Where do your kids sleep?
Call us cruel parents, but our children who are now 6yrs old and 9 yrds old, have never ever been allowed to sleep in our bed. Were they perfect sleepers as infants, not at all. They were actually terrible sleepers as new borns and babies. But each time they woke up no matter how exhausted I was, they were put back into their own beds. Even if they had a bad dream or still do, and come to tell us in the middle of the night. We walk them back to their own beds. I am very close to both my children and now that they are a bit older they enjoy their sleep in the comfort of their own beds.
Our kids all slept with us from the moment we arrived home from hospital. The youngest (age 3) is still with us. They were all terrible sleepers as infants and I found it easier and more infinitely more peaceful to have them in bed with us.
They are all autonomous, very independent children, but if given the choice each one would really prefer to still sleep with us, including our nine year old son.
This time with them is so fleeting and this was (and is) an opportunity to drink in as much of their childhood as possible.
While I fought it in the beginning, I am so glad I surrendered to what was ultimately my instinct for our family.
If co-sleeping works for you and your family that’s great. I am happy that my husband and I put our kids in their own cribs and beds from day one, but each family needs to do what works best for them so enjoy your family.
We don’t co-sleep per se. The baby NEVER sleeps in our bed with us. She has a bassinet next to our bed. Our toddler usually comes in for an hour or so in the morning and sleeps before we get up. But she’s 2 1/2 and it’s just for an hour or so. I don’t really call that co-sleeping. Having a baby in bed just scares me too bad, I don’t do it.
Natalie, I must agree with you. Having your infant sleep in the same bed as you can also be a safety issue.It just seems safer to have the bassinet right beside our beds, so it can be convenient for feeding but at least there don’t have to be worries of rolling on top of the infant, some scary statistics about this have already been reported. A morning snuggle with your toddler is great. my kids who are 6 and 9 love their own beds, but if they wake up really early on weekends, then we have time for a morning snuggle.
I’m old enough to be a grandmother now, but I do wished I had let our babies co-sleep. I didn’t find out til after the fact that 2 of my great-grandparents did “back in the day”(one of them was a nurse) and some of thier children carried on the tradition with no infant deaths. It was very common in the south where they lived, and the ones I knew and heard about were not sissies by any means, but self-sufficient, successful and compassionate (in case that is a concern to some). I do have a close bond with my, now adult, well balanced children, but if I had looked into it back then I wouldn’t have passed over something so sweet.
It is very interesting that you wished you had co-slept with your children when they were babies. There are lots of people today who believe in co-sleeping and if it does work for a family, then that’s great. I don’t feel that I missed out on anything by not co-sleeping with my children when they were infants. We spend lots of quality time together and now that they are a little older, there is so many things that we can do together. My son who is 9 and a half loves his own bed so much, he wont even go to “sleep overs.”
I have a 9-month old daughter and she slept in bed with me until she was around 5 months. Now she sleeps in her own bed which is right next to mine. I love having her sleep with me, but now she sleeps too wild and I’m concerned with her falling off my bed. She generally wakes up in the night and I bring her into my bed, but when she falls back to sleep I put her right back in her bed. Works fine for both of us
Dara, personally, I wouldn’t call that co-sleeping. it’s more like you are traing her to eventually sleep only in her own bed. I am gald that it is working for both of you, and enjoy any “snuggle” time that you can get from her.
Sharon
Sara Bareilles - Love Song…
Sara Bareilles - Love Song…