Can anyone really babysit your co-sleeping baby?

[BexusSugarush]

Our 11 month old baby girl has co-slept with us since she was 5 months old. It works for us, we all sleep well and we know the only way we can get her to sleep in her cot is by controlled crying, which I refuse to do. So we're happy with the co-sleeping.

However, my partner and I want to go to our work Christmas party, which would involve someone babysitting her and putting her to bed. The problem there is that she won't go to sleep alone. I don't even know if she'd fall asleep at night with anyone but us.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, did you find a way around it?

To clarify, by co-sleeping, I mean that she shares a bed with us.

The babysitter could be family and they don't necessarily need to put her to bed, they could let her toddle about till she drops. Mine were the same at that age, wouldn't have gone to bed for someone else , they would just stay up till they couldn't phisically stay awake any longer lol

She might well fall asleep differently for someone else? Why not try a trial run on a night where it doesn't matter if you have to come home.

Not the same thing but I have to BF my 8month old to sleep. She won't take a bottle at all, or a cup. But if I'm not there she just goes to sleep with a story and a cuddle - (i lift her and feed her later).

Good luck!

We had similar with both mine and if it was my in laws - or even a babysitter - I would ask if they felt comfortable sitting on our bed next to DC while they fell asleep. If not - and that's totally cool - I suggested them letting DC stay up until they basically passed out in their arms. One night of a bedtime routine going a bit skewiff isn't going to do any harm. Enjoy your party!

My mother is also my babysitter... if I want to do something that involves an overnight stay then baby just sleeps beside his Granny. It works out fine.

If it's not an overnight then baby just sleeps in Granny or granda's arms then gets brought to bed with me when I get home.

They behave so differently for other people it's bizarre. My one year old refuses all milk that isn't directly from the boob when I'm around, and won't sleep anywhere but on me. And yet when I'm out she takes a cup of warm cows milk and self settles in her cot!