Sleepless in Harwinton

So, after our co-sleeping debacle, I decided to fashion a "toddler bed" for Chloe to sleep in. The idea was, that it would be a sort of co-sleeper. You know, those bassinet-type beds that are on level with your own bed? After the baby falls asleep with you, you just slide the baby over onto her own bed. Also, she's in arms reach should she start fussing. Here's what I'm talking about:

Look how happy that mother is. Her little one can't fall off the bed and mom has her own space on the bed as opposed to being squished into a little ball with an elbow/knee/foot in her back. 

Well, Steve had decided to pull all the couch cushions off the couch and place them on the floor next to our bed in order to create a crash landing pad for our little stunt girl. I decide to take it one step further by hauling the mattress out of her crib. Which, by the way, is a very expensive "nature-pedic" organic cotton mattress that my mother bought me. One that Chloe has not once slept on. So anyway, I struggle and grunt and finally get this thing out of the crib and have it leaning against our own bed when Steve comes in. "What the..." he begins.  "Listen," I tell him, "if this doesn't work then, whatever. What have we got to lose?" So I shimmy the mattress down on top of the couch cushions in between our wall and our bed. Almost a success. There's about a half a foot drop from our bed to my make-shift co-sleeper. But, if I can get her on it, there's nowhere for her to fall.

So, last night we went to bed as usual. When I was certain Chloe was in such a deep sleep that no amount of movement could possibly wake her, I start the artful process of moving her to her new "bed". I carefully slide her to the edge of the bed and then proceed to shake her violently while screaming, "STAY ASLEEP! STAY ASLEEP!!" Well, that's what I might as well have done since the second her body hit the new mattress, she began to flail all of her limbs and cry. Sigh. So, now I am on the makeshift toddler bed with Chloe, letting her nurse herself back to sleep. My plan is to get her back to sleep and then slip out, unnoticed, into my own bed. That's the plan, anyway. The reality is that Chloe clings to me like this is Sophie's Choice and any small movement I make, including breathing, results in her wailing like the world is ending. 

I do eventually manage to slip out of our lovely arrangement and do get to sleep in my own bed, on my own side, without any foreign body parts touching my body...for all of an hour. I timed it. I left Chloe on her "bed" at 12:22. I woke up to her crying at 1:20, took her into bed with me, and we both went back to sleep for the rest of the night. But hey, that's the longest she has ever slept in her own bed. Ever. So, maybe we're making progress? 

Anyway, here's my "toddler bed"(patent-pending):

Yes, that is a giant stuffed unicorn wearing my sweater. The idea being that Chloe would have a mass next to her that smelled like me and thus, was me. That was they idea, anyway.

That's all for now! Sweet dreams!