How many do I get?

By my calculations (Hey quit laughing. I can do basic math, which gives me the right to use the word calculations.) he has slept in my bed approximately 2,790 nights. He has been there almost every night since we first walked out of the baby home in Moldova in June 1999. Oh, in reality there are a lot of nights when he is not sleeping with me. When we are at The Boyfriend's house he sleeps in his room there (cable TV there ya know). There are nights when he is at a friend's house or visiting his Grammy, or at camp, or a variety of things. So I took off a few weeks worth for each year to do my calculating. It is not like he can't sleep alone or has any kind of sleep issues. It is just what we have always done. I believe in it. I believe in the great bonding it helped create when he first came into my life. I believe that baby and young things need to be with their mothers, as much as possible and especially at night. My other son, Will, slept with me from the time he came home from the hospital, and I regret that in the month before his first birthday I was putting him in his crib to sleep some nights. He never made it to his first birthday and I lost the opportunity for more.

So, haha! I made up for it with this one! Who knew? Who knew he would be almost 10 years old and still like to fall asleep in my bed? Who knew how much fun it would be to see him first thing every morning and feel his warm little boy body against my back? I had no idea how great it would be to hear my son's voice first thing in the morning telling me the first thought he has for the day. I had no idea the great conversations we would have at the end of the day and the silly games we would play as we lay there in the dark at the end of the day saying good-night. Now I have the wonderful memories.

I remember someone saying to me once, "It's going to be really hard to break him of that habit." I replied with "Who's gonna try to break him of it? He'll get tired of it long before I will."  And that still holds true. I often look at him and wonder... how much longer? How many more nights do I get before he decides no more, before something in his internal clock says he needs his space? 10? 100? 1000?

It will not be enough for me.

Comments

[Vikki]

I hope you have many more...

[Maggie]

You know, I wish I could do that with Slugger, too. Circumstances and history prevent that, though. I'm glad it's working out well for you!

p.s. Happy Birthday to your boy!!! 10 is a great age.

[sixgreenzebras]

I appreciate reading this. The Little Man sleeps in my bed, he has a perfectly good room (that he doesn't think he needs) and he calls my bed "our bed". Sometimes I feel like at 5 1/2, he's getting too old for it, but I like it and so does he. It works.

[Monica]

Thanks so much for posting this. I have an almost 5 year old son, who still spends the majority of his nights in my bed. People keep telling me that he's getting too old for it, and like you, I love him sleeping there with me. I waited so long for my son, that now that I have him, I want to be with him. We co-slept the first 2 years because of extended nursing, and now he just likes to cuddle. My mom told me one time, she never saw someone hold a baby like I did him, maybe it has something with him being my first, and him being a preemie, but I decided long ago, that I would leave the timing up to him.

Thanks!!!

[chriistina ponte]

Thank Goodness there is another Mom who feels the same as i do!
My youngest son and only child at home now is 11 and still sleeps most nights in my big bed. And i also wonder...how much longer will he want to? Because very soon he will turn into a young little man and those days will be over.
Most countries (other than the US) don't see a problem with co-sleeping, but here the public tend to skew it.
It's natural and nurturing is also what i believe.
Beautiful Blog~Have a Great 2008~