We conquered the cosleeping monster

A month ago we set out to break the cosleeping habit and get Jax in his own bed!  It was a rough beginning and we had to find out what worked for him and us.. We tried everything you can think of and have resorted to just sitting in his room beside his bed till he falls asleep.  At first it was a pain but it was just a fight every other way and believe me he is stubborn and he will wear you down and win every time!  Hehehe

At first there were times we would have to sit in there for an hour at at time and then again when he would wake up in the middle of the night but finally after a long month we have had a full week of him sleeping ALLLLLLL night! OMG I have forgotten what that feels like and we usually only have to sit in there for 5-10 mins now! He gets in bed all by himself and lays down like a big boy and generally goes right to sleep!  

Naps have been equally as easy and its wonderful having all kids sleeping at the same time!  We have gotten our evenings back and our bed too! Yay

These are just some silly sleeping pics of him - passed out on the couch and in the car!

Notice Cloee in the background? IDK what she is doing but her shoes are on her hands she isnt a rubber leg girl hahaha silly kids!

Cosleeping, Sleep Training, Sleep Deprivation.. OH my!

Well our Sweet Lil Jaxsen is officially 16 months old and we are so over CoSleeping!  Its sweet and precious and its a sex life killer! Haha TMI but its true!  For the past year we have been rocking him every night, every nap and for the most part holding him while we sleep. Its sweet and its precious like I said but I dont want to be in the same place when he is two.   Before anyone starts throwing the hate comments about oh they grow out of it, enjoy it while you can etc.. I know far to many people who still have 5 and 6 year olds who they cant get out of their bed.   As A mom of 3 toddlers I need that time during the day when they are all sleeping to get things done.  Having to hold him for 2 hours in the middle of the day just doesnt work.  Not being able to snuggle my husband bc a baby is constantly on or between us SUCKS.  We can leave him in the recliner for a little bit, which he loves, but it never lasts long!

Love this sweet lil boy and will always sneak in as many snuggles as possible but the time has come!  Starting at nap time yesterday I started putting him down in his bed.  Well actually his sisters bed! haha I moved Benjamin and Cloee in together for a while and Jax gets to get used to sleeping alone in the Princess room!  But he needs a place alone where he can fuss and be crazy with out waking everyone else up.

The first time was awful!  He fussed (not cried, no tears) really more like threw a big ole fit every time i walked out. For an hour and a half I put him back in the bed prob 100 times hahah!

He has never taken to any certain animals or blankets but being stuck in a princess room he found Dora and loves her! hahah

This is his sweet lil pouty face!  hahah Love it!

He would fall asleep and then the second he realized he was alone it would start all over!  I actually was bad and put in baby Eisenstein sleepy time DVD and it helped a lot.  When he was throwing his biggest  fit i would just say get back in your bed and watch your show.  Hed get back in bed and look at the tv and then shut his eyes.. Oh was it a draining night! 
He slept 6 hours strong then when he woke up at 3am it took me another hour and a half to get him back to sleep!

Nap time today it was much easier!  It only took about 20 mins!  I am hoping tonight is even easier and tomorrow even easier.  Who knows! Maybe he will finally learn to sleep all night! haha
Love my sweet baby but I so want our bed to be our bed and our bed alone! The biggest problem for us has been sticking to it.  Usually I end up giving in when its 3 am and I am exhausted but Im not doing it this time!  Were holding strong and sticking to the plan! Jax is well taken care of and I am not a cry it out fan but throw a fit it out is fine and the fits are getting shorter and shorter!  Progress people! Im excited!

Crazy sleeping toddler fun

This Video is Exactly Benjamin!

So I have to share a sleeping pic of each of my kids and tell you the insanity that surrounds!

First there is Benjamin, the oldest! Our 3 year old! He has to have very specific things in his bed and a very specific routine!

He must have all 27 dinosaurs in his bed! Most are 2 inches tall or less but one is like 2 feet tall! Lol

Then all his sports ball pillows, the cast of Toy Story, 4 very large monkeys, several small pillows and his tiger bebe!

Then there is Princess Cloee! Shes 2 and she has to sleep in her princess castle! And inside her castle she has 4-5 blankets, all 6 of her Minnie Mouses, an assortment of zebras an elephant and which ever other thing she has favored for the day!

 

Then you have our sweet little cosleeper who refuses to sleep alone... Its sweet until you get a foot in the neck! hahaha

Are anyone elses kids this crazy? lol!  Some days I wonder! hahah

Help! We have created a cosleeping monster

Yay! I am finally over the tummy bug!  Still haven't gotten my appetite back and am still crazy dehydrated but feeling mostly better!  Today I wanted to ask for advice from my lovely mommy pals! 

Jaxsen will be 1 year old in one week and is crazy spoiled and spends most of the night in our bed.  We moved his crib to our room a month or so ago hoping to get him used to sleeping in it again and then be able to move him back to his room by his birthday.  He is off formula and on milk now but still in a bottle.  I have tried to get him to drink it out of a cup but haven't had much luck.  Today I am seriously throwing away all the bottles and just gonna make it happen.  I know with Cloee she actually started sleeping better once we finally took her bottle away.

Yes they actually sleep like this most nights!

Jax has to be rocked to sleep, which isn't too big of a deal for the first time but then he expects it every time he wakes up, which is generally 3 times a night if not 5.  Once he falls asleep we put him in his bed and he generally wakes up within the hour.  At that point we are asleep and tired and end up picking him up and putting him in our bed.  If he is in our bed he seems to wake up less.  If he is in his crib he wakes up more often, some times he goes back to sleep if you pick him up and rock him other times you have to give him a bottle with water or milk to get him back to sleep.  

I am totally not into cry it out, especially since we have 2 other sleeping kidos and a small house.  I really want to get him back into his crib and out of our bed and eventually back into his room. I'm just at a loss... Do I keep offering him drinks at night to soothe him? Do I keep rocking him every time he wakes up? I know he has to learn to soothe himself but I just don't know how to get him there!  

We tried not picking him up and just patting his back and getting him back to sleep but that never works unless he is in our bed.  If he is in the crib he is just not happy about it.  He doesn't like being blocked off or confined at all. Which is probably why he doesn't like his crib very much.. ugh I just don't know what to do with him... I expected him to be grown out of this by now!  

What have you done with your little ones?  Do you have any suggestions, advice? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!!  Thanks in advance!

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