Home > Baby > Sleep > Co-Sleeping: Expectation Vs Reality Post author By The Mum Club Post date 17 April 2021 Co-Sleeping: Expectation Vs Reality The Mum Club17 April 2021 Along with dummies, screen time and the Sleepyhead,, co-sleeping is one of the final parenting taboos. Yes we’re aware of the risks (which should never be ignored) but we’ve all been there and the truth is that snuggling up with your baby can be the best thing ever. It’s not, however without its downsides… Expectation ‘My baby will sleep in their (very) expensive bedside crib/Moses basket’ Reality Turns out, nobody briefed your new-born they’d be relocating from a warm and squishy womb to a giant Snuzpod in a matter of days. Yes it cost you £200 and you bought the bottom sheet from John Lewis but they’ll still want the comforting sound of your heartbeat and the touch of your skin. When they scream all night, take it as a compliment. They miss you. Expectation ‘We’ll never have sex again’ Reality Sleeping with your baby doesn’t mean you can’t have sex, it just means your sofa gets a lot of action (ok, some…we’re still really tired). Babies go to bed early, so make the most of that precious alone time and do it downstairs. With the curtains shut, obvs. Expectation ‘We’ll all get more sleep’ Reality Your tiny intruder now commands three quarters of the king-sized bed, leaving you to fall asleep on a perilous cliff-edge of mattress. You clutch onto the corner of the duvet (now barely covering your right shoulder) like your life depends on it. Namely because it actually does; if you roll over you’ll almost certainly knock yourself out on the bedside table. Expectation ‘If the baby is right next to us, my husband will have to help more’. Reality Take it from us; they don’t hear them. Your next-door neighbours won’t sleep through the ambulance-like wails of your offspring penetrating the walls, but your other half will snore on by like a warthog. It’s biological, apparently, but feel free to unleash seven shades of holy hell when they wake up the next morning and announce that they’re ‘still tired’. Expectation ‘My baby has slept soundly in their crib from day one. That’s never going to change’. Reality That may well be the case now, but you can bet that the second they graduate to the Big Girl’s Bed, you’ll experience the fresh horror of waking up 12 times a night with a small child standing three inches away from your face. Four hours of them bouncing right out of bed every time you put them back in it, and we guarantee you’ll and shove them in with you for some much-needed peace. Expectation ‘I’ll definitely co-sleep with my child’ Reality Fun fact: kids rarely do what you want them to. So you can practically guarantee that if you’ve opted to share the bed with your baby, they’ll have other ideas. From the night-time wanderer to the won’t-stop-wriggler, you might find yourself putting them in their own room regardless. Expectation ‘They’ll never go back in their own bed’ Reality There aren’t many 40-year-old men still snuggling up to their mums, so stop worrying. One day they’ll want their own space and you’ll probably be really sad, so just soak it in while you can. Expectation ‘People will judge me’ Reality Just like stalking your other-half’s ex on Insta and picking your nose, we’ve all fallen asleep with a babe in the bed, whether that’s once in a blue moon or every night for six years. We’re all just doing what we can to survive – and don’t worry, everyone knows it. Tags 5minuteread, Yournaptimeknowhow The Mum Club17 April 2021 ← Priceless Gifts For A New Mum → How To Conquer The Fussy Eaters
