I am convinced that co-sleeping is a myth, because whilst they may sleep, I certainly do not.
We have a number of bed hopping configurations in our house. Technically my husband and I share a king size bed, while our two daughters share a room with a 3/4 bed each.
The reality is of course slightly different, and in fact ‘our room’ is their room.
Once in a blue moon we will sleep a whole night through, unaccompanied by at least one of the girls, if not both! On those occasions I will wake up in the early hours of the morning in a blind panic where the sleep deprived irrational part of my mind is terrified that one of my offspring have stopped breathing for no apparent reason (they are 5 and 3) – yes, I know it’s ridiculous. The ‘rational’ part of my mind is terrified to go check on them for fear of waking them from that zone of ‘half asleep half awake’!
Don’t get me wrong, we are very blessed and appreciative of the fact that they both fall asleep at bedtime, in their own beds, without a huge fight! Honestly, they are very good at going to bed, I just wish they would stay there!!
I have come to a few conclusions as to why they gravitate to us:
- Eldest watched something scary on TV like Scooby Doo, Totally Spies or some other stupid cartoon!
- The temperature in their room was too hot or too cold or just right!
- They needed the loo and lost their way back to their room but managed to find their way to ours!
- They enjoy waking me up – dad doesn’t seem to suffer much!
- They want a loving reassuring hug and cuddle during the night/aka let’s love daddy and kick mommy in the head/stomach/back/bladder ALL.NIGHT!
Whatever the reason, they have recently requested bunk beds so I’m thinking “NO”! Without a doubt, someone will fall off the top bunk and break something; and then how will I put that child back in their bed in the middle of the night?!
Ultimately though, on the nights when they both end up with us, it turns into a competition between daddy and mommy as to who ‘loves them the most so puts up with the kicking’ or ‘the winner who caves first and sneaks off for uninterrupted sleep in their room’!
FYI – I’m usually the winner! ?
Please feel free to share your horror stories! ?
#lovemykids
This post was originally published in January 2017.
Ah we are not at this stage yet but I kind of think it’ll be cute on the one hand and then very irritating on the other! long live the cot!!! #DreamTeam
Yup … I miss those days ! The days before they can climb out themselves!
Our bedroom is like a revolving door some nights with both of our kids (6 and 5) coming and going. Some nights it bothers me more than others. When we have a rare night that someone doesn’t end up in our bed, I always wake up confused! :)
The worst is when they are sick, and all over YOUR bed!
That is the worst! Thank goodness for mattress protectors! ?
on average I sleep in three beds per night…sometimes four! Last night I slept on a toddler cot- with a two year old and an 80 pound dog!
haha … thank goodness I don’t have to contend with a dog too but my cats somehow manage to find me no matter where I sleep! lol
Agreed-there’s not a whole lot of Co in our situation either. Hard to sleep when someone is kicking you in the guts. perhaps the co refers to my daughter and the husband whos asleep in the nextdoor room? haha
Buncha hooligans. I think it’s just a comfort thing for kids. Don’t worry mama, you aren’t the only one! If I could still crawl into bed with my mother I probably would. Lmao.
Thanks for sharing with us at #ShowMeYours
Haha … when you put it like that maybe I get it too! ?
This is so cute!! There’s nothing like sleeping with mommy!
This really made me smile – I have a 16 month old and I’m due with my second in July and I think we’re going to end up being those people who have a family bed ? My boy does start the night in his cot in our room but seems to end up with us, usually around 1am when we can’t be bothered to try and get him back into his own cot ? I do actually sleep ok most nights when he’s in with us though so it’s not too bad I guess… #FamilyFun
Best of luck, I think at some point we all just surrender to it. X
Mine gets jealous that my wife and I get to sleep together and she has to sleep all by herself. She doesn’t do it often, but somehow always seems to steal my side when she sneaks in #familyfun
Despite the fact that I know they come looking for me they always end up cuddling to him. A small reprieve for me I guess. lol
I so get this. My 5 yo kicks herself open in the middle of the night and then gets cold, which wakes her and leads her to walk to me to heat up. She heats up and falls asleep, I am wide wake due to her cold body and I then relocate to her bed. Musical Beds… and darling husband sleeps through it all. #showmeyours
How? How do they manage to sleep through it all? I really don’t get it.
Haha. I’m there! My 10 year old randomly will pop into our bedroom and even see if she can sneak in between me and her stepdad. Her normal ritual though is she comes in the last hour before school after her stepdad has left for work and sleeps with me. The little bugger had the nerve to ask me to get off my phone because the light was bothering her. I like/hate it. =) #ablogginggoodtime
haha … they are so sneaky!
