co-sleepers... how have your nights been lately?

ours nights have been mostly good with a couple tough ones thrown in. dd2, who is 4 months, is out for the night usually no later than 830 or so then is up usually twice a night and put back to sleep pretty easily with nursing then we are up for the day around 630am BUT not lately! She still goes down at 830 but has been up every 2 hours, or less, for the past several nights and up for the day waaayyy to early. I'm tired. I'm hoping it's a phase, a growth spurt, or perhaps teething and that it'll go back to the way it was soon! DD1 is 5 and she coslept until she was 4 and ready for her own bed and that was such a wonderful, positive experience for the both of us and I keep reminding myself that dd1 also had several sleepless nights and I survived those and so I can survive these.. thank goodness for grande lattes!

First month was aweful. Mostly b/c DS had the *mysterious* COLIC ~ it wasn't really cosleeping then. It was me propped on the couch w/DS on my tummy for hour stretches.

T What I wouldn't give if Peds had to take Colic out of their vocabulary!

I digress. Then once all the screaming, vomiting, etc. was over DS came to bed with us (over small objections from DH). Life was wonderful until DS was 9mo.

I think the fact that he learned to crawl made it difficult for him. He was all over the place & it was very hard to get him to settle to sleep. Plus, if he would stir in the middle of the night, he would crawl around & bump his head into the wall. then he would cry b/c he hurt himself & was REALLY awake now.

Things were good months 11 & 12. Then within a 2 week period he learned to walk, we moved, we got pg ~ it was set-up for severe meltdown!

Last night was great though & I've learned to take it one-day-at-a-time! So in short, co-sleep is going wonderfully!!!!

Family bed is working out well for us. DD is almost 7 months and has always slept well. She goes down around 8 or 9 - I nurse her down in our bed or if she's restless I nurse her in the living room and she sleeps out there while DH and I watch tv or play games.

She wakes 2-4 times a night to nurse, I think. She's always done this, but she usually doesn't cry, just kicks around or scratches until I wake up and let her latch on. Then she nurses and goes right back to sleep.

DD has eczema, and the itchiness makes it hard for her to relax sometimes. It contributes to her night wakings. Since we co-sleep, I notice she's uncomfortable before she cries, and can quickly help her back to sleep. DH used to be unsure of the family bed, but since the eczema showed up, he's all for it. The way she scratches herself when she's tired and upset, she'd be a mess if we used a crib at this point. We put mitts on her hands, but she's getting pretty adept at whipping them off. Co-sleeping makes dealing with the big bad E much easier!