Silently she moves in

Having children co=sleeping with their parents is usually a topic where people are very divided. Before I had kids, I thought it was something unnecessary, and didn’t want my kids sleeping in bed with me. I need my space, right?

Wrong.
Then I had kids myself.
And then, Simon was away at work. And Melodie got sick. And I was exhausted and lonely, and I put her in bed with me so I could sleep while still being near her. And that’s when it all started. Because sometimes they’d be sick. Or I’d be sick. Or they’d be scared, or lonely, or worried, or Simon has been away, or I have been away, or something else that makes them want to snuggle up in bed next to the big, safe, trusted parents they rely upon to keep them happy, warm and safe as a house. And I’d look at them with all the love in my heart that I could possibly have and know there’s no way I can turn them down.
As babies, Ricky never slept in our bed. This could be because she slept right next to us for a long, long time before she moved into a room on her own, so she was always near us. Melodie did a little bit here and there, and Sophia was the one who slept there the most.
We don’t actually co-sleep now. We just let them in our bed sometimes. And the funny thing is, we try to have them sleeping in their own beds first anyway. Then, some nights, they might come crawling into bed with us. Maybe they had a nightmare, or they woke up scared, or they just missed us during the night. And they crawl into our bed, finds their way, just as the instinct of a baby joey, to the little gap (if there even is one) between Simon and me, and squeeze their way in.

I am not joking when I say we don’t notice this. I’m not a heavy sleeper at all. I can hear if one of them gets up to go to the bathroom, or wakes early and goes downstairs. I once woke up to Melodie reading to herself in her own bed, without noise. But when the kids climb into bed? Hardly ever. Ricky and Melodie are not the worst offenders. They will most likely be found in their own beds the next morning, and only occasionally comes to us at night. Some nights though, we wake up to someone grumbling “get off me” or “mooove” and find that all three have come around during the night. And it’s hilarious:)
Sophia, however, is a breed of her own. Not only has she mastered the stealthy climb-into-bed method so we don’t notice anything, she is now happy sleeping the other way. The last couple of nights she has asked to sleep on the couch, and I’ve said yes a few times if I know I am watching a show or something, and the funny thing is that she actually falls asleep quicker there than anywhere else! And we generally turn all the lights off in the house, so it’s pitch dark. Still, she manages to get herself up, walk all the way to our bedroom, in her sleepy, not awake state, with her blanket, open our door and crawl into the foot of our bed, positioning herself right in the middle of her mum and dad, without us even noticing a thing. I find it adorable whenever I get up at night to go to the toilet and I have two separate people snoring in my bed, Simons feet AND his head.
There has even been times when we haven’t found one of the little ones, and they were in our bed all along! I don’t have a problem with the kids coming into our bed, they love us and wants to be near us sometimes, so I don’t see why we would ban them, and I also know they are not dependent on it (and won’t continue until they are adults… ). Yet, if they want to sleep next to their mum occasionally when they are teenagers, I will always make room for them regardless, I Love their cuddles:)
Xxx,
Line