Late nights

B.B. is having a hard time giving up the fight tonight. He's usually down between 8 and 9 p.m. Tonight he's determined to see his dad get home. We've rocked, he's nursed, he's dozed and napped. We even laid in bed together so he could drift off. All to no avail. I've put him down 3 times now and each time he's popped up screaming.

None of my children have ever been what you'd call "good" sleepers. All have spent time in the family bed. None has ever slept through the night before the first birthday. Maybe it's because I can't stand the "let them cry it out" method (incidentally #1 Son was a puker so that never worked for him anyway). Maybe it's because they're too much like me. I haven't slept through the night since high school. At any rate, no voluntary naps, no laying them down awake and letting them coo themselves to sleep.

I blame it all on Husband. When Baby Girl was tiny he'd come home from work and put her in our bed. I'd wake up to find her nestled in between us. When I'd ask what she was doing there he'd say, "I missed her." That's when I got lazy. It's so much easier to nurse them back to sleep when I'm almost there myself!

Along came #1 Son. Baby Girl was still in bed with me (this is where it gets a little unusual) and Husband had moved into the guest room. Between his snoring, her tossing, and my pregnancy pillows, there was no room in the bed for Husband. #1 Son was successfully kept in his crib for many months but then B.B. was expected. I told Husband I could only handle 1 baby a night so #1 Son moved in with his dad. That's when he gave up sleeping in his crib, and started sleeping with his father.

Baby Girl finally decided she would sleep in her own room in her own bed (the decision was helped along by the promise of Dora the Explorer sheets). That helped out immensely. Now we're working on getting #1 Son to sleep in the toddler bed. I must admit I'm getting lazy again and B.B. spends half the night with me.

Needless to say, we get odd looks when the kids mention "Mommy's room" and "Daddy's room." Few people truly understand our sleeping arrangements. I hold out hope that someday we'll share a room again. We'll have to eventually, we only have 3 bedrooms!