Calling all ex cosleepers: when and how did you stop?

[Bet01]

ive posted before about cosleeping with DS (6 months) and don't have any real ishoo with it at the moment as he's still quite small, doesn't kick me too much and has finally stopped bfing every hour all night. BUT DP and I don't want him in with us forever, and I wondered how long other peoples DCs had slept with them?
DS still feeds to sleep with me lying on my side, so that's one thing he'll need to stop first. The other is that he seems to need me very near him to sleep because he quite often reaches out in his sleep to check I'm next to him and if I'm too far away, he wakes himself up. Quite sweet really.
So like I said, not a problem now but how do we change things if/when we want to?

[Psychovillemum]

My DD hated the cot. When she was around 18 months (she was an early walker), I put her in her own bed with a rail. I started sleeping on a mattress next to her on the floor. She is nearly two now and has always been settled in her room as I've been next to her. So I'm gradually now getting back into my bed! We spoke about her bed and room for ages prior to moving her in. Now she loves it.

[Psychovillemum]

I still BF feed her to sleep lying down.

[Bet01]

Hmm, sounds like a very sensible plan Psycho. I think DS is going to be in our bed for a while longer. I've always thought it makes sense to wait until DS understands what we're telling him. We have a bedside cot but it's still not close enough to mummy, bless!

[ForYourDreamsAreChina]

Dd stopped co-sleeping last year when she was 7. She decided (and it coincided with her choosing a Big Girl Bedroom for herself, which helped!) It worked fine for us all until then, and was never an issue.

I imagine it's harder to convince a younger child that it's time to stop co-sleeping, if it is becoming an issue. But if it ain't broke, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[FannyBrawne]

Very similar experience to psycho - except I invested in a double futon to go in DS's room around 18 months. I share this with DS, cuddling him until he goes to sleep, then slip out....sometimes he sleeps through, sometimes he wakes (in which case I just join him).

I used to stress a bit about co-sleeping, but really wish I hadn't (and actually now miss it).

[Stokey38]

Hello my DS is 15 months and we have just stopped. really don't want to curse this for last week he has just settled really well in his cot and then slept through. I miss him a bit already but I like having my bed back and DP back in it.

[Bet01]

I know what you mean Stokey! DP is in the bed too and it gets a bit squashed, so really looking forward to it being just the two of us again. Plus we won't have to creep out of bed without waking DS and lie on the floor if we fancy a bit. (only one bedroom in our flat)