Wondering just how many people co-slept with their children (or still are?)

[Galaxygirl93]

Looking for other people to share your experience of co-sleeping/bed sharing with your little ones (and also how to stop/how old were they?!) As at the moment, I am trying to transition my little boy who is 2 back into his own bedroom however it seems like bedtime is much much calmer when he falls asleep in our room, and we all get a better nights sleep for it!! Whenever we try to get him to fall asleep in his own bed it takes hours and hours and then eventually in the night he runs back in to us anyway!

Obvious downside, is that he is 2 and is only going to get bigger!! So sometimes either me or dh wake up on the edge of the bed.

Another downside is I feel like as soon as you mention co sleeping/bed sharing in conversation, the other person sleep trained their baby at 6 months old, and they can just turn the light off in their own room and the toddler settles themself. Ive never ever experienced this with my little boy, and it seems amazing, but equally if all 3 of us are happy and getting enough sleep surely that should be what counts? I feel like sometimes I am setting ourselves up for massive problems later on, so I guess I would like happy stories of stopping co sleeping with a toddler :-)

We co slept with both of ours. My 2 are 10 and 13 now so it was quite a while ago but as far as I remember we just let them grow out of it and they did. Both at around 3 I think. In the beginning they would fall asleep in their own bed then come into us if they woke in the middle of the night then they eventually slept through in their own beds.
We didn't mind having them sleep with us so never turned getting them into their own beds into a battle, just suggested they might like to sleep in their own rooms until they wanted to.

if all 3 of us are happy and getting enough sleep surely that should be what counts

This, with bells on. I know amazing parents who cosleep, and amazing parents whose kids went into their own rooms at 6 months. The common ground is they attended to the needs of their specific families, which it sounds like you are too.

And in case it helps, our 2 year old is still in our room: IKEA gulliver cot with the side off cable tied to our bed (v glamorous here ) so we all get enough room. Aiming to move house in the next few months and will see if we can get him into his own room then, but am not too fussed (though would be nice to do some shagging in bed again at some point, rather than on the sofa/landing/in front of the fire)

I co sleep with my 4.5 year old DS and have done forever. Some nights he will start in his own room but come creeping in around 1am other nights he just goes to sleep in my bed. It's only me and him so I like it. I love him so why wouldn't I want to cuddle up with him all the time

It depends on what you consider a 'massive problem', though. DP and I don't sleep in the same room on account of a medical condition, so the DC (6 & 9!) still amble through in the early hours pretty much every night and sleep through until morning. Fine by me, my bed is huuuge. I coslept with both in a bedside cot until each was 3ish, at which point they moved into their own room, where they now go to sleep, but, as I said, rarely wake up. DO it your own way, OP, and enjoy.

Can you fit cot bed with one side off next to your bed so he's technically in his own bed? We have cots on both sides of our bed for DD and DS and everyone sleeps amazingly!

I coslept with DD until she was 2. She's 8 now and falls asleep in her own bed but she comes into our bed EVERY night. She will not sleep through in her own bed. When asked why, she says she gets scared on her own and also likes cuddles. I co-slept with my son for 4 months and was quite strict about putting him down in his cot. He's two now and sleeps through from 6 until 6 every night without fail.

If it works for you go for it. We co slept with ds until 3 or we wouldnt have functioned during the day! Hes just 4 now and sleeps all night in his bed- comes in for a cuddle in the morning 😁 . It worked for us up until it didnt.then we transitioned to bed which actually was no big deal, he was obviously ready.
The best advise I was given in general when I had my first was if it's not a problem for your family then it's not a problem. I live by this. Enjoy the cuddles and get some sleep, it wibt be forever x

Just do what feels right for you and your child and don't bring it up in conversation if you don't want other people to comment! I co-slept with two of mine and sleep in their own beds now. It doesn't last forever so just enjoy it and do whatever gets you all a good night's sleep. It's only a problem if you decide it is. Perfectly normal human behaviour the world over.

DD (almost 5) still sleeps in my bed, it's easier than the battle to get her to sleep in her own bed. If she does sleep in her own bed she will come and get in with me anyway at some point and that is more disruptive. DS (2) is there as well but he's a really good sleeper and nice to snuggle.

My DS (8) stopped co-sleeping at 3 when I was waking him up a lot with the endless pregnancy wees, he got fed up and would go and get in his own bed in the night.

Our DD is nearly 3 and slept in our room until she was 2, then settled happily in her toddler bed in her own room. She comes through when she wakes up in the night though. Without fail. I like it, love the cuddles. We could try resettling her in her own room, but we all get more sleep this way.

Years and years. I think they were about 8 and 6 when they stopped, then they shared a bed just with each other for years, and then separate rooms.

My two both did on and off, sometimes in our bed, sometimes in a co-sleeping cot and the younger one currently has a low double futon next to our bed and requests our company there sometimes. If it's windy and the older one's room is noisy, he also sometimes comes in to sleep with us or with his brother. I love watching them snuggle together. They sleep really well like that but they need separate duvets as the older one is a blanket hogger! It's really nice being all in the same room. Sometimes I feel a bit sad that the older one is on his own while the rest of us share a room but we thought it was best for him to have his own room when his brother was born to avoid the new baby disturbing his sleep.

We are currently trying to clear out our spare room so the pair of them can have the double futon in there to share. I'm being quite slow about it though as I think I'll miss them if they are happy snuggling each other and don't visit us any more.

We moved DS1 into his own room when he was about nine months as we were keeping each other awake. He would go to sleep happily in his own bed but when he woke in the night, wouldn’t resettle so ended up in with us. I often came in off a nightshift to him hogging my side of the bed. Once he started to sleep through, he would only come in if he was ill. He’s three now and doesn’t really want to be in our bed. Just fidgets and doesn’t sleep. We did it because he was a terrible sleeper (brother shaping up to be the same, no matter what we try) and we needed sleep. It was fine for him napping when it suited him but we had to go to work. I don’t think you can explain how utterly shit lack of sleep is until you’ve been there so if it works for your family, carry on.