Hotel Co-Sleeping: Who Decided On It And Why It Happened

Sleep has never been an easy process in this house. Both of my kids started out as great sleepers, easily putting themselves to sleep on their own, only waking once a night to nurse, in those early days. And then they hit 4 months, moved to their own cribs or rooms, etc ... and regressed. And unfortunately, that regression stuck around. For a long time. Today, L wakes up in the night -- most nights only once. Last night, three times. For various reasons -- and usually, its a quick fix. All it requires is a hug, and I can lay him back down, cover him up, and leave him to watch his Cloud B stars projected on the ceiling while he falls back to sleep. And S is much the same. She's a bit of a sleep-walker, and at least once a week finds her way to my bed-side, asking for one thing or another. Between the two of them, I almost NEVER get a full night's sleep -- but I've grown used to that.

So why I ever thought that sleeping in a hotel room would be any different is beyond me!!

Friday night started off as a nightmare. I had asked for a cot in the room with the thought that one of the kids could sleep on that in between the two beds, while the other had a big bed to themselves. And Matthew and I could actually share a bed. So we put L in the cot, on my side of the bed, so he could see me, reach out and hold my hand, and know that Mommy was still there. Hands raised if you think this actually worked?!

As soon as we laid down, both kids WELL passed their usual 730pm bedtime, L couldn't decide if he liked the bed or not. He knew he LOVED having his own bed ... but to actually sleep in it? That was a different story. So in between sobs, he jumped from wanting to lay with me, back to his cot, thinking he wanted to sleep with his sister, and back again. He got mad when I pulled him into bed with me, and Daddy got up to sleep with S. He got jealous that he wasn't in S's bed too. Finally, after a major battle, he fell asleep next to me, and slept a solid 8 hours, never once waking up.

I just assumed Saturday night would be a much similar battle, unless we stepped in ourselves. So I got rid of part of the equation. When the cleaning crew came around, I had the cot out in the hall so they could take it. Granted, all day long I dealt with sad requests for "his" bed to come back, but I knew once he fell asleep on me after reading at naptime that I could make this work. So Saturday night, we started our normal routine much earlier. M was already asleep {beer and sun will do that to you!!} and never heard the commotion. I gathered both kids in a bed with me, picked out a story and read to them, all snuggled up. We turned out the lights and I sang our usual song. S decided she didn't want to sleep with Daddy, and never left my side of the bed. Although they both talked and tossed and turned for a few minutes, eventually they both gave in to sleep, curled up on either side of Mommy.

Granted, during the course of the night, L decided he wanted to be next to his sister, so he jumped in between us. Once again, I was pushed to the edge of the bed while their two little bodies spread out. S flipped herself, and had her feet on the pillow half the time, which only made L mad, as she kept putting her feet in his face in her sleep. So L retaliated and laid sideways, his head in my chest and his feet on his sister's back. By 4am, they both were awake in the dark trying to talk and asking for cartoons. After a firm veto of that from Mommy, they both went back to sleep for another 3 hours, and we all woke up much better rested than the day before.

It was a battle. But at least we learned one thing: Do NOT try to accomodate. Maybe when the kids are older and the whole "Ewww I dont want to share a bed with my sibling" battle develops, then a cot will be handy. But for now? Keep that thing AWAY from our room!