Like most mums I routinely bought a cot and never intended to co-sleep. I went to great length to enchourage DS to sleep in it all night. Whilst some babies seem to do that without too much of a fuss, my DS didn't and night-times were tiring, stressful nightmare for a long time. Then, I started co-sleeping with DS at 6 months old. At first I felt guilty - my friend with a baby of his age was appalled. The co-sleeping kept happening and as I lay there one night with us all happily snuggled up together I thought - why on earth am I fighting this? Human being in other countries and for millions of years before have all slept huddled together, safe and nurtured and secure. Babies in other cultures where they co-sleep and are carried around in slings are known to rarely cry. I realised that no only was I tring to inforce a modern ideal on him - sleep away from mummy in a cot on your own all night - but then feeling like a bad mother for not achieving it. From that night on I stopped trecking in and out of his room in the cold as he cried and as he willingly slept the first half of the night in his cot, I would simply bring him into our bed when he woke up where unless he was teething, he would sleep through.
When I wake up at night feeling scared and alone I can snuggle up to my other half, so why should I force my baby to sleep alone when he's so utterly dependant on me for everything?
Is there any co-sleepers out that with similar experience to this and how did you handle MIL's and friends who didn't understand why you were doing it?