Does anyone else let their baby co sleep with them? How old is your baby or child?

Question

I let my baby start off in his crib, but after his 4am feed, he sleeps with me. I like him snuggling with me and he likes it too. There's nothing like waking up with a little smiling face looking at you. I know he won't be little like this for very long.

I'm not worried about it, I'm just curious how long others have let their babies or kids sleep with them.

Answer 1

O yes, after her 6am feeding she sleeps with me until she wakes up at 8. :)

Answer 2

i used to when my son was a newborn and i was breastfeeding.He's start out in his bassi, but i couldn't handle waking up every hour, getting out of bed and so on. But the first time i woke up to my husband laying half on our son and me not remembering putting him down in our bed... i realized that it is much too dangerous for us.

So I stopped being lazy and got up every time. Luckily for me our son is a very good sleeper.

After he reached 15 lbs and was too big for his bassi, He got to go in his own room in his own crib ( at about 4 months) and he's slept through the night ever since.

My SISTER on the other hand has not only her newborn in bed with her every night, but also her 3 year old and 7 year old. I think this is irresponsible and lazy.  I think it's gross when people like my sis can't say no to their children. She's putting their health at risk.

It didn't work for me... it shouldn't work for my sister, but i thank it does for others... just be safe about it... NEVER put your baby in bed with your if you or your significant other has had anything that may impair your judgment. whether that be one beer or a Tylenol pm/

they have co sleeper infant beds now,  some that attach to your bed and some that your put in bed with you. I would think these would be your safest option. \\

And just so ya know...

That amazing smile you get in the mornings...you get it even bigger when you meet them in their own rooms.

good luck!!!!!!

Answer 3

My co-sleeping little leech is 2 and 1/2 years old.  I started out with the best of intentions with him in his crib, but he was a very heavy feeder as an infant and by 4 months old, he was feeding so frequently that I never got any sleep what with getting up and down out of bed every 2-3 hours.  Finally, I gave up and just started bring him to bed with us and nursed him laying down.  It was such a dramatic improvement in the amount of sleep I got, that I never looked back.  He'll sleep in his big boy bed in his room occasionally for naps and sometimes even at night, but usually he gets up and comes in to our bed.

I also love the bonding of sleeping with your own child.  Trust me though, as they get older and start wiggling and kicking you in your sleep, the attraction fades a little.  I think our household is definitely ready for separate beds.

My son just doesn't know it yet.  ;)

Answer 4

My 2.5 year old starts in his own bed and ends up in ours with me, my hubby, and 9 month old

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl15.asp

I have some friends that really wanted their two-year-old son to sleep through the night. So they cut off the night nursing and "sleep trained" him. They were so proud because now their son would sleep through the night. Recently I was at their house for a meeting and it came time for their son's bedtime. Mom announced, "time for bed", and I will never forget the sudden look of fear on that child's face. To him, bedtime was a scary time.

My four-year-old still needs help falling asleep, and often that can be draining on our energy. But we know how the story ends... he will soon learn to sleep by himself, and he talks about the batman action figure that he will earn. After he is asleep, we move him to his room, and then my wife and I get our time together. Some nights he stays asleep all night, some mornings I awaken with his foot in my face. We have an "open-bed" policy.

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepth...

The same is true of sleeping. Human children are designed to be sleeping with their parents. The sense of touch is the most important sense to primates, along with sight. Young primates are carried on their mother's body and sleep with her for years after birth, often until well after weaning. The expected pattern is for mother and child to sleep together, and for child to be able to nurse whenever they want during the night. Normal, healthy, breastfed and co-sleeping children do not sleep "through the night" (say 7-9 hours at a stretch) until they are 3-4 years old, and no longer need night nursing. I repeat -- this is NORMAL and HEALTHY. Dr. James McKenna's research on co-sleeping clearly shows the dangers of solitary sleeping in young infants, who slip into abnormal patterns of very deep sleep from which it is very difficult for them to rouse themselves when they experience an episode of apnea (stop breathing). When co-sleeping, the mother is monitoring the baby's sleep and breathing patterns, even though she herself is asleep. When the baby has an episode of apnea, she rouses the baby by her movements and touch. This is thought to be the primary mechanism by which co-sleeping protects children from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In other words, many cases of SIDS in solitary sleeping children are thought to be due to them having learned to sleep for long stretches at a time at a very early age, so they find themselves in these deep troughs of sleep, then they may experience an episode of apnea, and no one is there to notice or rouse them from it, so they just never start breathing again. Co-sleeping also allows a mother to monitor the baby's temperature during the night, to be there if they spit up and start to choke, and just to provide the normal, safe environment that the baby/child has been designed to expect.

http://www.naturalchild.org/tine_theveni...

