We’ve been co-sleeping with our kids since they were born. Co-sleeping – I
smile as I write this. In our home it has just meant all of us piling onto the
same bed and stretching out any which way higgledy-piggledy :) It was never a conscious decision, just something that made immense sense especially since both the kids breastfed extensively
and well into their ones and twos and also because Ads
was an extremely colicky child and it was impossible to put him down in a
separate crib even if we had wanted to. Plus – we liked it – it was and has
been as simple as that.
For the past year or so, I’ve longed (on and off) to reclaim my own space atleast
while sleeping during the night; but did not actively do anything about it
until a short while ago when I finally succeeded in getting the kids to sleep in a separate room.
But as a parent I am nothing if not inconsistent (!) and thanks in no small measure to the husband messing up my
well-laid plans, I am now back to “co-sleeping”! Not that I am complaining
during the cold long winter nights when I have two soft warm bodies to cuddle
upto!
S and I used to find it amusing when a cousin confessed that their sons –
10 years and 7 years old – still shared their bed. The time for amusement may
be fast over – my kids don’t have too long to hit that age milestone and Ads is
there already. Surely I won’t be sharing my bed with the kids when they are 10
and 7 respectively....
Surely....surely not???!!!!
hehe..I have some more time to remain amused I guess ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe hubby here too dismisses anything I say that is remotely related to making R sleep separately..and I'm also not too keen :-)
Will we know when's the right time?
I think we will know but many of us don't do anything about it even after we know! :P
DeleteWell you better do it quickly cause breaking a habit is pretty hard...
ReplyDeleteI must confess I used to still curl up with my parents until I was 15...Yeah 15 ( I would never sleep in my own room)
Wooah....15???? Your parents were super-nice not to have kicked you out!! :))
DeleteTell me about it. We are co-sleeping as well but divided into 2 rooms. I think they are ready to sleep on their own, it is just me who wants them. Bad mom i am.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad mom for sure...just someone who wants her babies to remain babies :)
DeleteHehe I know exactly how that is, D was so good at sleeping in her own bed by the time she was 5, but we're having more trouble with S. Partly thanks to his wheezing/allergies we've tended to keep him in our bed more. So discussions were on (with him) that he's going to sleep on his own when he's 5(which is in 2 months). I found at the last discussion though that he had decided himself to shift this milestone to 7 years :P.
ReplyDeleteLOL!! Clever boy he is! :)
DeleteI must confess I am a bad mommy that way..too cold :( I never let the 2 year old sleep with me unless she is sick or situations like that.. I just cant sleep if she is with me, :(
ReplyDeleteYup that's one kind of mommy too! Doesn't make u a bad one :)
Delete:)
ReplyDeleteAh, one of the many dilemmas of a parent!
Ooooohhh! Co-sleeping I like the word.. We moved our little one to a separate mattress when she was 4 1/2... but invariably in the middle of the night we would find her snuggled up between us. At 5 1/2 she decided it was time to sleep in a separate room and I was able to reclaim my space all of 4 to 5 hours each night. After which the familiar kicks of her making space are there...
ReplyDeleteI wish I could get a few hours w/o them every night :) That will be a good start!
DeleteBig G has slept with us for longer than lil G. We moved both of them to their room when lil G was 2.5 yrs, but most nights either she wanted me or it was Big G so the three of us continued sleeping together for a long time. Only the last 6-7 months they have a big bed for themselves and insist on sleeping in their own room! Somenights we wait till they sleep in their own bed and carry them into ours:)
ReplyDeleteHa ha - u too? Sounds like something my husband would do :)
DeleteThere was an ad claiming co-sleeping was dangerous in Massachusetts, I think. This angered me sooo much, I wrote this:
ReplyDeletehttp://momwithadot.blogspot.com/p/friends-in-arms.html
Enjoy!
Loved it!! Thanks for sharing.
DeleteYou touched a nerve there.. a very raw one. I've been trying for almost a year now and though my kids sleep in their room.. any time between 11 and 4 they find their way to ours. I'm beginning to despair.
ReplyDeleteI guess, like all other things, we'll muddle our way through this!
Deletei think its always the mum who wants it and not the dads (separate room and bed that it. more scary stories for you...my two cousins went to their respective rooms , a bit grudginly, at 14 and 12. i believe it wasnt a clean switch for the younger one either.....
ReplyDeleteLet's hope I don't have such scary stories to relate when my kids are older! :)
Deletei need to do a post on this too! asap!
ReplyDelete