Here’s our story I shared on Life on Manitoulin. In my post I shared reasons for my views on co-sleeping. We didn’t want to co-sleep, but our little one ends up in our bed a few times a week. The witching hour seems to be between 1am-3am. She starts off in her bedroom and somehow ends up in our bed, pretty much occupying the entire space.
Co-sleeping. Do you co-sleep? Why or why not?
Please be respectful of others when commenting. I firmly believe that ultimately, parents need to do what works best for their family. What works for one may not work for another.
*Note – My five year old isn’t so subtle. She left this co-sleeping Barbie & Ken family where I could see it before bedtime!
I did not want to co sleep at all and was pretty much against it. I did put a co-sleeper next to the bed when my son was born as I was breastfeeding and that would work for me. That being said. The first night we brought our son home from the hospital my husband freaked out because my son was making his newborn noises. HE brought him into bed and the rest is history!
At 3 (not yet 3.5) he spends up until 12a or 1a in his bed then ends up in ours.
But like you said what works for one doesn’t work for all. If everything was conformed to one idea then we would not have uniqueness nor debates!
So true, Elica! 🙂
Had to smile when I read the part about your husband bringing your newborn son into bed! In the beginning, I was the one always on edge and Hubby slept through everything. Now that our DD is 5, I sleep like a bear & it’s my Hubby who is wakes up at the slightest sound of her rustling!
My first born never wanted to sleep with me. Ever. He was content sleeping in his crib or bassinet. Now at the age of four, he would rather be in our bed than his own. He usually makes his way into our bed around 3:00 am – every.single.night. I don’t mind too much – I know it won’t last forever, so I will take middle of the night cuddles.
My youngest was in our bed from day one and stayed in our bed for nine months. He was an on demand nurser and would eat 7+ times a night. Co-sleeping was the ONLY saving grace.
He is not 17 months and can’t be bothered with co-sleeping anymore – funny how things change.
We co-sleep…it was our plan as we started out but I was just so tired and trying to breastfeed so it just happened 21 months later baby girl is still in our bed. It’s crazy we’ve both talked about “getting our bed back” yet when she’s in her crib which is in our room too we just don’t feel right so we get her and bring her to bed.
Prior to having her we had two cats that shared our bed (they got the boot when baby girl came) so we were used to not moving around much, but I can see where there would be issues, or if one parent gets up super early for work.
Well, I never sleep with my baby because I’m scared I might hurt her while I sleep. She has been sleeping in her crib since she was three months old, because she could not fit in the bassinet anymore and it has been great. She sleeps the whole night. But, I have friends who co-sleep and they always tell me that I should keep things how they are right now because, they have tried everything and they could not get their kids out of their bed.
My daughter always ends up in our bed, but when she was a baby I did sleep in her room. She will go to her own bed but always wakes up crying and ends up in our bed. It is a bit uncomfortable, she is 3 now and constantly moves around. I don’t think I would have it any other way..Every one and every child is different and in the end as parents to our children. it’s our choice.
Not here. I wake at the drop of a hat and my husband will sleep through anything!
Alisha, so interesting how each experience and each kid is different. LO didn’t really seem bothered in the beginning. She slept in an isolette/incubator in the NICU for the first 72 days of her life. She was never a cuddly or affectionate kid…until now! Now she wants to sleep making sure she has one hand on hubby and one on me. She doesn’t do this every night (many nights, but not every night). I have a feeling it won’t last too much longer though. She’s quite independent, so this is very interesting to me.
We did a lot of co-sleeping when kids were infants – it just made breastfeeding easier. Neither my husband and I slept well though with the baby in the bed. Too worried about crushing them or suffocating. We learnt to compromise with a bassinet!
Dawn, I know the feeling 🙂 Actually, Hubby wants to get our bed back, but like you said, when LO’s not around, it just feels like something’s not right. I know that soon she won’t be doing this, so I’m okay with it.
Angela, for sure. We didn’t sleep with her in our bed when she was an infant either. I would probably be paranoid I’d roll over her or something. She’s slept in our room in her crib and then we moved her into her crib in her own room. It’s only now that she’s in kindergarten that she’s been sneaking into our room in the middle of the night sometimes.
Tammy: Exactly. I share your sentiments. I think that if it works for your family then that’s what you need to do.
Holly, that’s a great idea! We had a crib in our room when LO was an infant. She was still in the room with us and I could hear her breathing and moving, so I was assured that she was fine.
*sigh* I can relate very much to this!
With our first daughter, she co-slept with us because I preferred it that way. Until she was a toddler, we transitioned her to her Big Girl Bed and we had no problems; however, she does the same thing a few nights in a week. Witching hours she’ll crawl right back into our bed and I will wake up to see her in there.
My son, we wanted to learn to sleep in his crib. We put his crib in our room in hopes that would help with all the bells and whistles (music, etc.)
He would only sleep in there for a few hours and then cry to be back on our bed. He sleeps through the night only when he’s in between us on our bed.
So yes, I guess we do co-sleep but I’m OK with it.
They will eventually grow out of it and want nothing to do with us. LOL!
Enjoying all the cuddles while I can.
In Europe (my in-laws are in Madrid), it’s very much frowned upon to co-sleep.
I think in different parts of the world, they are very adamant about not co-sleeping or co-sleeping.
At the end of the day, I think it’s really up to the parent and how they and the child feels and what works best!
🙂
I never did co-sleeping with my kiddos, but that’s mostly because I’m a terrible sleeper. I take a long time to fall asleep and wake up at the drop of a feather. DS lasted 2 nights in our room before I moved him to the hallway outside our door; by the time he was 2 weeks old, he was in his own room. But, I have friends who can’t sleep UNLESS they can hear their LO breathing.
In the end, as long as everything is done safely, the most important thing is a momma that gets some sleep at night.
we tried to avoid co-sleeping but if i can get an extra two hours of sleep I’m game. As long as you are aware of your surroundings. Mostly it happens at 5:30 am when she wakes up or if her teeth are bothering her. Other than that shes in her crib.