Has anyone ended up co-sleeping out of desperation?...

[RufousBartleby]

....and if your DC is a really bad sleeper is it possible to get them to sleep on their own again as they get older or am I just going to cause myself more problems in the long run?

DS is 10 months and I am getting desperate. Has never slept through -either wakes 4/5 times a night or wakes for a few hours in the middle of the night and screams. I've tried shush pat, Elizabeth Pantley, Gina Ford's routine and even CC and nothing has really worked for us.

However DS will sleep better in our bed, I guess because he can get the comfort he needs straight away - I'm loathe to completely give in and just do co-sleeping in case it is then even worse trying to get him to settle on his own when he is older. Has anyone been in this situation and how did it work out for you?

yep, but we did it from quite early on.
ds2 woke for a feed every 45-90 minutes, day and night until he was about 10 months old! which was when we used the no-cry sleep solution

i took the side off his cot and pushed it right up to the bed and if i was awake at the end of a feed i rolled him into his cot, otherwise he stayed in with us

can't really remember how we got him into his own bed tbh... it just worked. he is 3 now but has been in his own bed for quite a while. I ghuess having the cot by the bed worked because it was never the case that he was in our bed all night every night iyswim?

Me. I did the same as yesterday with the cot and DS slept in our bed until he was one. He now sleeps in his cot in our room and ones into our bed at around six-ish for snuggles. It's nice :)

If you throw yourself into co-sleeping, reading up on the benefits and so on, I'm sure you'll really be surprised at how much easier and more natural it feels. We did this when ds was 6 months and never looked back. Now with dd things are so much easier as we did it from the start and planned it that way. We bought a superking mattress and put it on the floor. Ds is now in his own bed but comes into us every night. My favourite time of the day is first thing in the morning with the 4 of us in the bed.

Yes, although I only started 'proper' co-sleeping at 11 months when DS was waking 3-5+ times a night. By 13 months he was sleeping much better and by 14 months he was only waking once a night. :)

I read Three in a Bed by Deborah Jackson and now I co-sleep because I want to, not because I have to.

yes, i spend every night squished up between my 4 yr old ds and 16mth old dd as neither sleep very well and its the only way i get any rest at all!

Yes, nearly 16 months, but hoping it won't last too much longer.

Co-sleeping is one of the most beautiful things to do with your baby. My son has slept through the night since he was 5 months old - I'm certain it's because he was formula fed too, none of the all-night sucking for comfort stuff! Anyway, at 7 months he had bronchiolitis and became very unsettled so when he woke at 10pm ish I used to bring him into bed with me. He'd instantly settle down and go back to sleep until 7am. Waking with him next to me and seeing him smile up at me first thing in the morning is something I shall cherish for the rest of my life. He still goes to bed at 7pm in his own cot, sleeps there until anytime between 11pm and 5am, and when he wakes he crys for me, I go and bring him in with me and we just go back to sleep. For a single mother I'm very rested and have a marvellously chilled and happy son. Co-sleeping is fab!

Nope never gave in! Hubby would never ever allow it and good for him.

I understand your stress as DS2 wasnt a brill sleeper until recently (about 18m). Would wake up loads. Try a dummy, more food, dropping too much milk too soon, good day time routine and sleep????

He was doing it for attention as the minute I picked him up he stopped so I knew there wasnt a problem.

However, there are some that have done it and eventually settle back into cot but to me its a risk.

our ds was also a terrible sleeper and by the time he was about one we let him come into our bed just so we could get some blessed sleep.. this happened on and off for a few months and he would fall asleep and we would carry him back to his cot if we could be bothered! By the time he was 2 we did some very gentle controlled crying and he became a good sleeper by his standards. I too was worried we would have him in our bed forever but it worked out fine. Our dd is a much better sleeper but if she is unsettled or poorly we bring her into our bed and don't worry about it at all. You have my sympathy though, sleep deprivation nearly drove me insane..
all the best

ps forgot to say both our dc had a dummy but that clearly wasn't enough!

And can I just make the point that childrens' needs extend beyond food and sleep. They also need A LOT of human contant, so a child looking for attention is a child looking to have a need fulfilled.

I did with ds (pfb, now almost 6). I basically went through 6 wks of no sleep whatsoever, cos he cried all night every night, then I accidentally fell asleep feeding him one night. He slept in our bed for at least part of every night until he was about 16 months, when I made up a toddler bed for him and he decided he'd rather sleep in there. He's slept on his own ever since, with no problems.
When I had dd (now 3.5), I decided to bypass the 6 wks of shit, and cosleep from day one. She coslept till she was about 2.5. She still sleeps in our room (we only have 2 bedrooms and ds's room isn't really big enough for another bed) but she has the toddler bed now and we put her to bed, read her a story and then walk away, and she goes to sleep on her own without any issues whatsoever.
So, basically, cosleeping, accidentally or otherwise, hasn't set up huge problems for us wrt our children's sleep patterns. They both grew out of it, and became more comfortable in their own beds.

Thanks everyone - this is really encouraging. We've tried all the obvious (and some more obscure tbh) things to get DS to sleep, so now its just a case of hanging on to some sanity (though hats off to those who can stick with the sleep deprivation longer than me!)

Tried co-sleeping last night when DS woke in the small hours and it was partially sucessful, though he did fidget a lot which I guess I will get used to. I suppose we just have to take the risk that it will be something he grows out of when he gets older!

Did with Dc1 who fed constantly and just wouldn't settle. In the end it was just easier and the alternative would have driven me crazy. We tried controlled crying but he would literally cry for 4 hours non stop. it was awful and we would waste anything we gained as we were often on the move and the constant disruption made it impossible. has No 2 when he was 3yrs and he went into his own bed and eventually settled. Now a few years on and both are sleeping in their own beds (mostly) so you don't have to be creating a problem for life.

I accidentally started to co sleep too. DD just wouldn't settle in the cot. Now we have the cot alongside the bed with one side off and the mattress level with our own. It gives us all our own space.
I worried too that we might have her in the bedroom forever but can see how quickly she is growing and changing that I know it won't be long before she's looking to have her own bed.

Anyone who has coslept has said they've moved dc into their own beds without any problems when the time was right for them.

I believe people who've experienced it over anyone who hasn't. Theory goes out the window with children.