The Bug is now co-sleeping with us full time on my side of the bed and
pretty much has to be glued against my body all night long. She falls
asleep by coming to bed with me -- if she falls asleep after 8pm but
before I go to bed, I put her in the co-sleeper and she invariably
wakes up within an hour. Once we're down she'll stay asleep for a
little bit if I get up, but as soon as she stirs if I'm not there she
wakes up (DH is sometimes an acceptable substitute). She nurses twice
a night at best, more at worst.

This is fine for now, but starting in June (when she'll be 1 year old)
I'll go back to work in a position that requires me to be gone
overnight about twice a week. It's also an 60-80 hour/week job
(medical residency -- there's no way for me to work fewer hours) so I
won't ever really be able to catch up on lost sleep. It'd be great if
she could sleep through the night, but also acceptable if DH can deal
with her night wakings. I see two alternatives he

1. Continue to co-sleep by switching her to the middle and getting her
used to sleeping with DH. Sometime before June spend a few nights
sleeping on the couch and letting him deal with night wakings. (I've
seen the stats on overlying and am not concerned about her being at
any risk from that.)
2. Get her used to sleeping in a crib and have DH find a way to get
her down to sleep in the evenings (and back to sleep at night if
necessary).

I'm torn about what to do. On the one hand I'll *really* need my
sleep on the nights I'm home, and I know I'll sleep better if it's
just me and DH in the bed. On the other hand I know one resident who
co-sleeps with her 1-year-old just for the cuddle time since she's
gone so much. I don't want to actively start dealing with this until
we move (next month or two) because I figure any sleep changes will go
to hell with the move. Also, we live in a one-bedroom apartment now
and if we pursue the crib option I highly suspect she'd do better with
that in a seperate room.

Anyone with advice about moving a co-sleeping baby to a crib around
this age? Or with experience co-sleeping when mom's not always home
at night? Or just general advice? Poor Bug (and poor mum), she's
going to have a lot to deal with in the next few months...

Kate
and the Bug, June 8 2003