We are born needing. We have need for air, food, sleep, and shelter. We have need for intellectual and physical stimulation. We have a need to be loved and touched.2 If any of these needs goes fully or even partially unattended, the person hurts; and in the case of an emotional wound, the person may spend the rest of his life struggling to soothe the initial hurt.3

Gesell argues that a child passes through predictable stages of development at predictable times.4 Thus what might seem to become a habit, may be simply a gratification of a need.

Hymes, in his book Child under Six, describes a habit as an action which can easily be broken. "If you run into any major difficulty at all," he writes, "Beware! You are probably not dealing with an old outworn habit. The chances are that you are tampering with a human need."5

If the body indicates a need for food, treating it like a habit and disregarding it will not make the hunger go away. Ignoring the sensation of wanting to lie down and sleep will not cure one forever from having to sleep eight hours a day.

But if one is in the habit of putting his keys in his right pocket, there need be only a worn-out pocket to change the habit from putting the keys in right to the left pocket.

The child who seeks his parents' bed at night is expressing a basic need. And this need must take its own time and pace for satisfaction.

The child who is thus allowed to be with his parents will gradually mature to being satisfied with sleeping elsewhere, usually seeking the companionship of another member of the family. Should this child choose to sleep alone, it might do well to be aware that he has not transferred his seeking security from his parents or siblings to an inanimate object. If the child wants to sleep with his parents, it means he needs it. If he crawls into his parents' bed but then is content to be taken to a sibling's bed, it may mean that he was in the habit of going to his elders' bed.

For some strange reason we tend to think that to satisfy a child's need is to make it into an unbreakable habit, where in truth the exact opposite is true.6

When our children develop a "good" habit, one that suits us, we are afraid it is not going to last. But when our children develop a "bad" habit, one that does not suit us, we are afraid it is going to last forever. So many people are afraid that their children will not grow up. We are told to feed them solids with a spoon at three weeks of age, lest babies will never learn to eat solids, let alone with a spoon. We are told to toilet train them when they are one year old or they will never quit wearing diapers. We are told to begin to discipline them at one month, otherwise they will never listen to us. We are told that children must always sleep in their own bed or they will always want to sleep with us. It is commonly believed that babies need to be weaned by the mother. And yet when weaning is left totally up to the child, it happens in a natural, healthy, and relaxed way. At the time the child no longer needs direct physical contact with his mother, then he weans himself from the breast. Likewise, parents' experiences indicate that the healthy child will wean himself in time from the parental bed.

Children should be given the credit that, provided the home environment is healthy, they will mature. As each need is fulfilled at each stage, they will move on and become more mature. (We did. Let's hope.)

It will be found that one phase passes into another, and another, and another. Please trust that in a sound surrounding the child will graduate from each stage of development.

I remember carrying my first infant throughout the day. Then she began to crawl and I no longer needed to hold her so frequently. I remember nursing her fifteen times a day. Now she is weaned and eats and drinks what we eat and drink. I used to take her with me wherever I went. And if I could not take her I stayed home. (Except if she was asleep.) She was happiest with this arrangement. Then when she was about three years old, she took another step toward independence-, she looked forward to the occasional babysitter to read her a bedtime story and put her to bed.

A child who has his needs fulfilled will become an independent, secure person. But independence cannot be forced upon someone.7 It takes time and growing at the individual's own pace. The more secure he is in the knowledge that he can always come back to his parents, the more independent he will become. We will only create problems if we regard his needing us at night as a problem which should be "cured."

Answer 5

Nope.

Highly against it.

Answer 6

My nine-month old sleeps with us. My other three children slept with us as well. Around the time they turned one, they pretty much started staying in their own rooms for the night. None of them had any big difficulties adjusting to their own rooms/beds. I know some people don't like it, but it personally made sleeping so much easier for us.

Answer 7

My baby is 6 weeks old, and for at least the first 2-3 weeks we would try putting him in the bassinet--- NEVER worked. He would be asleep for 5-10 minutes then wake up, and he would kick & throw his fists up and would hit the sides of the bassinet and start crying.

