Sleep

The recent time change has a lot of people considering sleep. I think that we, as parents, spend a large amount of time concerned with sleep: my sleep, your sleep, kid's sleep, interrupted sleep, no sleep. Generally, I have found "Is s/he sleeping through the night?" or some other variation of that question is one of the most popular questions in the early days of parent-dom. We're pretty big fans of sleep in our home. Darren goes to bed early and gets up early while I like to stay up later and sleep in, and we both like 8 to 10 hours a night.
Of course, being a parent means that what you like doesn't matter a whole lot. Being the parent of a newborn means doing whatever you can to get that precious snooze. We kind of fell into co-sleeping with Kyrie because I was so wounded after my c-section that I couldn't get up to put her in the bassinet, but it soon became something that we embraced. Co-sleeping felt right to me: safe and peaceful and most especially, the easiest way that I could both tend to my baby and get the sleep that I needed. Kyrie co-slept with us until she was about 10 months old and then transitioned easily into her crib, though I still got up with her during the night when she fussed. Choosing to co-sleep when Degen was born was easy and natural, and we enjoyed an easy transition to the crib when he was about 8 months old.
Currently, Kyrie is a good sleeper though she likes to stay up late (like Mommy). And Degen is a good sleeper, too: early to bed and early to rise (like Daddy), though he will still wake during the night. Most pediatricians will tell parents that they can cut out those mid-night feedings, but I count myself lucky to have a pediatrician who understands that no one understands my babies more than me. Degen has not handled "crying it out" well at all; what starts out as a cry will flare to screams fanned by his baby temper. It's simply easier to go to him, hold him, nurse him and then put him back in his crib after a few minutes. So, that's what I do. Recently, Degen has had some great nights where he's slept 10-12 hours, and I'm grateful for the uninterrupted sleep. These nights are like gifts, restorative to body and soul.
However, on the nights when he does wake up I'm trying not to be quite so disappointed/frustrated/grumpy. I know that those middle-of-the-night cuddles will be coming to an end soon. My kids will grow, and I'll have night upon night of great sleep.... well, at least until they're old enough for sleepovers and dates and barely making curfews. So, I'll get up to tend to my babies when they need me and make my way bleary-eyed through the day until I can try to catch a few minutes more sleep at nap time. I'll try to be grateful for the nights when Degen sleeps through and grateful for the nights when he needs me, too. And now, I've got to get ready for bed because I never know what the night will bring!