I can SO RELATE to this post. Every inch of it!!! (Yaaaaawn…)
#ablogginggoodtime
Thanks lovely. X
Haha I love this it sounds just like me! My toddler comes into our bed a lot but always wants to be on my side. Like you if she doesn’t I panic but then I’m also too scared to go into her room! Motherhood! #familyfun
Clearly we are the problem, not them.
Oh yessss you are one strong momma! I did co-sleeping when my littlest was born up until about 9 months, and I enjoyed it really. But graduation day came once I stopped breastfeeding!
Amelia actually didn’t come into our bed until 6:30am this morning! WIN! I’m *totally* looking forward to Wills being old enough to crawl into our bed too….. not! I’ve lost track of how many times I have ended up in her tiny bed haha!! #ablogginggoodtime
haha … it’s madness. Best thing we ever did was buy them a 3/4 bed each, at least we’re comfortable after the bed hopping has settled for the night.
“We’re all mad around here”!!!!
Yes, definitely. When he sleeps with us, I rarely get a good night’s sleep. #ablogginggoodtime
Yet they sleep ‘like babies’. Not that I ever understood that phrase.
Oh I’m so glad my little is still in his cot (for now)! So no horror story for you just the all of mummy mummy mummy Bebo bebo bebo from his room. It’s all about the boob milk now! Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky
haha … enjoy it while you can. Once they can climb out the cot there’s no going back.
I had a glimpse of this the other morning with my girls. #FamilyFun
This is so true! I didn’t get much sleep when we were ‘co-sleeping’ either!! #familyfunlinky
Haha I can totally relate to this! We never co slept when little man was, well, little! Jump forward to 2 and although he happily dos to sleep in his own bed, much like your situation he will wake during the night and cry and then toddle into our bed! It was cute at first but i feel it has become part of his routine now… maybe a couple of times a week he will sleep the night through in his own bed. #ablogginggoodtime
Haha, love this. Our three month old ended up co-sleeping with us last night – which basically means me having freezing cold arms and going all stiff from laying in the same position all night! #TwinklyTuesday
haha … oh dear. 3 months old snuggles would definitely make up for that though, it’s a swift kick from a 3 year old I don’t enjoy! lol
I always put Cygnet to bed in his own room, but he always seems to make it to my bed at some point in the night. I don’t worry that he will have stopped breathing – I don’t need to worry because he snores so loudly that I don’t sleep when he is in my bed. He also has a habit of rotating 180 degrees, so I often end up with his feet in my face, at some point in the night. One day, I don’t know when, I will get my bed back.
Pen x #BloggerClubUK
ha ha ha do you know what? I wish my little would co-sleep. She likes her own space unfortunately meaning on a bad night I am up and down and in and out like a flaming jack in the box. I’ll be eating my words in a few months when she wont get out!
Thanks for linking to #ablogginggoodtime
Haha … maybe the problem is us mom’s?
Haha, I would definitely be sneaking off to their room for some peace when the kicking started!
Thanks for linking up to #BloggerClubUK :)
Debbie
We are so far pretty lucky that Zach has hardly slept in our bed since he was a baby! I regularly share my bed with Oscar though – I can see him being a sneak in boy! Thanks for linking up with #TinklyTuesday
Peachy is too little to get out of her crib. I known I’ll probably regret this some day, but I sometimes wait for the days when she’ll be able to jump into our bed for a snuggle. Sorry about the super late comment. #ablogginggoodtime
In the beginning it’s great. But in reality they don’t come to the bed they wander around the house trashing it before you can even get up.
We have this. Youngest woke me up at 5 in the morning last Bank Holiday by throwing a beach ball at my head! What’s that all about?! They do have bunk beds and that has improved things though….#FridayFrolics
I have resisted the bunk beds scenario because I can foresee huge fights and broken arms. They may be wearing me down though.
Lol very true – it’s amazing how much room a tiny person can take up in a King-sized bed! #FridayFrolics
My eldest has never come into our bed. Thank god because he always kicks the covers off! We are about to transfer my youngest from cot to bed so we shall see! Thanks for linking up to #FridayFrolics
NEVER? You are so lucky.
Haha! My eldest – just turned 4 – is great. She goes straight to sleep in her own room, and stays in bed all night. No fussing. Even occupies herself in the morning if she wakes up first. The nearly 3 year old has never stayed in her own bed all night and is a sleeping nightmare.
Thanks so much for joining us for #FridayFrolics
[…] not a medical professional, ‘just a mom’ who, apart from dealing with a little Bed Hopping is quite proud of the good sleeping regime my family […]