Musical Beds: Adventures in Co-Sleeping

We are a co-sleeping family.  It’s completely wonderful and miserable at the same time.  Long gone are the days of spooning with my husband.  Long gone are the days of rolling over.  Long gone are the days of getting up to pee without waking everyone else in the house.

I’ve seen many an image of moms and babes cuddled up in blissful slumber and oh so sweet photos of dads and toddlers all snuggled up peacefully dreaming together.  In reality, in MY reality at least, it doesn’t usually look like that, especially since I have children who have never, in three and a half years, ever slept through the night.

At home, we have a king-sized bed with an adjacent unused toddler bed.  Our nights usually end up with a few shifts in positions and snuggle partners; however, while visiting my in-laws this week, THIS is what happened.  Warning: Do not try this at home.

The Game:

Musical Beds

The Playing Field:

One queen-sized bed
One twin-sized air mattress on the floor at the foot of the queen-sized bed

The Players:

Mama (Me)
Papa (My hubby)
Monkey (our 3.5 year old son)
Bear (our 1 year old daughter)

Round 1:

Mama and Bear in big bed.

Round 2:

Bear in big bed.  (Mama in the bathroom.)
Papa and Monkey in little bed.

Round 3:

Papa and Bear in big bed.
Mama and Monkey in little bed.

Round 4:

Mama, Papa, and Bear in big bed.
Monkey in little bed.

Round 5:

Papa, Monkey, and Bear in big bed.
Mama in little bed.

Round 6:

Papa and Monkey in big bed.
Mama and Bear in little bed.

Round 7:

Mama and Monkey in big bed.
Papa and Bear in little bed.

Round 8:

Mama, Monkey, and Bear in big bed.
Papa in little bed.

Round 9:

Mama, Monkey, Bear, and Papa all in big bed – sleeping sideways with feet dangling off the end.

Needless to say, we were all exhausted the next day.

 

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Comments

38 responses to “Musical Beds: Adventures in Co-Sleeping”

  1. Dawn Aumiller Avatar
    Dawn Aumiller

    The facial expressions on those stick figures should have shown the gradual decline….

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Dawn, you’re absolutely right, but I was limited in supplies when I wrote this – we were in a hotel and I only had the tiny pad of paper left on the night stand. I actually attempted to use ear plugs first. I drew little faces on them, but they ended up looking like severed fingers…

  2. mom Avatar
    mom

    sounds like a really fun night.

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Yeah, something like that…

  3. Nikki Kluj Avatar
    Nikki Kluj

    This is hilarious! Although we do still have a family bedroom, we no longer play this game. THANK GOD! It was torture.

  4. Nikki Kluj Avatar
    Nikki Kluj

    Oh and LOVE the nicknames!!!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Thanks – it works (for now).

  5. Meggan Modrzecki Avatar
    Meggan Modrzecki

    Hysterical. And so relatable for me. We rented a house with a lot of family in OBX last year and it took my husband and I five nights to realize we were in a FULL size bed and not a Queen like we thought. One adult and one kid ended up on the floor every night and we couldn’t figure out why. Then last night, I woke up to find my 2 year old in my bed, my 6 year old in my 2 year old’s bed and my husband in my year old’s bed. You know who displaces everyone? The 2 year old. Go figure.

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Of course! My kids have taken to sleeping sideways – I end up in the toddler bed or at the bottom of the bed most of the time.

  6. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    I feel your pain about not rolling over. Our two year old is also “Bear”. AND we always let sleeping bears lie.

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      I used to toss and turn. Nowadays, I end up in the same position I fell asleep in. Never knew I could do that!

      1. Dreamgyrl360 Avatar
        Dreamgyrl360

        I started doing that when we had our first baby, and I would breastfeed in the bed, laying sideways.
        From then on (8 years’ later), I wake in the same position I fell asleep in.
        I have to FULLY wake up and turn myself over!
        After age 2 our babies do not sleep with us. 🙂

  7. katie Avatar
    katie

    I give it an 8. You didn’t incorporate the bouncer or the living room and office couches!!
    My husband fell asleep in the office, then I woke him to sleep in the living room with me. When Abby was crying in her bouncer at 4am, he moved to 2.5 year old Jack’s twin bed. There are quilts in our living room constantly!! Our marriage bed and her crib are where we do laundry, it seems!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Our toddler bed is storage and when we briefly had a crib (which was never used), that’s where all my clean laundry lived, so I hear ya! We were limited in room and furniture choices since we were at my in-laws’ house, otherwise there would have been many more combinations!

