I think the kidlets did just fine in their transitions and sleep better on their own. The moms involved needed whatever sleep they could get, free from worrying about rolling on a baby (I am an especially mobile sleeper).

The sleeping together decision was taken after I’d been breastfeeding for 5 weeks and our munchkin kept on losing weight. We did our research, discussed it with our midwife, and gave it a try. Within a week, she started gaining weight. She simply felt cold at night, we think. Add in the issue of regurgitation and my refusal to give any of those brick-heavy bottle feeds for reflux babies, and you will get the picture.

I’ll be honest though: I combined being self-employed and being back at work within two weeks of delivery (madness, in retrospect) with attachment parenting. Those were seven of the most tiring months of my life.Now all we have to do is get ourselves back in gear to do this again. That is proving to be the biggest hurdle.

Over the pond, where I live, we have a birth list. You go to the baby store of your choice, choose all the items that you might want/need, and once the birth card goes out, people have the freedom of calling or visiting the store and buying an item or putting down cash. At the end of the day it makes so much more sense: you have what you want, in the colour and model that you want, there is no obligation to buy and they give you a 10% rebate at the end in the form of another purchase voucher.

The top buy which is still a popular item in our household today is our little Lodger blanket. Initially it seemed like just another blanket, but our little one still uses it today, for herself in her bed, for couch potato moments, for her dolls, as a play blanket when her niece comes by, etc. It makes for a cute bundle in the winter too.

And finally, we have always used comforters in this (19th c. and thus not so easy to insulate) house. That said, we always took our precautions, and were fortunate to have a babe, who even when sleeping in a bed on blocks (for her reflux) tended to gravitate towards the top of the bed, rather than sliding down. The baby bumper was also a necessity, as we have a headbanger/bedroller (I know of only a few people/kids who do this so if you know any, please let me know. It is always reassuring to find out that there are others who do this).

I’m afraid we would have gone crazy quickly if we’d tried the “constant” thing. But attachment seems to be the strategy du jour.