If you were co-sleeping at 6m+, how did it end?

[Dresswithpockets]

My ds is 9 months and since he was about 6 months we have been co-sleeping, initially the odd night in our bed, then more consistently for part of every night (after he moved into his own room), and now I basically go to bed at his first wake (he wakes every 1-3hrs most nights) in his room which also has a bed in and he sleeps in with just me. It has been the way to maximise the most sleep for us all as a family in the short term but I the more mobile he is, the less comfortable I feel and I don't sleep that well with him.

How/when did co-sleeping stop for you if you were still doing it 6m+?

Fwiw, he is breastfed. He isn't fed to sleep at the start of the night but does have a shh/pat etc after bedtime story. He is often fed back to sleep. We tried sleep training once and I couldn't hack it at the time but also think the timing wasn't right - he was just on the cusp of crawling and loads of other development stuff and there was just too much going on and more upset for him being left than I could stomach, so we stopped on the first night. He has never really slept longer than 3hr stretches and was in a next to me before he got too big and was moved into cot in different room.

Erm….. well I’m not really one to ask, as Ds was still in my bed when he was 7 🙈

my husband bribed him in the end with a puppy and a trip to Disney (I realise how ridiculous this sounds) and he literally went into his room that night and hasn’t tried to come in with me / us since.

Basically I’m a cautionary tale against co-sleeping, but we loved it when he was little!

i co-slept with both of mine until they were about 18 months and we hardly ever lost any sleep because of it. Even when they were ill or we were away on holiday they would go to sleep quickly and sleep all night peacefully.

Around four! They had their own bed and room but generally preferred ours. Sorry… But I do have no regrets.

Mine eventually went off to uni - now she's nearly 25 ❤.

Also interested in answers @Dresswithpockets . We are in a very very similar situation.with 9 month old. Strangely my eldest child never slept in our bed so it's taken me by surprise.

About 4 it massively improved. Dd breastfed until 18 months and co-slept pretty much all night, every night from birth, wasn't at all my plan but have absolutely no regrets. We got a double bed for her room when she was about 2 and started sleeping in her room with her and gradually as she's got older she sleeps longer at a time and goes to bed a lot easier. The double bed saved us!

DC 1 would nurse, and be happy in their crib beside the bed. Then on to their own bed, happy as a lark.
DC 2 insisted on sleeping with us, and even when put in a "big kids bed" would migrate from theirs to ours at 3 am for the next five years.

We also got our son a double mattress. About 18 months we started sleeping on it in his room and after a little while we would get up once he was asleep and he would generally be ok.
To add though I had stopped breastfeeding by then which I think helped.
Currently in exactly the same position with 9 month old daughter. Don't feel as eager to get her in her own room this time. I think I feel less pressure too.

He co slept with me till 9 months, then with DH till 16 months (I was back at work & a really light sleeper, plus it was a super king bed).

Then at 16 months we moved him into his cot in his own room and he just decided to sleep.

I did similar to you with my younger two and slept with them in their beds when they woke up in the night (sometimes before I had gone to bed!). My middle DD was a shocking sleeper and I did this until she was about 4 and was ready to sleep alone (sharing a bedroom with her sister as she hates being alone!)- we bought a double bed for her room when she got to about a year old to get the best sleep possible! I did the same with my youngest and he was ready to sleep on his own at 2- just the odd night here and there at 3. My oldest happily went in her own room at 6 months and we never co-slept so it came as a bit of a surprise. My husband takes medication at night which means we didn't feel safe with little ones in our bed and I got a better night sleep when I wasnt trekking up and down to their rooms!

3.5 here. We get him to sleep in his own bed by lying next to him (got a big bed - the cot never worked). He goes to sleep pretty quickly (although we have been through many other stages).

When he wakes later on in the night he will run into our room. Works for us. I love getting a bit of time to myself in our bed. I love the cuddles though when he comes in.

when I stopped breastfeeding that did help as he wakes a lot less. I did it slowly and would take longer to respond and in time he just stopped. He was 2.5 though!

Worked great! I now have a 10 year old who loves his room and also loves snuggles in my bed

We didn't co sleep every night, but DC ended up in our bed regularly. It got gradually less frequent and probably stopped around 3yo.

I’m in a similar position with my baby who is 8 months old. We co slept from birth to 6 and half months tried to get him into his own room and at first worked ok he would wake once about 3 I would feed him back to sleep and co sleep the rest of the time. However past few weeks have been horrendous dunno why maybe the heat. Last night he 1st got up at 11 wouldn’t resettle in own room then woke at 1,3,5&6 each time wanting to fed back to sleep. Hoping to hear some positive outcomes

They grow out of it and choose their own rooms and beds eventually. Still come back for a cuddle most nights.

Woke every 2h until 22 months and then magically started sleeping thru!

This isn’t much use, but my DS is 6 and I can’t remember when we stopped. Probably about 3.5? He then used to trot in to our room regularly at 3am and get in with us but that’s stopped now. We kind of miss it.

We, like OP, decided to maximise sleep. DD had two single mattresses in her room on the floor for several years; I'd join her when she came to find me in the night. Eventually (age 8) she wanted a proper bed, and we didn't want to buy a double, which would have taken up a lot of space (the two mattresses took up the vast majority of the floor, to the extent we couldn't open the door properly, but we had them already). So she had to not come and disturb us for a week before we'd get the bed, which worked.

That might not have been the age you were hoping for!

I worried about this for so long, but the age doesn't matter as long as you are happy with it. In reality them being little is such a small window.

Did it as DD sleep was bad and was pleasantly surprised that she just grew out of it without having to do anything to change it. Can't remember when exactly but by18 months. Knowing this I would have worried less about it- my fear was how to wrench it away at 2/3 years old as I wasn't doing it by choice as such!

I co-slept with my youngest until he was about 2. We had a tricky couple of years until he was 4 trying to get him to sleep alone in his own bed.

He's now a brilliant sleeper at 7. Has been since 4.

Just to say thank you for starting this thread and to everyone the positive comments. Currently my DD is 5 months and she has always struggled a bit with sleep and co-sleeping has been a lifesaver but as much as I love holding her little hand and being her safe space, she's getting to the age where she'll flail her legs and grab at my face so waking up isn't always very peaceful! Haha! It's nice to see so many others doing it and cherishing the moment.

Aged around 2. Round about when stopped breastfeeding. Still goes to sleep in my bed and I transfer him to his bed in his room. Sometimes he wakes in night and gets back in my bed, sometimes sleeps right through.

From about 2 DD would start the night in her own bed but would invariably come into our bed at some point during the night and stay until morning. That went on until about 4 or so.

I have zero regrets, loved co sleeping and it just felt natural for a young child to sleep close to parents.