Sleeping with Puppy

Aunt Nancy gave Roman "Puppy" a long time ago, but lately he has become his new favorite napping pal; he likes using "Big Bear" that GaGa got him as a pillow too. I'm so glad we hung in there with Roman when he was not a very good sleeper. There were moments when I was tempted to lock him is his room and let him cry himself to sleep- like when I would try for an hour and half to get him to sleep, or when he would wake up 2-3 times a night to nurse. But they were just temproary phases. Babies NEED to be fed often and held and comforted often, it's normal and natural, and I believe they should be allowed to grow in this process at their own pace. Now, our little buddy is such a happy sleeper, not something most parents of toddlers report.

He will tell us that it's time for a nap by saying, "Roman's sleepy" or "ding-ding-dong." And at night, if it goes too much past 8 o'clock, he will tell his toys "night-night" and just start heading up the stairs. If I don't immediately follow him, he says, "Mama, Roman, bath, night-night." He sleeps for 11-12 hours without waking to nurse and always wakes up with dry pants. I brag in part because there are a lot of mamas out there who use "Cry it out" methods that I believe can be very detrimental to a child, and one of the things they like to say about breastfed/co-sleeping babies is that they'll never sleep through the night and they'll be spoiled. Well, that's clearly not the case with this super little guy. : )

At night, he makes sure Yoda goes potty and then tucks him into bed with a pillow and pulls the blanket up. He tells him night-night and gives him a kiss. Then he reads a book and I read a book and he says, "Turn light off! 1-2-3!" He nurses a little then rolls over and falls asleep. The whole process takes about 5-20 minutes. Although we're very happy having him in our bed, he did ask last night if he could sleep in his big boy bed in his room. We're not quite ready to do this for a number of reasons (one being proximity to our bedroom upstairs), but it's nice to know he has such a good attitude about it for when the time comes.