Is it too late to co-sleep?

[Somethingwicked]

Help! My babies are not babies anymore! I have always regretting not going down the co-sleeping path, and although we have shared a bed with my children many many times, I still find it hard to come up with an answer when my 4 year old asks 'why do we all have to be lonely in different rooms'?

Obviously I don't want to ditch their bedrooms (4yo DD on her own) (2yo DTs in together) but I would just like to sleep with them all from time to time. I may otherwise have to have another child, who I can parent in the way I now do right from the start!

Any precedents for this? Or good ideas on how to make it happen/persuade my husband?

You might find that they don't want to, so why not just ask if they want to sleep with mummy tonight?

If they do, great!

My DD is 2 and we have always co slept. Some nights it gets a bit much for DH, so he goes into her bed. Sometimes she climbs in at midnight, sometimes she wants to go to sleep in the 'big bed' to begin with.

I love co sleeping and find that DD sleeps much better with us, but your DCs might be different. You won't know until you try, I guess.

Good luck!

I've just read The Continuum Concept and it mentions a family who started co-sleeping with their 4 year old. If your kids want to I don't see why not.

the thing is, I co slept with either of my parents - my dad worked night shifts so I slept with him during the day or evening, and with my mum at night, or with my sisters (they are 10 years and 12 years older than me, we slept all three in the same double-bed) and I only had my own bed from about 8 years old. I was absolutely terrified of speeping on my own for years, had many many nightmares, couldnt go for sleepovers as I was too scared to sleep in my own bed, even if there was someone else in the room. I never went on school trips longer than a day. I understand that this is unusual, but I think that there are clear downsides to co-sleeping and they are not often discussed.

Never too late. DS1 stopped when he was about 5 but DS2 continued long past then.
One tip is to make sure you have a very big bed and the DCs have a double bed then you can all sleep in comfort.

Thank you all. I will discuss it with the children and see what they think. Our bed is too small for now, but will have to see what happens...