About His Sleeping Place

So far, it’s been five months since we’ve used the Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper (see how we purchased it).

For now, I would safely say it’s a great product! Not sure when he gets older though since I have not used the lower level yet.

It’s really a sleep saver for me because of the umpteen times I had to get up during the night when he was a newborn.

I just had to gently pat him on his stomach by leaning on my elbow and slightly reaching over or giving him the pacifier to soothe him (it dropped out when he fell asleep). If he continues to cry, I just picked him up sideways while still seated on my bed and carry him over onto my lap to rock him. I can then promptly go back to sleep since I’m still in a half-awake state. If it was a playpen or cot, due to the sides being higher, I would have to really lean over to carry him or get out of bed.

We bought this with the intention to do breastfeeding because it’s so convenient that the baby is beside me but not in our bed for us to squash him. In the end, I couldn’t breastfeed him but for bottle-feeding, I would still carry him sideways into my lap to feed since he was so tiny that time. Now, he’s too heavy and since he’s taller, we use my bolster to put at the side of the bed against the co-sleeper, put his head on top of it and feed him with his body on our lap. Very useful position for us. Hubby helps me sometimes in the early mornings when I’m too tired to get up and he’s awake.

The top of the co-sleeper can only reach my face area however due to the vanity desk blocking so I had to sleep lower for my hands to reach him easily. Nowadays, there’s no need to since he does not wake as frequent. By right, the baby should be positioned right next to me but he sleeps lower this way.

About His Sleeping Position

Since Darius was a newborn, he has always been sleeping on his back with his head turning to right or left and his hands outstretched. I mentioned that he does not like restraints on his body so he didn’t take to swaddling once he came home. His ‘大’ position is like ‘no fear of anything’ but he does gets jolted awake more easily than if he can have something to hug. He refuses other positions however and thus, our solution was to place a bean pillow on his tummy.

Last week, after he could stayed firm on his sides, I began putting him to sleep sideways during the daytime. One reason due to him developing a flat head from sleeping long hours on his back and the second, to let him sleep longer naps so he’ll not be awake too soon.

As usual, he does not like anything new. He resisted my attempts initially to turn him on his side and kept wanting to turn over or fall on his back. I persisted and let him hug the bolster with his hands (finally his body is long enough to hug it), while putting his legs over it like how an adult would sleep. He fell asleep very soon in 5 minutes and stay asleep for an hour or more! He usually sleeps 30mins to 45mins.

Then, a few days later, he started to even sleep 2 hours nap fully. Wow! Didn’t know that the position works so well!If only he had slept like that when he was a newborn, I might have lesser hair-tearing moments.

Then, we have to think about his face if he sleeps like that. If he keep sleeping on his right, one side might be flatter. Thus, I let him sleep on his left side too and he again resisted. With persistence, he simmered down and fell asleep very soon, too tired to fight.

About Sleeping on his own

By the way, I’m really happy that he can now sleep on his own!

We had been bugged to use a ‘swing’ or ‘yao lan’ to rock him to sleep many many times. We refused to budge on that aspect as we don’t want him to get use to a yao lan and then couldn’t sleep when he’s outside when no yao lan is available.

I used to put a pacifier into his mouth when I noticed his signs of tiredness and time for his nap, rocked him in my arms til he sleeps within 5 minutes and put him down to the co-sleeper asleep. I do that outside if he refuse the stroller and he sleeps easily in my arms too.

Last week one morning, he struggled when he was in my arms, crying and refusing to sleep. So I put him down on the bed where he turned here and there and left him in a huff to do my stuff in the kitchen. When I didn’t hear anything, I thought he must have fell asleep and went to check. Sure enough, he slept on his own, without any patting or rocking!

I immediately started letting him sleep his afternoon nap by placing him into the bed when it’s naptime, wide-awake and let him try to go to sleep. He slept easily within minutes!

For Night time, our usual practise was to place him into the bassinet awake. Then, make him sleep by patting constantly on his stomach bean pillow. We have been doing this since he first came home, never carrying him even when he cries. Just constantly soothe him with our gentle voice, sometimes singing and constantly patting til he sleeps. We are not in favour of the let-him-cry-it-out-and-we-leave-the-room-totally method. He might become colicky. Initially when I did this, I patted for an hour and sang so much! Then, the timing eventually got lesser and lesser. So one must really perservere!

For that night, we did the usual bedtime routine and put him into his bed awake but sleepy. He just kept tossing and turning til he fell asleep by himself. We grinned happily to each other. Finally! No more staying beside him to pat him or hold his hand til he falls asleep.

Nowadays, we give him a pacifier, observe a little and then go out of the room and he can sleep by himself. Daytime, I put him on his side and he falls asleep.

So glad that he’s more independent now and that he feels secure enough in his own bed to be able to sleep well.

But strangely, I kinda miss the holding him and rocking him til he falls asleep… O_o

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