Co sleeping thoughts and advice please

[alisaaa]

I have a 14 week old DS. I am a single parent and co sleep with my baby as we both enjoy it and sleep well throughout the night.
Family members have adviced me to get him out of this habit now as it will make him needy and unsuitable for staying over at grannies etc. I do admit I do pick him up a lot when he cries and he usually only falls asleep when he’s held and has close contact, but at the moment this doesn’t bother me and I find it really special .
I am aware when I finish Mat Leave I will be better off with structure but what I’m really looking for advice on is can this make him demanding and unruly to carry these habits on for too long??
What could the long term effects be and has anybody got any experiences to share and advice?
Thankyou in advance.
Can I just add that I am fully aware of the increased risk of SIDS and I always make sure he is safe 😊 x

Long term effect is that he won’t settle in his own bed, bedtimes will be a battle, he will cry when you leave etc..
I co-slept with my DS and I have all these problems now. But my idea is that I will tackle the sleeping issues when he’s older and better at understanding. He is 4 yrs old now, goes to sleep in his bed happily with a story but is an early riser (5am) so he will spend 2 hours in the morning in my bed.
He will also come in my bed if he wakes in the night for the loo/drink/nightmare but this doesn’t happen regularly.

But on the flip side my friend co-slept until her children were 2, they were always fidgety & likes to feed throughout the night. Then one week they just stopped getting out of bed and they sleep straight through till morning. So there’s no way of predicting what issues will arise from co-sleeping.
My opinion is do whatever feels most comfortable & whatever way you get the most sleep. I wouldn’t even bother trying to change sleep arrangements until 1yr +

I co-slept with DS until he was 16 months. I had DD and was im hospital for a week. DH got him in to cot no problems!

Co-sleeping saved my sanity so I don't regret it.

I co-slept with my dd from birth to about 18 months, she spent a few months in her bed in my room before moving into her own room. She is now 5 and is and always has been easy to get to bed and off to sleep. I never made a big fuss over her sleeping in her own bed and for as long as it took was relaxed about her joining me in mine again at any point through the night. She still occasionally appears if she's had a bad dream and often chooses to come in for a sleepy morning cuddle time to talk through anything thats bothering her.

She hasn't really been at all clingy, she went through normal levels of not wanting to be left at nursery/with family at various points when going through developmental stages, but always settled quickly and happily.
As a single parent who had to go back to work when she was only a few months old all that extra cuddle time not only helped our bond, it also meant we got much more good quality sleep. My mindset has always been that whatever gets us the most restful nights sleep is fine by me.

If it helps she was never any trouble to get to sleep at her childminders, she regularly sleeps over at her Dads and grandparents without issue now. I wouldn't have expected her to be staying away from me overnight as a baby so I can't comment on that, but unless you need to in the very near future you probably don't need to worry at this point.

I have to admit that I co slept with my first and that ended up going on for years as it was so so hard to break the habit. I regretted it so much as it became so difficult for both of us trying to get him into his own bed and sleeping through the night without me

I co slept with my second DD until she decided at 8mth that the bed wasn't big enough with mummy and daddy in it as she couldn't stretch out like a starfish! So she fidgeted enough to tell us she wasn't comfy any more and we popped her in her own cot...slept fine from then on! Whilst co sleeping with us she slept well too. The only way she would settle and we could get sleep and stay sane was for her to be in the bed with us! Our DD3 is 10 weeks old and we often sleep with her in our bed if she won't settle.