Sleeping with DS is driving me batty!

[shanniesue2]

We are co sleeping part time.  Either DH or I lay down with DS till he falls asleep.  Then, whoever puts him to bed usually comes back to our bed after he's asleep (if we haven't fallen asleep with him).  During the night (usually at around 4 am) he will come join us in our bed.  Some nights, he comes to join us at 12:30 or 1:00 and sometimes he doesn't wake up to join us at all.

The thing that drives me batty is that when he crawls in with us, he will not keep his hands off me.  He spends the entire time groping at my back, my chest, my arm... whatever part of me is closest to him.  He also digs his feet down into my pants.  If he's not doing those things, then he's trying to press his body into mine.  Seriously, it's like he can't get close enough to me.  Sometimes it's his whole body, and sometimes, its just one body part.  The other night, it was his head.  I swear I had a bruise in my back from where he was shoving his head into me for half the night.  I kept trying to move him more toward the center of our bed, and he just kept scooting close to me.  And this kind of stuff all happens in his sleep.  So it's not like I can tell him to stop.  Because he doesn't even realize he's doing it.  Some nights I will get up and go into his bed once he has come into ours.  But I hate sleeping in his bed.  The mattress is too firm for me (we can't afford another one... so that's not an option.)

Anyway, I  am just so freaking touched out.  It really drives me completely nutty and I can't sleep at all.  I don't know what to do!

[BFandHS]

Wow, that sounds really hard.  How old is he?  Would it be safe to protect yourself with a pillow?  I wouldn't want you to risk having a pillow near him if he's young enough to smother on it, but if it's big enough, that could protect you.

[shanniesue2]

He'll be 3 in February... so yeah, he's big enough for pillows.  I will give that a try.  My gut feeling is that he will just move it out of his way.  But anything is worth a shot.  Especially since the only other thing I have come up with is somehow locking him in his room.  (don't worry, I'm not going to actually do that.... but the thought has crossed my brain more than once)

[HappyMommy2]

I don't have any advice, but wanted you to know you are not alone!  We are "accidental" co-sleepers, and both my kids (3&5) do that extreme cuddling thing. 

It's not good enough to be in my bed, they have to be pressing all up against my body.  Two of them!  One on each side.  If I move a tiny bit to rearrange myself, they use the opportunity to roll in closer. (while they are asleep)  So I have one wedged underneath each side of me.  I am 8 mo pregnant, so it really sucks at this point.  Plus, they are so in tune with my sleep cycles, that they wake up each time I go to the bathroom.  I can't even have my 3 am insomnia to myself!!  AARRRRGGGHH!

My son has a double bed that my DH and I escape to.  But, like yours, it is not that comfortable either.  At the Black Friday sales, BJ'sis selling those miracle foam mattress toppers for $100 (on sale from $200).  I am considering splurging on that, since the mattress is pretty new.

Good luck mama!

[fuzzylogic]

Time to stop co-sleeping, then.  Put him back in his bed when he wakes up......nicely telling him that he's a big boy now, and he sleeps by himself.  You have rights as a parent, and one of them includes sleep.  It would be different if he were an infant, but by now, he can sleep alone.  It will take a week or so, but it will work, if each and every time he gets into your bed, you put him in his.