Co sleeping experiences

[WingingIt2025]

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone can share their co-sleeping experience please. My LO is 4 months old and we've co-slept from the start practically due to reflux issues etc it was the only way we got some sleep. Im in no immediate rush for that to change but just wondering how long everyone did it for and how hard it was to get your little ones to sleep independantly after

Bump

Co-slept with my now three year old for the first year-ish. He now sleeps in his own bed happily so it won't last forever. I did always put him down at the start of the night in his own crib, and gradually the time he spent in there got longer. I also tried for one crib nap a day so he'd be used to it. (Sometimes he only spent 10 minutes in there before finishing his sleep as a contact nap.)

Both of mine had their own beds from 12 months, but we also co- slept, sometimes snuggled up in their single bed so that dh could get some peace, or some times in our bed.

With ds1 we co- slept until he was 3 and I was heavily pregnant. We talked about him becoming 'a big boy' and he had a sticker chart for sleeping in his own bed.. We said that could choose a big boy present when he had done 7 consecutive nights in his own bed. It took him one false start, when he crept in for a cuddle, but he basically cracked it in 10 nights. It was easier I think because we could discuss it together, choose things to help him settle, make a game of it etc.

With ds2 I would put him down in his own bed, but he was allowed to come into us, or I went in if he needed me. He had awful exzema and sleeping together I could distract him from scratching himself till he bled. He was also a very still sleeper - snuggled up and didn't wiggle or disturb me at all. He just came in less and less but still regularly visited until he was 8.

Co slept with my eldest 0-9 months. Gradually between 9-12 months we transitioned to her sleep in the cot. She slept through sometime in that time. Been a reliable good sleeper other than when poorly. (She's now 6)

with my now 4 year old, co-slept 0-11 months. Was more challenging. She didn't reliably sleep through till 18-24 months. And had some tough times since then.

Also did it gradually, starting with putting them down in their own bed (and then later in their own room), and resettling them there as many times as I could face. DD1 was sleeping most of the night in her own bed by somewhere around 18 months, generally just coming into ours for the last hour or so. I didn't try to stop that until almost 2.5 when DD2 was due – I just started resettling her in her own bed instead, and she took to it pretty well. Still cosleeps aged 5 if she has a bad cough, but generally only for a night or two, and we all get more sleep if I keep her propped up on my shoulder.

DD2, similar process, but she has some medical factors that mean she can be in pain at night, so I still often finish the night in her bed (she's 3). That won't be an issue for most people, though.

I raised my son outside of the UK with half of my family from a country where cosleeping is the norm, and the idea of separate rooms before 3-4 is considered quite cruel. Not saying I agree with this, I don't think the western way is cruel, but it does feel very natural and comforting for kids to be with their parents at night.

We slept in the same room, cot and bed, when very small.. then one big bed until around 3, then transitioned into his own room, but with us staying until he slept, and then finally into him falling asleep on his own in his own room and staying all night by around 4 years old.

It worked well, and he's now sleeping well by himself. I don't think it really made any difference though. I doubt that or a more western approach makes any difference. I only raise the cultural point to emphasize that when UK people think it is strange for children and parents to sleep in the same room/bed, large parts of the rest of the world think it is not just normal but healthy for a strong bond and sense of security.

I co-slept with one of mine from birth because I was unwell and not able to get up in the night to her. She's 12 now and still sleeps in my bed most nights! I don't really mind as long as she starts off in her own bed. She's autistic so tends to battle with sleep anyway, so we all get more sleep if she comes in with me.

Coslept with eldest till 2.5. No issues whatsoever transitioning to "big girl bed" in her own room, although I did find we had about 5 weeks of wandering out for another drink/another wee for up to half an hour after lights out. No biggie really.

Twins: coslept till just after 3rd birthday. One found it very easy, the other was as little nervous. We put a single bed in their room and I stayed till they were asleep (and sometimes nodded off and stayed the night - was pregnant with DC4 and sleepy). Did that for a couple of months. Nervous twin did continue to wake once a night for a cuddle for another few months, so either I or DH would often and up in th spare bed for part of the night while DS went back to sleep in his bed.

Merrily cosleeping with 18month DD at present. She is quite a heavy sleeper so doesn't disturb me much and I'm quite happy for her to stay with us for a fair but longer I reckon. We haven't actually bothered to get her room ready yet so it's it's good thing!