A nice spin on a baby toy I would have otherwise purchased

So my friend sent me a picture of her son at daycare playing at a water table. I instantly thought - i would love to get something like that for my little one. I started looking online on amazon and I found one I wanted :

The problem came when I looked at the reviews. Everyone warned not to leave water in it when the kids aren't playing. It was a perfect breeding ground for Mosquitos. Then I thought - I could just only fill it when my daughter was playing with it . But wait - do I want that responsibility? I quickly got an image of this toy sitting upside down in the yard because I would be avoiding having water collect in it! Ugh that's just too much work . Then I spoke to one of my mommy friends and she suggested I get a roasting pan full it with water and put her bath toys in it whenever I wanted her to play with water outside . Problem solved lol!

Taking a no-cry approach to sleep trainings

So I know that a lot of people believe you need to cry it out to get your kid to sleep on their own. When my daughter was born - well more like before - I firmly believed I would be a rigid routine driven mom. I was going to give my kid hard structure so they could feel secure . Well that went out the window. My baby slept in a cosleeper at first because I was terrified of suffocating her. But at 5 months I started co sleeping sporadically. At 6-7 months we were doing it routinely. I tried to cry it out once and that was a royal failure. Anyway that's enough history

So lately I just watch for sleep cues, turn out all the lights, and put her down on her tummy in her crib . Sometimes she whimpers a bit - but no tears. Next thing her head hits the mattress and she's out! I am loving this! I know every kid is different - but I firmly believe if you work at it - you can get your kid to sleep on their own without the torturous screams. We are 4 days into this routine. And for those who say if you cosleep you will never get your kid out of your bed - well hah!

The big sleep question - to cosleep or not?

I can't tell you how many times I've gone back and forth in my head about this. Initially I refused to let my little girl sleep next to me. I simply was terrified of squashing her. But a few months passed, and she's a lot stronger. After a 2 month vacation with her, I decided to switch her to sleep in her room. This was after we returned from our vacation. Well that was a royal failure. She completely rejected her bedroom crib. Now when we were on vacation, I was breastfeeding a lot and often I wasn't sleeping at home, so she co-slept with me quite a bit.

That being said, she still slept pretty much wherever I put her. This return home where she was refusing her crib was the first time I'd dealt with this. So my solution, I put her in the bed next to me. After 2 weeks I was able to coax her into sleeping in the playpen beside my bed. I know people say that if you let your kids cosleep it will be impossible to get them out of your bed - but maybe it's just my naivety but I simply don't believe that. Looking at her behavior, it was just very obvious to my husband and I that our little one was simply not ready to be on her own.

So here I am with an almost-8 month old and she sleeps in our bed at night. Some nights my husband sleeps next to me . I thought it would be a miserable thing - but honestly it's not that bad. Now for those that say my child might be developing some weird sleep associations... here are a few intersting facts about my little one's sleeping preference:

• She will sleep in her playpen downstairs without issue
• She will sleep on the floor without issue
• She will sleep on a couch without issue
• She will sleep in our bed whether we are in the bed or not 

Since she seems to be changing all the time regarding her sleep preferences.... we're going to let her ride this out. After all - I've never seen a kid ruined from being loved too much. If sleeping next to us gives her a sense of peace, it's worth any potential inconvenience for now.