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Am I right to be angry about this? What do I do?

701 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  neverdoingitagain
DD is 19 months old and has slept by my side every night of her life. I didn't intend to cosleep ... I spent the last few weeks of my pregnancy aggravating the crap out of dh so that he would finish the nursery. But once she was here I just couldn't make her sleep in the crib. DH & I are comfortable with our sleeping arrangements. My family is not. After many snide comments from my mom & dad about me never letting dd have her own bed, I made it ABUNDANTLY clear that it's none of their business and is NOT up for discussion. Period.

My mom & dad watch dd during the day while I'm at work. They are *usually* respectful of our parenting decisions, even if they don't always agree. My mom even goes so far as to buy organic snacks for dd, and cd's her, which I'm thrilled with. We're very happy that dd is getting to spend so much time with her grandparents, and the arrangement is working well for us. All that being said ...

I dropped dd off on Monday morning and my mom announced that she bought dd a toddler bed for their house. Up until then, dd slept on a little foam fold-out kid's sofa, which she loves. When I asked why, mom said, "because you have a weird mom, and because I wanted an excuse to decorate a little bed," then she changed the subject.

I am furious, but so far have kept my peace. I'm trying to (a) decide if I'm being overly emotional and touchy about this and (b) figure out exactly what I want to say. What bothers me is that she did this without asking me, and that this is her way of getting dd used to sleeping alone.
I'm mad that, by forcing her own timetable on dd, she took away from us the big "moving to a big-girl bed" milestone.

So, am I being way too touchy about this? What would you do?
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Yeah it's a hint, but since your dd was already sleeping in a separate space in your parents' house I don't know that it's actually a problem. It is a problem if they don't let you put the little bed in the same place the sofa was.

This reads more like an attempt to get your dd to *want* her own bed and, you know, that would be fine. Assuming, of course, that they don't belittle her to get her to want one, just providing a pretty bed that she loves is fine. Especially since, from the sound of it, they'd *love* to buy her one to have at your house.

Now, just having her own bed in your house wouldn't mean she'd ever sleep there.
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That's just the thing ... we HAVE a toddler bed. It's currently in storage, along with most of our stuff. We're living with my sister until our house is built. There's barely enough room for our bed right now, much less a separate bed for dd. I've flat-out asked them where they expect us to put a bed for her. The response: "We could figure out a place to put it. Good grief, are you even going to let her have her own room when she starts school?" No, mom. I'm planning to go away to college with her so we can still cosleep. She was barely a year old when mom said that to me!
:

I'm actually pretty sure that by the time we get the house built, dd will be ready for her own bed. I won't be ready for it, but she will, and that's okay. Hopefully by that time we'll be preparing for a NEW baby to cosleep with.


I'm just really mad at what feels like a passive-aggressive attempt to undermine our decision to cosleep.
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remember, you are her mother and it is you that she co-sleeps with
I really doubt that pretty much anything your mother does will change how your dd feels about sleeping with you ! she just does not have this influence over her
that said, I would draw the line if she is talking to your daughter about sleeping in a bed - but if she has just bought the thing then I don't think it is such a big deal
she cannot change your daughter in this way, nor can she change you or 'spoil' the co-sleeping arrangement that you have
I really would not be too concerned about it
I would have the same first initial reaction as you! But you know, while my family thought it was a bit odd that I sleep with my DD, my mother actually wanted to respect my wishes and does bed share with my DD when I am away traveling for work. Initially I tried to convince her not to as I was worried about her not being as vigilant as I am with the safety issue. But she wanted to maintain the consistency with her. But I think I would have been fine either way. On the other hand, my DD visit's her father for overnights once a month or so and she sleeps in a bed of her own. And I want it that way. I don't want her bedsharing with him & his wife (not that they would since they think my parenting philosophies and vegetarian/organic lifestyle is wakco). And she does fine there. Kids roll with the punches and realize that there are different rules at different places. I think that your child sleeps with you because you are mommy and may adjust okay to her own bed at gramma's.

But I what I would be PO'd about is the fact that your mom is calling you wierd (which essentially undermines your authority and parenting decisions). I think it's fine to want to replace the fold out with a cute toddler bed and I don't see a huge leap in change from the couch to bed. So IMHO,maybe a tad over-reactive to that fact. But not in the words she used and the potential motive (if she has one). But I wouldn't worry too much about her being able to sway your dd to sleeping alone. She's way too young (1.5 yo right?) to get that message from gramma and will want to continue sleeping with you because you are mommy.