I would let him fuss for a minute - hoping he'd go back to sleep... that didn't work. I would have to pick him up, rock him back to sleep, and attempt to put him back in the bassinet numerous times.

After so long, that gets old, I just started sleeping w/him on my chest initially, because in rocking him to sleep, I would fall asleep! I also breastfeed, so its extra convenient when hes next to me. I don't have to get up. He also sleeps LONGER when he sleeps w/me.

I am a very light sleeper and I pretty much stay in the same position most of the night. Well it turns out, I got a A LOT more sleep once he started sleeping w/me. Besides him sleeping w/me put me at ease, whenever I put him in the bassinet, my eyes would pop open every 5 minutes, because I was worried about SIDS. SO either way I never got any sleep.

Its something about that bassinet that my son doesn't like. He'll sleep in our bed w/no problems. I think the bassinet is cold and lonely to him. People get on me all the time, but h**l, I would NEVER get any sleep if I have to keep getting up because hes fussing about being in the bassinet. At this moment, my sleep is important! I can't function w/o getting enough sleep!  

People have their opinions, do whats best for you. If you're concerned about squishing the baby, they have co sleeper products you can purchase.

Answer 8

I let him sleep with me in the morning, he is 5 months old and it really is a treat to have snuggle with me and wake up smiling and laughing with me ;)

But he sleeps in his crib at bed time, he wakes up at about 7 am and then sleeps with me until about 9am, then we have breakfast together!

Answer 9

Yes, I do! I feel the EXACT same way you do! My Daughter is 9 Months old and has slept with me since she was 2 months old. Although, I've tried puttng her in her crib she awakens and I always put her in bed with me... :) Plus, as odd as it sounds, I feel more safe if she is right beside me. I love cuddiling with her, shes my baby!

Answer 10

   I do some nights and a lot of the time in the mornig after she eats. She's two months.

Answer 11

Hi,

I think the most important thing to start with is to get your baby into a good sleep routine.  I had massive problems with getting my 4 month old son to sleep.  He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again!  Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting James into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

If you want to take a look, the audio program is at http://www.babysleepsolution.com

Answer 12

Have done since birth, our daughter has never spent a night alone, she has always slept in between us in the big bed.

She's over ten months now, and we have yet to have any problems with our sleeping arrangement.

Answer 13

its not so much as let anymore, its a have to thing, that I'm trying to put an end to starting tonight actually. my daughter is almost 2 and it is a nightmare, although i do enjoy knowing she is safe and waking up with her, i want her to sleep in her bed the whole night. she has to touch me to fall asleep and she has to be in my bed, it drives me crazy. i will not be co sleeping with my second baby, its just such a hustle to break this habit. I'm hoping that by the end of next month at least it will be over but it gets harder the older they get.

Answer 14

From the first night my son came home from the hospital he was in the bed with me. I started putting him in the crib when he was almost 2 months. He does fine, but when he wakes up for his feeding, i usually just leave him in the bed with me. He sleeps longer and deeper, I also love to know that he is right there next to me and he's safe.

Answer 15

My son is 8 1/2 months and still co-sleeps. I've set up his crib like a big side car to give us more room, but he rolls over to snuggle up to me. When he stops night nursing I'll move the crib off the bed and but the drop rail back on, but he'll still be in our room until he's weaned.

Answer 16

I think co sleeping is a fantastic idea. I wish I could do it but unfortunatly I toss and turn in my sleep and found I can not get to sleep if I lie in one position. So co sleeping just didnt work for us. Shes in a bassinet right up beside my bed though and I dont want her to go to her own room until 6 months at the very earliest.

Sometimes in the morning though if she is fussing I bring her into bed with me and let her have a sleep in my arms. I dont get to sleep myself but thats ok. I could stare at her little face all day.

Answer 17

The crib is the best place for a baby to sleep.  If you have a bunch of covers and pillows the baby can smother.  I know a lot of people think that rolling over on or smothering a baby

9 (accidentally) sounds like a joke, but I know of people this happened to personally.  I'm sure it is something they will never be able to live with themselves for, so you might want to think twice about this.  Also, starting the co-sleeping in bed with you now will create a monster and you will have a 2-3 year old sleeping with you in a couple years!!!!