She is in her crib...

I was totally not looking forward to this night. In fact, it was not supposed to happen until she is six months old. But this week has been a rough one, and friends that I trust have encouraged me to try to put Lorelei in her crib, in her own room tonight.
Friends, this is tough on me! I have not slept more than a few feet away from my little girl since she was born, and I LOVED that. Co-sleeping makes it so easy for middle of the night feedings, side nursing and just bonding with my baby. I loved leaning over to feel her breathe at night. I loved pulling her into bed with me to snuggle when Allen left for work. I loved that if she did randomly wake up a bit early wanting to nurse, I could just lay there with her and we could both fall back asleep after. But I am starting to think it is time.
A woman who I trust from my church, who happens to be a pediatric nurse with six children, said that it is time to move the baby from your room when you are losing sleep because of her being there rather than gaining it. It is not a matter of a specific time or age; just when you know that you need to look out for your own health too. This past week, Lorelei is going through some sort of growth spurt or something, and also has started moving and rolling and waking up in her sleep, thus waking me up. Now please do not think that I am saying I do not want my daughter to wake me up if she is hungry. I would (and have) wake up every hour or so if she needed me. But I do not think I am helping anyone by waking up in anxiety because I heard her move into a position that made me nervous. Nor am I learning to discern her hunger cry from a random "I just woke up" cry if I am jumping to get her the second I hear her. Both of our sleep schedules have been a mess this week, and if this can help both of us get some sleep, I am willing to try. If she keeps waking up in the middle of the night needing to feed and it is inconvenient to have her down the hall, I will move her back temporarily.
So in the meantime, I have an awesome monitor that detects motion (and sounds an alarm if it does not detect motion for like 20 seconds.) She seems to be sleeping peacefully (on her side like her momma,) and has been in bed for about an hour and a half so far. But oh how I will miss her tonight. After I put her to bed, she cried a bit and I went back in to put her pacifier back in her mouth. She grabbed my hand and pulled it to her face, hugging it like she would a doll or teddy bear. When she was a newborn, if someone else was holding her and she started crying, I would place my hand on her cheek and she would stop, because she sensed momma was there. Now that trick does not quite fool her anymore, but apparently my touch on her cheek still comforts her. I love that.

Praying for both of us to sleep well tonight!