  8. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    Been there…done that!!
    And then people wonder why we don’t want to visit/travel. It’s even more exhausting than the usual bedtime game.

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Isn’t it though?

  9. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    But I always try to think of the future…when our king size bed will feel so empty and I will miss the snuggles. Til then, an occasional opportunity to rollover and restore blood flow to my leg would be appreciated.

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Agreed. I could do without Monkey trying to use my body as a blanket, too. He tucks his feet under my back or sometimes I find them tucked into the back of my pajama pants. Keep your socks on or use a blanket, boy!

  10. JMD Avatar
    JMD

    Soooo funny! I feel your pain! However, I think travelling becomes so much easier when you cosleep. Not travel cots to carry around or anything, just all pile into the bed together. Mind you, we’ve only got 1 little girl at the moment so there’s still a bit of space in our bed!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      It does make it easier not to have to deal with cribs and such. When it was just the 3 of us, we all fit comfortably in a queen-sized bed. But, they grow!

  11. Tory Avatar
    Tory

    With a 4 and a 1, we play this game regularly. Our 1 is Monkey and she has crawled up from yea twin mattress to nurse and then crawled back down to sleep and also from her and I in aforementioned twin bed, after nursing, to spread out with Bug (4) and Daddy. I say “spread out” because we have a king sized bed. It’s much bigger. (Ha, believe that!) Typically we have 1 and I on the twin and Daddy and 4 on the big bed, but last night 1 and 4 were in the twin for part of the night…

    Tired but I love it!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      I wouldn’t have it any other way (except the feet in the face).

  12. Jana Avatar
    Jana

    Totally. Every out of town adventure looks something like this. Sometimes, for a week or more. Yowza!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      If this happened every night for a week while staying in a hotel or someone else’s house, I’d probably make myself a cozy nook in the bathtub!

  13. lisa bowman Avatar
    lisa bowman

    this is us every night! substitute a futon for the twin, and unused twin and toddler beds in the kid’s room!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Fun, fun, fun!

  14. Brandie Avatar
    Brandie

    That’s how it goes when we visit my mom.. it’s mom n dad and #4 in queen bed. #3 on floor next to queen bed (but tries to find a patch of big bed with M, D #4), #2 on other side of big bed on floor & #1 at foot of big bed on floor. Trying to get OUT or IN is MURDER! At home it’s easier – #1, 2, & 3 in their own beds. #4 in Cali King bed with M&D & cat. #4 still gets all the bed to herself though!

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      We’ve considered getting a pet, but I’m afraid if we do, I’m going to end up in sleeping bag on the floor! My sis has a cat who cosleeps with them. My luck, the cat would be looking for milk in the middle of the night too. Yeah, can’t deal with that.

      1. lisa Avatar
        lisa

        juujuu kept me extra warm during the power outage….yay for 16lb Siamese cats!!!

  15. niki Avatar
    niki

    OMG, that’s hilarious! I’m about to experience the same kind of night (for the next week) as we fly to the inlaw’s place tomorrow.

    1. Amy Avatar
      Amy

      Godspeed, Niki!

  16. Anjie Avatar
    Anjie

    My little is only 3 months and my husband is ready to kick her to the crib. 🙁

    Question for those with twin beds in the room, why don’t y’all push it against the bigger ones and just have one monster bed?

    1. Karin Avatar
      Karin

      That’s what we do

  17. lisa Avatar
    lisa

    i haven’t rolled over in 6 years. I also have learned to sleep on the outer frame of the king-sized bed, clinging on for dear life. The co-sleeper, which hasn’t been used for little guy in over a year (and is merely a receptacle for toys/Ugly Dolls) is still next to the bed just to keep me from falling out!

  18. Karin Avatar
    Karin

    Thank you for this, it made my day! Hilarious. I’m in the same boat/bed.

  19. Kelly Avatar
    Kelly

    Hilarious. I had to send this to my husband… We joke about our musical beds (although it’s not really that funny)… Our 15 month old starts in crib, then goes to bed with one of us, the other in the spare bed, then we switch off when she either can’t get back to sleep with dad because she asks for mommy’s milk or when mommy’s already been nursing half the night and needs sleep. Not every night, but often. I try to think of it as special moments together instead of lack of sleep :p

  20. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    Eow, I don’t understand living like this! Healthy sleep is just as important as healthy food! You and your children must all be exhausted. You all have a positive attitude, which I admire, but how do you function?

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