The Duvet Thief - Living Arrows

The Duvet Thief – Living Arrows

I wasn’t one for co-sleeping when my son was younger.  In fact he was in his cot in his own room when he was 13 weeks old.  He’d outgrown his Moses basket and the cot simply wouldn’t fit in our room. I wanted my own space back and I wanted him to have a very defined area that was his space too.  It worked for us, although I appreciate that for lots of other people it wouldn’t.  It’s very much a personal choice isn’t it.  Even when my son moved to his toddler bed, he was very good at staying in it, and has been a really good sleeper from the time I started weaning him at 5 months.  But the duvet thief arrived a few years ago.

The Duvet Thief - Living Arrows

My son was having nightmares and it became hard to settle him.  I’d got so used to having a decent nights sleep that any break in that, I found exhausting.  I’d go into his room, settle him, go back to bed, he’d wake up again, I’d go back again and again.  This was doing neither of us any good.  So I asked him if he wanted to get into bed with me.  Something I’d vowed I wouldn’t do.  But by this point I’d had a week of broken sleep and I was shattered and I knew he was too.  As soon as he got into my bed he’d sleep and then so would I.

So these days if he wakes up in the night he just gets straight in with me, sometimes I’m not even aware that it’s happened. The rule is though, that he always has to start the night in his own bed.  99% of the time he wakes up in his own bed too.  But on other nights, like one last week, he woke me up to tell me he’d had a bad dream and got in next to me.

He’s 8 now, and when I woke up in the morning to this scene, I wondered how many more times the duvet thief would visit, before it’s totally uncool to sleep with his Mummy.  I need to treasure these moments while I can.  I shall miss my little duvet thief when he no longer comes.

Living Arrows

8 thoughts on “The Duvet Thief – Living Arrows

  1. Alice never wanted to go near my bed as a baby so it was never an option that I could consider even on those dark nights when all I wanted was to get some sleep. Holly didn’t mind it and would sometimes come in, but neither of them do now. Holly probably would if I asked her x

  2. One of the thing that my son got from his Dad is night terrors. Its still not as violent as what his father got but my son would wake up at night talking and looking around and then go back to sleep. His father’s case is different, he would jump off of bed and shout loudly like someone is chasing him. He would then wake up without knowing what happened to him. Nowadays I dont have to worry about my husband as we are separated already (at least in our sleeping) but with my son is still on. I co-sleep as well. I am okay with it. Hopefully when he is ready he will voluntarily say he needs to have his space. And when that time comes hopefully its either that his night terror is gone or not as bad as hit father. In the meantime like you I enjoy the view of my son’s face before sleep and when I wake up =) #livingarrows

  3. Athena came into bed with me this morning at 6am – it’s something we do here when they’re not well or having bad dreams too. But, also, every morning when they wake up they come into bed too for a cuddle and it’s one of my favourite times of the day x

  4. Monkey will come in to us at the weekends when he wakes and Kipper if he wakes and doesn’t settle back. Although he’s awful because he takes up my whole side of the bed. So we are getting a huge bed if we move! But you are right we do need to cherish these moments xx #LivingArrows

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