Does anybody co-sleep?

[Alisa]

I'm a new mom of a 5 month old and have found co-sleeping with her to be the way that she, my husband, and myself get the most and best sleep at night. I'm curious if anyone else has tried co-sleeping, and what their experience was? I know co-sleeping isn't politically correct and is often looked down on (I've already heard the naysayers arguments), but it's been really good for our family so far... I just wish I knew some other people who co-slept and liked it, to have some support!

[Chrissie]

I have co-slept since the second day of my daughter's life, starting in the hospital.
Like you I found I got the most sleep when she was right next to me and what a FUSS the nurses made about it.
"It is against hospital policy!" She is my child, and it is my choice. I did not let them discourage me.
I was incredibly paranoid about SIDs for the first year of her life so whenever she was sleeping I would have to check every 5 seconds if she was breathing or not and when she was right next to me that was very easy.
Even now, 2 years and some months down the road, I cannot sleep without her next to me.
Co-sleeping effects your love life very much so but that is something I was willing to sacrifice to sleep in peace :)

[Amy J.]

We co-sleep, and it has worked well for us. I really believe that it has strengthened our family bond, and it has made nighttime parenting so much easier. We co-slept with our first, who is now 7, until he was about 2. He slept with us in our bed until our second child was born when he was 2, and then he moved into a twin bed that was in our room. Our daughter followed the same path. She slept with us until she was about 2 or so, and then we moved her to the twin bed where she slept with her brother. At about this time her brother started sleeping in his own room so sometimes she slept in the bed by herself. When she was about 4 she began to sleep in her own room and by this time we had another baby in our bed. There was a brief period when we had no children in our bed, but I was pregnant so I didn't really get to enjoy the extra room :) I am now in the process of moving my last child into the twin bed. He is almost 2. That seems to be the age when I get tired of having that little body poking me in the night! It's usually kind of a long process moving them into the twin bed, and there are many nights of them waking up and me bringing them back into bed with me. However, like all things, that does pass.
I really like having that twin bed in our room. Lots of times the bigger kids will come in in the middle of the night and go sleep in that bed. It is comforting for them, and I imagine we will leave it in our room until the kids are much older. We have had lots of good in-the-dark nighttime discussions while we were all lying down together in the same room.

[Emily]

it was great for us when my 3 yr old was an infant, but i must admit that we rarely make it thru the night without him joining us in our bed, or one of us going to his bed at night. and this is after lying down with him to put him to bed every night. i know it won't last forever, but it is really trying sometimes. now we have a 6 wk old who so far sleeps much better than him, in the bassinet right next to me, but i always fall asleep breastfeeding, so she shares our bed about half the night.
it has always been as much for me as for the babies- i love having them right next to me, i just sleep so well with them right there in my arms. when we tried to put the older one in his crib to sleep, i would always have trouble sleeping, anticipating him waking, and as soon as he did he would be right in the bed with me.
so i have a love/hate relationship w/ it, i guess- love it with the baby, but it's hard when a 3 yr old wants to join us in our queen size bed every night; there is not enough room, and i worry about the safety of my baby....

[Emily HW]

I'm envious of you cosleeping mamas! I always wanted to, but I only can at nap times because it's dangerous for me to cosleep while I'm in a deep sleep. I'm known for thrashing in my sleep, sleepwalking, throwing pillows, hitting my husband, etc, so I figure it's just not smart for me. It seems to be such a beautiful connection, though, and I love the nap times that she lets me sleep with her!

[Molly]

Oh yes, I have 3 children and co-slept with all of them. Still do as a matter of fact. They are ages 6, 3, and 1. The older two still need to feel a parent nearby and my littlest definitely does. I have determined that, at least for me, I cannot function unless I've had enough sleep and I will do any arrangement necessary to make sure that everyone in the family sleeps well. My husband through sheer necessity has come to the same conclusion. I am sure that when they get old enough (8? 9 years old?), they will feel fine about sleeping independently, so I am not stressing about it. Thumbs up to you for co-sleeping! Do what works and don't worry about it!!

[Lilu]

We're a co-sleeping family with a seven year old and a two year old. We've actually got three beds pushed together so that everyone gets enough space and it works out quite well. My oldest had a room of his own for a while but ended up climbing into our bed every night. My youngest still nurses at night and co-sleeping with her is the only way I get any sleep!

I think it's interesting to see how different North America is in regards to sleeping arrangements. In many of today's cultures and throughout history, co-sleeping has been the norm. Whether it's moms sharing beds with babies or entire families in a room together, sharing sleep is quite common.

[Emily]

Yes- it is common throughout the world, but here people are so adamantly against it for some reason. I had a coworker who was pregnant at the same time as me, and she insisted that her child would NEVER be in their bed. What's the big deal? It feels so natural- I can't sleep without mine!

[Carey]

Hi Alisa!
We sort of co-sleep as well. We have a "co-sleeper/bassinet" which the side drops on so that Esther is right next to me. sometimes she'll sleep the whole night in that sometimes she'll sleep with us and other times she'll split the time. I believe whatever way a family gets the most sleep is the best way to sleep. I am a fairly big fan of Dr. Sears and that's pretty much how he puts it. I have a close friend who co-slept (same bed) for 2 1/2 years then when her second child was born she moved her eldest into her own room with the bed she had been sleeping on (they got a new one) they found that the familiarity of the bed made the transition easier for her.
As for us I"m not sure when we'll move Esther into her room, I think she'll be with us for a while. :-)

[Jennifer]

Our son is two and we still co-sleep. When he was a newborn he slept in a bassinette next to the bed, now we are all squished together in a double bed! It is mostly good, although I wish my son was not so dependent on boob for sleeping. It will probably feel pretty weird when he finally moves into his own room.

[Tracy!]

We cosleep.

Or rather, I do since my husband falls asleep on the couch leaving the TV blaring...it's him and the puppy, and me and the baby. I think I'll co-sleep until my daughter decides to go to her room. I contemplated giving it up but really, I love having her with me! I feel safer, and we get a lot more sleep...everyone picks on me for cosleeping asking if I have a "sex life" etc but you know what, fuck em.

[Molly]

Ha! Tell those "inquiring minds" ("I wanna know!") that there are far more interesting places to conduct one's sex life than the bedroom. Ha! Just to throw them off track a little.

[B]

We basically co-sleep. She's on her own bed next to ours. It's part of our transitioning her out of our bed. That's because she's almost 3 feet tall and quite the kicker while she sleeps.

Whenever I feel defensive about this choice and why we do it, my husband reminds me that all the parents who think they are so much better because they've got a kid who is a good sleeper on their own, in their own bed, totally miss out on waking up next to the sweetest face in the world. We know it won't last forever and are cherishing every evening and morning with her sleeping next to us.

(And Molly is so right - your bedroom isn't the only place to get busy...get creative.)
; )