dd wants her own bed at 12 months??

[sunshinegal]

This is the first time that we have co-slept past 2 months for any of our babes. I used a crib and the babes had no problem, would fall asleep in my arms and stay asleep all night.(Boy, were those the days :p )
With DD2, she nursed every hour on the hour and continued through the night so we knew that co-sleeping would be the only way to insure a happy babe. So we all snuggled on our queen mattress. Since DD2 was 5 months, she would occasionally wake at night crying out, not really wanting to nurse, so I would get up and walk around for a minute or so trying to sooth her before she would settle down to nurse and go back to sleep. As she got older, this nightwaking increased. So much so that instead of once or twice a week, we were doing it every night, then onto twice every night (she is just about 12 months).
Well she was sick with a head cold last week and I was up for 3 nights with her doing it about 5 or 6 times. AAACK!!! :nut So, of course, neither DH nor I were getting any sleep. The other night she fell asleep ahead of us (yeah!!) and she was just laying by herself on the bed and my DH says "Look, she's sleeping like a baby" :LOL Then he suggested that he sleep on the floor and only I sleep in bed with her, that maybe she needed space to spread her chubby self out. ( What a good daddy :throb ) So we did.

And guess what.....

She only woke to nurse twice!!! No screaming or crying, no walking the room.
So we have now been doing this for 5 days and we are all sleeping so much better.

I cannot believe this!! She has never really been a snuggler in bed, but this really threw me for a loop. I guess we were overcrowding her.

[mom2owen1]

that is wonderful! i hope it continues. i tried moving my wakes-up-often 12 mo ds to a mattress on the floor next to mine, but it didn't help. my day will come - enjoy the sleep :)

kris
owen, 12 months

[Alkenny]

My older DS was more comfortable in his own space too. Some babes just are. Happy sleeping!

[gethane]

My second child apparently didn't like co-sleeping and once she was verbal managed to ask for the crib (that was set up in the other room, and never used) and slept there happily every night. It took me a few weeks to figure out what she wanted because I couldn't imagine she actually wanted to sleep alone in a crib. So her older brother (occasionally) and her younger sister (still full time) were co-sleeping, but she was happy in a crib. Strange girl. :) She also is an early bird. She's almost 13 now and while my 11 and 14 year olds can sleep til noon on weekends, I will find her up at 7:30.

[Junebug]

At about 11 months my DD became a very light sleeper. The slightest movement or even a loud breath would wake her up. It was miserable.
We finally moved her to a crib and she sleeps like a log, I cried & cried & cried but she seems much happier there. I guess because I hate to sleep alone, I felt like an awful parent for putting her down by herself. I still miss sleeping with her. :(

[Llyra]

I moved my DD into a sidecarred crib at 10 1/2 months, and she slept much better once she had her own space. I knew it was time because she and I were starting to keep each other awake too much. She's still really close, so if she needs me I can get to her without having to get up, but she has room to toss and turn and spread out. I think there are some babies that are really much happier in their own space, once they hit an age where they start moving around more.

[turtlemama77]

Those of you whose little ones maybe needed more space...how did you know, or did you just try some different arrangements? My dd (10 mos) used to sleep pretty happily in her own room, but lately needs to be closer to us at night. But some nights it seems she wakes often when she's in our queen bed, she thrashes around a lot and seems to wake whenever dh moves around (he's also an active sleeper). I'm wondering if she needs a bit more room, but just something closer than way away in her own bedroom.

Sheri
Reese (12-22-04)

[Red Sonja]

Well, my 13 month old has decided he needs more space too. When he sleeps in the family bed he just tosses and turns, can't get comfortable and settle down. This was pretty easy for me to figure out because during our recent move we were sleeping on a futon mattress on the floor with DS on a smaller pad next to us and he slept much better.

Now I put down a mattress (actually, a Memory foam mattress topper) on the floor next to my side of the bed for him to sleep on. When it's his bedtime I will lie down with him and nurse him for a while, then he rolls over and goes to sleep. We've been doing this for about 2 nights now. The first night he slept there until 2 am, last night he slept there until 4 am. When he wakes up I bring him into bed with me and he cuddles and nurses back to sleep. I miss having him in bed all night, but he is sleeping much better now that he has more room to stretch out and move around.