@acire2014 My husband and I barely co-sleep, let alone adding a toddler into the mix lol. I’m an extremely light sleeper and my husband is a moderately light sleeper. The chances that one or the other of us wakes up in the middle of the night and moves to a couch is like 75%
Starting a co-sleeping tradition - once a week
- Thread starter rengb121
- Start date
@acire2014 We have coslept on occasion and we have tried to cosleep many times where we thought letting the kid into bed with us would net us more sleep and we were so very wrong. When she sleeps soundly it is the sweetest thing ever. When she is restless and tossing and turning, she kicks us, she breathes in our faces, she slaps an arm across our faces, once she got in between us sideways and pushed us apart with her shoulders and feet. Worst sleep ever, we ended up just putting her back in her own bed. So, it's a mixed bag depending on you, the kid, and the day. We could not roll those dice every night and be sane parents!
@rengb121 If you really want to do this, don't do it in bed. Start a tradition where you have campouts in the living room or something. Grill, start a fire, keep the lights off, or at least make a "no screens" rule, go for a walk, make s'mores, get a nice air mattress that everyone sleeps on. Maybe get a kit that helps you build an indoor fort out of cardboard. Do whatever camping-type things seem fun or work for your family. Basically create an environment away from the regular environment that the kiddos associate with the "camping" and the cosleeping. Make sure the kids know it only happens in those nights and it's a special treat, not a regular thing. I absolutely would not do it in anyone's bed or even in the bedroom.
deemurray91
New member
@leahfeamw Why?
livinggrace
New member
@deemurray91 Not the person you asked but I would do it this way because it makes it more of a novelty/special occasion thing which would be easier for my kids to understand as a sometimes thing and reduce the chance that they want to do it all the time. I wouldn't do it in the living room necessarily but I also wouldn't do mid week randomly (assuming there's possibly school and/or work on Friday) because my kid wouldn't get why that's different. I would do something like every first and third Fridays is movies nights in bed or something like that.
reinaldolevy
New member
@rengb121 I let my 2 year old sleep in my bed on new years eve and she kept wanting to sleep in my bed for DAYS afterwards. I woudn't want to deal with that every week.
My compromise is that on my day off, they can come join us in bed for cuddles in the morning before we get up (but not before 6.30 am)
My compromise is that on my day off, they can come join us in bed for cuddles in the morning before we get up (but not before 6.30 am)
@rengb121 Only you know your families needs and your child’s personality. It could work out, it could not.
If you decide against it, another option might be having “morning quiet/snuggle time” My child wakes up between 6/6:30am and comes down and we snuggle/chat/listen to an audiobook in my bed until it’s time to start getting ready for our day at 7am. It’s basically built into our routine and it gives us a slow connected way to start the day.
If you decide against it, another option might be having “morning quiet/snuggle time” My child wakes up between 6/6:30am and comes down and we snuggle/chat/listen to an audiobook in my bed until it’s time to start getting ready for our day at 7am. It’s basically built into our routine and it gives us a slow connected way to start the day.
crazylikeafox
New member
@rengb121 We never coslept either, but am sad I missed all the cuddling experience. What I started doing was having movie sleepover nights, where we would sleep in the living room, either curled up on the couches or on blankets on the floor. This didn’t create any problems other than my daughter asking if every night could be a sleepover night 
aforgivenman
New member
@crazylikeafox I like this idea- if OP removes the one night/week from her bed, then LO can’t ask for it every night.
@aforgivenman The can ask. It's just harder to make happen. My kids all for living room campouts and sister sleepovers (where they sleep together in one of their rooms.
propitiated
New member
@rengb121 We never co-slept, but when he was older, we'd bring him into our bed when he woke up at the ass crack of dawn, and he'd typically fall back asleep so we'd all get more rest. Once we switched to a toddler bed, he would just come straight in and get in bed with us in the morning. As time has gone on, he'll sometimes come sneak in and sleep with us starting in the middle of the night if he feels like he needs it. He always goes to sleep in his own bed, but we've made it clear that he's welcome to come in at night any time he needs, and we've gotten lots of sleepy snuggles out of it. Not sure if your kiddo would do that or if your rooms are close enough for that to make sense, but that's been something that worked really well for us.
@propitiated We do this too and it works really well for us. We all get good sleep and also lots of snuggles.
esther_goldworth
New member
follow_the_word
New member
@follow_the_word Yup, we always did this too. I slept with my mom my senior year of high school when my dad was out of town lol
katrina2017
New member
@follow_the_word This is what I do with my daughter when my husband travels. It turns a really stressful week into “girls week” where we play games and color in bed after I put the younger one down. It’s also a lot easier.
forgiven12
New member
@follow_the_word I tried this last time my husband went out of town, because my mom did the same thing with us, but my 2.5 year old son had a VERY hard time adjusting back to his own bed after two nights in mine. I told my mom about it and she said she waited until we were older and she never would have done it when my sister and I were that little for exactly the reason I experienced with my son. Glad it worked for you though!
bipolarskepticbeliever
New member
@follow_the_word We plan to do this this summer when we go away.