In which you think I'm crazy...

Dear Friends,

In case you didn't remember let me spell it out- I'm pretty crunchy, especially in our parenting style. Of all the things that I do that are crunchy my two favorites are breastfeeding and co-sleeping. This post is (somewhat) about co-sleeping.

I love co-sleeping! I love cuddling with my babies all night long. I love not having to get up to nurse. I love comforting them instantly, instead of waiting until it's developed into full out crying. Sure I get sick of my kids and wish for a little alone time, but that happens when they're awake and being whiny, not asleep and being adorable. In fact co-sleeping is often where/when I recharge my love battery for my kids. I look down at Peanut or Little Cat so sweet and cuddly and remember why I haven't sold them to the first passerby.

Now when people hear about co-sleeping they usually have two main questions:

1. When/where do you have sex?

2. When/How do you eventually get them out of your bed?

I'm not going to answer question #1 (my mother in law reads this!) but obviously it happens since we have two kids.

As to the second question I just figured they'd leave when they were ready. Peanut has his own bed right next to ours (which I heard about from another co-sleeper) and while there were some space issues when Little Cat came home (mostly due to the fact Ox likes co-sleeping as long as no one is sleeping right up against him) but again Peanut has his own bed so even if we weren't bed-sharing with him all the time we were still sleeping in the same room and he could cuddle Ox's warm back or arm. I never feared Peanut or Little Cat would be in our bed until college. One day they would just decide they wanted their own space and voile! we'd move them out. In terms of real age expectations I'd heard up to age seven pretty regularly so I wasn't in any rush. For this reason we have only one 'bedroom' and all the kids toys are in a play room. Except that day seems to have come early!

In the toy room we have a twin bed that we use like a couch (except when family are visiting) and for the past couple days Peanut has been asking to sleep in there. ***It's breaking my heart*** Peanut wasn't a super cuddly baby and so co-sleeping was a time I cherished. Even after he moved to his bed on Ox's side he still slept near me occasionally and almost always crawled in with me after Ox went to work. This change was so quick! He asked to sleep in the living room one night because he wanted more of a light on than we allow in the bedroom and then he just seemed to claim the toy room bed as his sleeping space and has been sleeping there since.

At first I expected it to be a phase but it's been a bit now and he's going strong. I guess it's the next big step in him growing up but I really thought we'd have a couple more years. And so Peanut had grown out of my two favorite parts of crunchy mothering. I know I'll find other favorites but I'm pretty sad about it anyway.