Jan.
8, 2000 - Saturday
I think for the first time last night, all three of us, Harry, his mother, and
I, got a good night's sleep. I've mentioned previously that Harry's been pretty
good, but his mother and I keep waking up. Last night it was a solid and restful
6 hours for all of us. It felt good, though I know we've got nothing substantial
to complain about generally.
Something else that feels very good is having Harry stay a while in the bed
with us. We try not to do this too often because Harry's mother and I feel Harry
needs to establish his own space and own routine at bedtime. We know that there
are many advocates for the "family bed" as a way of bonding, but we
think that he'll need to learn to put himself to sleep sooner or later and that
waiting to establish that pattern will only make the process more difficult.
Of course, conventional thinking also suggests that his mother and I will need
to establish our own space away from Harry as well.
However, sometimes it sure can be a satisfying holding him in the crux of an
arm while fading in and out of sleep. The most common excuse comes following
Harry's first morning feeding when neither his mother nor I is ready to get
up and Harry doesn't seem quite ready to go back to sleep. This happens less
than half of the time, but did occurred this morning and his mother held Harry
as we relaxed and snoozed. Less common is when Harry seems to be having trouble
falling asleep at night. This is the more tenuous breech of our own rules, and
it's happened just a few times, but I got to hold Harry like this just a couple
nights ago. We're always very careful to position the three of us so nobody
can roll over accidentally during the night. But, there's little Harry, taking
his quick little breaths, his little face so peaceful, and his tiny body so
warm and "protected" by his parents. It's a wonderful way to fall
asleep.
