Since he was able to move on his own, Gavin has developed the strangest sleeping positions. So odd are his sleeping positions that hubby and I have always been concerned about how to fit Gareth into the bed without his older brother trampling him.
When Gareth was born, hubby tried to convince Gavin to sleep with him on a mattress on the floor while Gareth and I slept on the bed. However, in the middle of the night, Gavin would wake up and make his way up onto the bed to join Gareth and me. To make sure that Gavin didn’t hurt his brother in his sleep, I would always make sure I was in between the two boys.
A couple of nights ago, I nursed the two of them to sleep – one on each breast. After they fell asleep, I got up. There was a gap of my body space between them. I stayed in the room to keep an eye on them in case they woke up and I noticed Gavin moving closer to his brother in his sleep. He did not hit his brother in his sleep the way he would slap and kick Daddy. Instead, he slept with his hand on his brother as if to comfort him in his sleep.
Although I kept an eye on the two of them for the whole time to make sure Gavin didn’t hurt his brother, I noticed that they slept better and stirred less when they were sleeping together. When they weren’t sleeping together, I would often find myself running from one brother to the other and sometimes having to deal with both when one woke the other up with all his crying.
My cousin found that this tactic worked well for her son as well. When her son and her niece napped together, she found she was able to get more things done in the afternoon because she wouldn’t have to keep attending to her son. Similarly, I found that when Gavin was very little, he could never sleep well without someone beside him – whether it was me or Daddy. From the looks of things, I’m sure Gareth will be the same. Perhaps letting him sleep beside his brother will be the way to go.
MieVee @ MummysReviews.com says
I agree that babies sleep better next to another person. Siblings who co-sleep also means you’d be able to move them together into a siblings bedroom (and out of your bedroom) when they are older. At least this is my strategy to wean my boy out of my bed in the gentlest way. 🙂
My two younger sisters and I co-slept since young until I moved out post-marriage. My youngest sister is 12 years younger than me and she slept well next to me since about 1-year old.
Shen-Li says
Hahaha… that’s exactly what hubby said. He’s even started pre-empting Gavin by talking about having a room with his titi. Of course, it ain’t gonna happen until Gareth is old enough to fend for himself.