tons of memories and had lots of fun!