Not to be long winded here, but might I suggest that you approach this by letting her know that you like the toddler bed and think it's very cute and are sure dd will absolutely love it. I appreciate the effort you go to accomodate our lifestyle by purchasing organic food (blah blah blah). I'm just confused about why you would want to tell your grandchild that her mommy is wierd and lead her to think that what she's been doing all this time (bed sharing) is somehow wrong. It's fine for her sleep in her own bed here at gramma's but at home we have different arrangements and I need you to respect that.

Okay...I'm done!
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Quote:
remember, you are her mother and it is you that she co-sleeps with
I really doubt that pretty much anything your mother does will change how your dd feels about sleeping with you ! she just does not have this influence over her that said, I would draw the line if she is talking to your daughter about sleeping in a bed
I agree there. I'm just jealous though that your mom does all the other things (ie organic, CD etc).
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Glover_Girls
Not to be long winded here, but might I suggest that you approach this by letting her know that you like the toddler bed and think it's very cute and are sure dd will absolutely love it. I appreciate the effort you go to accomodate our lifestyle by purchasing organic food (blah blah blah). I'm just confused about why you would want to tell your grandchild that her mommy is wierd and lead her to think that what she's been doing all this time (bed sharing) is somehow wrong. It's fine for her sleep in her own bed here at gramma's but at home we have different arrangements and I need you to respect that.

Okay...I'm done!
I think this is a GREAT response.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Glover_Girls
Not to be long winded here, but might I suggest that you approach this by letting her know that you like the toddler bed and think it's very cute and are sure dd will absolutely love it. I appreciate the effort you go to accomodate our lifestyle by purchasing organic food (blah blah blah). I'm just confused about why you would want to tell your grandchild that her mommy is wierd and lead her to think that what she's been doing all this time (bed sharing) is somehow wrong. It's fine for her sleep in her own bed here at gramma's but at home we have different arrangements and I need you to respect that.

Okay...I'm done!
:

I think most of our parents view co-sleeping as some sort of abberation that needs correcting, kind of like BFing
Its the old "Well, we didn't do things that way and we're afraid you're screwing up your kids by doing it different." I, too, would have had your initial reaction b/c I've very sensitive and cognizant of the fact the my mom thinks DS (who is 3.5 BTW) needs his own bed. She is constantly trying to foist various toddler beds, twin beds and trundle beds on us. I used to sheepishly try to explain why we enjoyed co-sleeping and why I didn't think it was a problem. I've come to realize there are just some things my mom and are aren't going to agree on....and this is definitely one of them.

Also, like a pp said, since DD is accustomed to sleeping "in her own bed" at grandma's house, the new bed probably won't be a big deal. Just part of the things that are done a little differently at grandmas. BUT, it definitely is NOT OK for your mom to call you weird or undermine your parenting practices.

Good Luck!
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Oops ... I need to clarify. Mom didn't call *me* weird, she called *herself* weird! Thanks, y'all, for responding. I've had time to think about it and I know that I overreacted. I'm glad now that I bit my tongue.


I've discovered this week that dd actually sleeps a LOT better -- actually through the night -- if she's in bed by herself. I usually put her to bed with cuddling and reading, then once she's asleep I get up and do stuff around the house. I go to bed by 11PM or so; she usually wakes up then, and several more times during the night until we get up at 5:30AM. We have a king-size bed, so Tuesday night I tried climbing into bed on the opposite side from her, giving her LOTS of space so that she didn't know I was there. She didn't wake the entire night. She still likes to cuddle to sleep, thank goodness! I'm not ready for her to have her own bed, but I think *she* might be. It's still going to be several months before we have room to do that, so we're going to have to work out some kind of arrangement so everybody can have their optimal sleeping situation.

Thanks again, ladies. I do know how lucky I am that my parents are accommodating of *most* of my "odd" parenting ideas. Mom is fully supportive of the no-sugar rule and actually prefers to cd ... YAY!
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I'm glad that it is working out for you. I had to laugh at the "weird" comment, because my mom says that all the time too(about how she's weird this or that way
)
I just wanted to give you a
because I know how it feels to have milestones taken away from you. It sucks that you didn't get to have that whole "moving into a big girl bed" moment/event with your dd. Hopefully if you have another baby, you will be able to have that. Just make sure Grandma knows ahead of time how you feel so she doesn't pull the same stunt with the next one.
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