Co-sleeping and Night Time Parenting

For months now I’ve been writing a post in my head about why we eventually choose to co-sleep. I wanted to write about why I struggled with that decision, why I eventually decided it was the best thing for our family, and about the relief, rest and sanity that it’s brought to me. I wanted to write about why I now would never consider doing anything else with my future children and why I would encourage others to co-sleep as well. Maybe someday I’ll still write that post… but today I want to share with you another post, a post that made me cry, a post that I connected with so much I could have written it. Connected Mom writes this beautiful post about Four Lies Sleep Trainers Tell You (And One Truth They Won’t!)

If you’ve ever struggled with a baby who just won’t sleep the way “they” tell you that your baby “should”, well, I encourage you to read this post.

I want to close by sharing a poem that Connect Mom shared at the end of her post. I thought this was absolutely beautiful, and inspiring, and SO encouraging! This is for all you mama’s out there who, like me, continue to struggle through sleep deprivation.

Selflessness

Everything which endures can

only do so because Eternal

Consciousness gives it a sentience.

A mother who gives herself

completely to her infant meets

herself in the dark and finds

fulfillment.

In the hours between midnight

and dawn, she crosses the

threshold of self-concern and

discovers a Self that has no limits.

A wise mother meets this

Presence with humility and steps

through time into selflessness.

Infants know when their mothers

have done this, and they

become peaceful.

Who, then, is the doer? Is it the

infant who brings its mother

through the veil of self-concern

into limitlessness? Is it the

mother, who chooses to hold

sacred her infant's needs and

surrender herself? Or is it the

One, which weaves them both

through a spiraling path

toward wholeness?

You can sit and meditate while

your baby cries himself to sleep.

Or you can go to him and share

his tears, and find your Self.

By Vimala McClure, from The Tao of Motherhood

Rejoicing in the journey - Bethany Stedman