I never got "touched-out" - I was the one wanting more cuddles from DH! HE was the one who didn't like post-coitial let-down; I found (find) it amusing.
I found sleep SO hard when DS stopped waking up all the time. You wake up in a blind panic "why isn't he crying? Has he screamed himsef hoarse for the last five hours? Is he dead?" No, he slept through. That's what you wanted him to do, remember?
I sometimes get 'touched out' too, but it's happening less and less now. It does sound strange, but when you HAve this (wonderful) baby attached to you for much of the day, you sort of relish the times when you can stretch out without touching ANYONE!
We co-slept full time for the first 6 months, then art time for another 6 months. Mostly it was all 3 of us in 1 bed. But maybe once every couple of weeks DH would sleep in the spare room for a couple of nights. This was usually during teething or when he had a huge workload which required him to get up very early (4 am) and it was so that he could get a decent night's sleep and also so he wouldn't wake us up when getting ready for work.
I always missed him and didn't like sleeping apart. I never resented him for sleeping while I was up with DD. Due to his snoring, we actually slept better when he wasn't around - lol.
I personally wouldn't want to make it a regular occurence. I find the responsibilities of parenting are hard enough on a relationship without feeling like the baby separates you. On the other hand, loving a child together is incredibly strengthening for the relationship, too.
Other people might not associate those feelings with sleeping apart and it might be a good solution for them. So I guess every situation and every couple is different.
co-sleeping with your child is the most wonderful experience.
i'm not sure if you've read a lot of literature on it, including 'the science of parenting'? but i can already see the benefits coming through in ds's personality and behaviour. he is the most affectionate, gentle soul- and people just love being around him. he looks right into your eyes when you're talking to him, and often gives big loving cuddles to strangers who show an interest in him. i may be reading too much into it, but i attribute a lot of this to co-sleeping, as many of peers with babies around the same age who don't co-sleep, often comment on it.
i agree with what hoobley has said, that lack of sleep would cause way greater issues in my and dp's relationship than sleeping seperately ever would. i have to say, in fact, that we have never been closer.
as a sahm, i feel like it is my responsibility to deal with ds during the night-time, so that dp can be healthy and happy at work. others may not agree with me, but this is what works in our household. dp works long hours and does a lot of travel. he just can't cope if he's tired. he works hard so that i can stay home with our child. i therefore see it as my role to ensure that he gets the sleep he needs.
we both really enjoy sleeping seperately- sounds crazy i know- but he gets time to himself, an uninterupted sleep. he is not a snuggler in bed, and doesn't like to cuddle up, he likes to be left alone. he finds me way to snuggly! i get to snuggle up to ds all night long and he often wakes me up in the morning with kisses. it's just so lovely. on weekends ds will often start calling out to dp when he wakes so dp will come and jump in bed with us. we find it to be the perfect arrangement for our family, for now. ds is not going to be a little snuggler forever, so i'm just trying to enjoy the moment.
and like others have said, it does not affect our sexlife, as we don't only have sex in bed at night. without going into too much detail, ds often goes to bed at 8-9pm so we have a good 2-3 hours at night by ourselves together.
overall, all 3 of us are really enjoying the expereince atm, and if anything it is making us closer as a family unit.
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