Our Little Roomate

At almost 5 months, Max is still sleeping in our bedroom.  At one point, during pregnancy I think I uttered the phrase “Oh, we plan to keep the baby in our room for at least a year”.

Pregnant Laura was crazy. No offense to my beautiful, wonderful, handsome child but I want him out Out OUT!!

When Max was born, he was up every two hours to eat so it made sense to keep him in a portable crib next to our bed. I could just sit up, pull him out of the crib and get him to latch on.  The plan was to fall back asleep until he was done noshing and then just gently lay him back in the crib. I could then lovingly watch as my little prince drifted to dreamland with a sleepy smile on his face. Reality did not follow the plan. There was always a struggle to get him to latch and when he finally had his fill it took 45 minutes of begging, bouncing, rocking, pacing, singing and walks around the block to get him to stop screaming and fall back asleep. Reality is a bitch.

As he grew, Max started to fall back asleep without a struggle. However, his frequent wakings continued.  Three hours between a waking was a good night.  It’s getting better but he’s still up 1-3 times a night and needs one feeding during that time.  He’s a terrible sleeper, just like me. Many friends with kids Max’s age have moved their baby into the nursery but Max is still residing in our room. It’s not due to a parenting philosophy but because his parents are sleep deprived and lazy.

The layout of our house puts Max on a different floor than Brett and I.  If we put Max in his room, going to feed or comfort him in the middle of the night would require stumbling down a flight of stairs, tripping over unfolding laundry, toys and pets, flipping on bright lights the stumbling back up the stairs.  All these things would be enough to fully wake me up and keep me from falling back asleep.  I’d be even more sleep deprived (if that’s possible). So, until Max becomes a consistent sleeper we’ve decided to leave him in our room. He’ll probably be about 13.

It kinda sucks.  I selfishly want my room back.  Brett and I have our best conversations in our bedroom as there is no TV or laptop to distract us.  I’m sick of having to tip-toe through the room each night lest we wake the sleeping giant.  I want to be able to read a book using my reading lamp and not the dim light of my iPhone flashlight app. I want to, well, I won’t get into what else I want….

Until I go completely insane Max sleeps through the night, he’ll bunk with us. Besides, if he starts to need his actual crib, what will we use as a changing table?  

How long did your little one(s) sleep in your room?  Any hints on how to make the transition?