to let my five year old still sleep in my bed, or are the 'eyebrow raisers' BU?

[mummytowillow]

There are just the two of us in our house, my daughter is five and loves sleeping in my bed.

She went through a stage where she went to sleep in my bed and stayed there all night. I've managed to get her to go to sleep in her bed, but by about 1am she's sneaked into my bed. Sometimes I notice, sometimes I just wake in the morning and she's there!

To be honest, I quite like it, were very close and rarely spend time away from each other apart from work and school. I have a king size bed so no space issues and she doesn't wriggle and sleeps all night.

BUT people who find this out raise their eyebrows and say its not normal?

My mum is very vocal about it, thinks it wrong, she'll get used to it, she's not a baby blah blah blah. I'm single, no boyfriends so that's not a problem, so who is being unreasonable, me, her or the 'eyebrow raisers'.

And if I need to get her out of the habit, how on earth do I do it. Its just easy to let her get in when its 1am, cold and I'm cosy and warm!

[JugglingWithPossibilities]

I'm so sorry you lost your Mum when you were so young zebra
Am glad you and your sister were able to help one another x

[oldnewmummy]

It's like we're a secret society. Our son, who's almost 6, still sleeps with us. My parents have a lot to say on the subject, but I ignore them. I'm happy with the arrangement, but I do worry about he fact that he hasn't got the confidence to sleep alone. Sleeping alone is a very Western idea.

[HoneyDragon]

My poor dh was turfed out before dc's.

I used to work nights/lates. He did early mornings. LOUD early mornings. Separate rooms are better than separate lives due to sleep depravation.

We like our own space. Its allowed.

[goralka]

Mine used to go to sleep in their own beds and sneak over in the night, it was lovely.....i see from this thread that it is quite normal.

[HoneyDragon]

I used to sleep in my Mums bed when I was 15/16. My Dad used to work abroad a lot and sometimes he'd fuck up the time difference and call my Mum at stupid o'clock. My Mum sleeps like the dead so I'd answer the bloody phone (in her room by her head!) and have a chat to Dad till she was properly awake and then stay in the nice warm bed rather than trek back down the drafty hall to the cold end of the house

[redwallday]

Sounds lovely to me! Enjoy it while you can they aren't little forever! Tell the judgey pant brigade to mind their own bees wax!

[Tillylils]

DD is 6, like u I'm single, and she has slept in with me since her dad left. It's a bit of comfort for both of us and I'll be sad when she no longer wants to.

[pinkkoala]

My dd 7yrs sleeps in my kingsize bed with me, much to my mums annoyance she likes to tell me often that its not right etc but if dd is happy and feels safe and gets good night sleep then that is ok with me.
I dont live with my mum but she likes her opinion.

[guccigirl666]

I'm single and my ds (4) sleeps with me every night, I love it. I didn't plan on co-sleeping, every one advised against it in the beginning, but my instinct was it was right for us. I also get a lot of eyebrow raisers but you don't have to explain yourself to anyone, enjoy it!

[Worley]

ds1 co slept with exdp and I for a long time.. we would wake up an he was there..he eventually decide he would stay in his bed all night and that was that..
ds2 sleeps with me. he did sleep by himself to start with but ended up into bed. but when exdp left he slept with me - working full time and having a two yet old who didn't sleep through was hell.) were all happy now.. I'm sure when he's ready he will do the same as ds1 and sleep back in his own bed (he is 6 now) his excuse for sleeping in my bed is that he warms it up for me :)
I only have one close friend who knows and thinks it weird. she never had any dc and until your in the situation I don't think people can pass comment. my dc and I are all very close.
I bf both of mine.. did other co sleepers bf? is that a link ?
my mum bf me and I used to co sleep. my brother was ff and he never co slept... just a thought

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

Yep normal and lovely and possibly one of the "taboos" of parenting.

