Your Pregnancy: Week 38 for Mom
By: ePregnancy
If sleeping (and breathing for that matter) is becoming increasingly difficult as your sprout grows, it’s probably because your organs, including your bladder, are extremely compressed. A compressed bladder leaves you with that “gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now” feeling. Look at it this way -- more visits to the bathroom equals more calories burned -- which means you can totally count those extra steps as exercise.
Now that you have so much more awake time during the night (thanks to those toilet trips), you might want to consider your opinion on co-sleeping.
What is co-sleeping, you ask? Just as it sounds, co-sleeping means you share a bed with your infant. Proponents of co-sleeping believe it makes breastfeeding easier, as well as aids in syncing your baby's sleep cycles with yours (which means everyone gets more sleep). They also believe that it helps strengthen the bond between parent and child, particularly in instances when the mother has to be away from the baby for periods of time, such as during the work day.
For some parents co-sleeping is the only option; for others, it’s an obvious choice to have everyone sleeping in their own room, in their own bed. Co-sleeping is one of those intensely personal parenting choices, so just know that whatever you decide, all that matters is that it’s right for you.
Overheard on the Forum
Gavin's mom said: It's all about personal preference. I would keep an open mind about it, though. Any time I insisted I 'wouldn't' do this or that before I actually had a baby, it all changed once they arrived. I co-slept with each baby for the first 6 months, but I used their crib for nap times. I wanted them to associate crib with sleep, not my presence. Taking each and every nap with them to ensure they don't fall out of bed (to me, anyway) isn't practical. I use nap times to get things done that I simply cannot when my daughter is awake.