Little ones in our bed

I took this video the other morning after a night when both babies ended up in our bed.

Although we ARE a co-sleeping/bed sharing family, I had never even heard either of those terms until after Ezra was born.  For us, having our children in our beds has never been something we've done because we think it's what we should do, rather, it's something that's happened naturally since becoming parents 3 years ago.  Cambria slept in our bed sporadically until a year old and then slept in our room until 18 months when we moved into our house the day after Ezra was born.  Ezra was in our bed full-time for the first 8 months and has only gone a few nights of being in his crib all night since then.  I think having them in our beds at different times during their lives has made them feel more secure, connected, and comforted.  Sometimes we don't mind having an extra body in our bed and sometimes we go through phases where we can't stand it and do everything to avoid it.  

Right now, we bed share with both our kids for different reasons.  Besides the emotional benefits, it's a lot easier to just bring a restless child into your bed at night instead of trying to get them back to sleep in their own bed.  And when you're as sleep deprived at Kyle and I often are, it's the most appealing idea at 3 am.  Although Cambria has been an amazing sleeper since birth, she's recently started waking up at night crying and upset and sometimes she will only be calmed by coming into our bed.  Ezra winds up in our bed almost every night when he wakes anywhere from 2-5 in the morning.  Plus, if we just left one of them to cry in their bed alone they would most certainly wake the other one up.  Nothing is worse than having TWO crying children at 3 in the morning. 

I love being woken up by Ezra climbing over me saying "Mama, mama, mama, mama" until I open my eyes.  And on the nights when Cambria winds up in our bed it's nice being able to snuggle with her because she never lets me do it during the day. I oftentimes wonder if I'll miss these little bodies in our bed in 15 years and quite honestly, I'm not sure that I will.  It's nice at times, but I think having 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night sounds really, really appealing too :)