Musical beds here too sometimes.! Ds, 6, has a single bed in his room, but prefers the double bed in the spare room. So me or DH will cuddle in with him to read stories, chat and snuggle down. Which means that sometimes we will end up falling asleep with him, either till the early hours and then stagger through to our bed, or even until morning. So sometimes the other one not on child duty gets our big bed to themselves for a night (lovely too!) sometimes Ds will roam through to find the missing parent, or go to his own room as well. He knows he is loved and welcome and I too am a neck and top of head sniffer! It's so natural, and he is a confident, happy wee lad so I have no issues.

Ds used to always come in for a cuddle in the mornings too, but now the allure of tv in the mornings has overtaken this. Except Sundays when he will wake us up, not good on telly Ds?!

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

Not = nowt stupid ipad.

[BrittaPerry]

My mum is fond of pointing out that me and my sisters are now 27, 25 and 19, and none of us sleep in her bed now (I just sleep in a bed full of my own children...)

[EnjoyResponsibly]

Happiness is the smell of a sleeping DC

Fight that xx

[StuntGirl]

Nope that would drive me mad! I never shared my parents bed as a child either.

[wheresmespecs]

God, I love this thread. Toddler co-sleeping musical bed household here. We all (finally) get enough sleep, there's no tension or tantrums or effort around bedtime and sleeping - as someone else said, we are all warm and loved and safe - brilliant.

With all that, I'll still get some knobber frowning and asking me what I'm going to do to 'sort it out' - so I keep quiet about it. Very happy to have discovered a secret society of happy co-sleepers though.

[sparkleshine]

My nearly 3 yr old always comes into my bed during the night, sometimes I hear him and sometimes I don't. I'm a single parent.

It's strange but at his dads he seems to stay and sleep all night in his own bed and jumps into their bed in the morning. Same with his grandparents

Don't know why it's just at mine that he wakes up and comes into bed.
I don't mind, I enjoy the cuddles and it won't last forever.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

My DH loves being relegated to a single bed on his own. On the rare occasion that I threaten dd1 with her own room the panic on his face is a picture :o

We've never done sleeping together very well though tbh. We're both light sleepers and mostly get on each others tits at night.

[Pandemoniaa]

I love it when I stay at ds2's house and am woken by 22 month old dgd saying "Yay! Nanny! Ov Yoo!" as she climbs into bed with me.

Makes me all nostalgic for the days when my own dcs did the same. They did, of course, take to their own beds exclusively when older but the cuddly bed-sharing years were lovely.

[birthdaypanic]

When my dd was a baby ( now 30 ) she was a terrible sleeper we asked the GP and HV for advise who both said put her in our bed, it was the done thing then, when I went back to ask how to get her out of our bed they had no idea and actually admitted that. Eventually DD decided herself she was too old to sleep with us by then she was 6.

[HeadfirstForHalos]

DC4 (5) gets in with me most nights. When dh works away I put him to bed in our bed, when he's here he goes in his own bed but creeps into ours in the early hours.

I love it. He is our youngest and won't be doing it much longer. He has autistic traits (like his brother with ASD) and is a handful most of the time, but snuggled up in bed together and he's angelic.

We only have a double bed too!

[fran28]

my 2 year old is in with me..its only her and me..so i dont want to put her in to her own bed..when she wants to be in with me.she knows her own mind though..i think when she is ready she will go in to her bed..i have got a few people telling me how wrong i am..but..she is only small once and its not doing her any harm..and i love waking up to her so much...and she is not clingy for it..will go off with anyone she knows...im glad to hear its not just me though

[HollaAtMeBaby]

YANBU - as you are single. But I feel sorry for the clearly not so D Hs who have been relegated from the marital bed in favour of their children...

[AmberSocks]

Do what feels right for you,if you care what others think then dont tell them!

I have co slept with all of mine to some extent,ds1 and 2 just now and again,dd1 since the day she was born and the same with ds3 who are now 2 and a half and 6 weeks old.

Im happy with it,my dh sleeps in the spare room,he doesnt mind and as for the sex side of things,it makes no difference to us,we just do it somewhere the kids arent!Plus he snores!

[SplendidTopHat]

I think its nice. Nothing wrong.