Late Night Visitors

Around the time Logan turned 2, we changed his crib to a toddler bed. Basically, we took off the front part and it became something he could get in and out of on his own. This also ushered in the era of him coming to our room to sleep with us in the middle of the night. At first, he'd just turn up when he woke up, climb in our bed, and snuggle for a little while before he got his day started. This was so sweet there was no way I could tell him no. However, it quickly turned into him coming into our room in the middle of the night to sleep with us. Not so good. We had been very adamant about him not sleeping with us as an infant - that habit could be very hard to break. In the middle of the night was a different story. I could barely wake up, much less haul him back to his room. The peak of his late night visits came after we moved to Charlotte. He would sometimes turn up as early as 1:00 a.m. I eventually had to force myself to wake up and take him crying back to his room, terrified all the while he would wake his sister up. With the start of school we seemed to have moved beyond this phase all together. If he shows up at all, it's usually after 6:00, which is fine with me.

But as we move away from our visits from Logan, we begin them with Grace. When she turned 2 I changed her crib into a toddler bed and never had a lot of problems from her. Unlike Logan, she stayed in bed when I put her down for the night and she cried or yelled for me when she woke up. No problems. In the past few weeks, she's begun coming downstairs on her own when she wakes up, which is cute. If she is at all interested in getting in our bed, it's simply to cuddle before she demands her morning cup of milk. However, last night I was woken up as she climbed into our bed around 2:15. I was so surprised and she curled up so sweetly against me, I let her stay. Until around 3:30 when I came to my senses and knew she had to go back to her own bed or else face years of an unpleasant, middle of the night battle. I love the morning cuddles, but like to have my space when I'm sleeping. So I took her back to her room where she slept the rest of the night. Logan arrived about 6:20 and layed with me until I got up to take a shower and then went to watch TV.

I imagine one day I'll look back and miss the moments where my kids wanted to sleep in my bed and cuddle with me when we woke up. But for now, I'll continue to get up in the middle of the night and carry them crying back up the stairs to their own beds.