Accidental Co-Sleeping Hell

We have a huge problem. For the last 3 months or so, Ricky has been getting up in the middle of the night - usually between 12am and 2am, and yelling, "MOM-ee...mom-EEE??" over and over again, until I go to his room, pick him up, and bring him to our bed.

He has his own room and his own big boy bed. However, over the summer, Mark and I have been guilty of joining Ricky for his after-lunch nap and inviting him to share our bed. So much so that gradually Ricky has come to view our bed as *his* bed and has been expecting to come into our bed every night since. So this isn't partially our fault - it is completely our fault.

We have a queen size bed, so there's not a whole lot of room, and I typically lose - with only a few inches on the very edge to my name. Ricky is a swatter, kicker, and puncher in his sleep and I have awoken several times to believing someone was attacking me.

This really sucked over the weekend. I worked Saturday and am still sick and Mark did lots of work at my mom's house and was just tired. Ricky came in our bed at midnight and proceeded to whine and talk and would not go to sleep and this went on and on throughout the course of the night. Not only are we sleep-deprived but this has impacted reproductive chances. You can't have sex when your toddler is in bed with you and if you do, then you are a sick mf-er!!

We decided that enough is enough.

Last night, when Ricky called, I sat at his bed, stroked his head and back and stayed there for as long as I could until he fell asleep. I have to wait until he is in deep sleep, you see, because our hardwood floors are the creakiest things in the world. One loud creak and I am up shit's creek!!

I think we will have to purchase a gate for his room as well. Since he has a big boy bed, he can just waltz right into our room or go into any room in the house. There is a paranoid part of me that does worry about not being able to get to him in the event of a fire, but what is the difference if he were still in his crib like his other friends? This has to stop. I am so tired all the time!