The co-sleeping has to end ... DH and I need a decent sleep!

[Liz]

Our 2 yr old still comes in, and like your DS is usually stealthy enough for us not to notice until the next morning haha. We've had a rough few nights of her tossing and turning and carrying on at 3am, but we've also been sick with the flu lately so I'm allowing for that for a time.

I was going to suggest putting him back in his bed, but as I read more of your post, realised you have already tried this. Would he sleep on a mattress on the floor in your room?

Maybe it's time to wean him from the dummies. They might be causing him to wake up in the first place as well as the nuisance they're causing you guys.

I don't really have any other suggestions. We're still just going with the flow ourselves at the moment. DS eventually just started sleeping right through in his own bed and climbs in with us in the morning. Still waiting for DD to sleep right through. Maybe I need to take my own advice about the dummy LOL and get rid of it. Who knows.

Hope you can get back to more restful sleep soon!

[AndiE]

Thanks so much for your replies.

Mel - if only I could put DS1 back in a cot I'd do it in a heartbeat. I suspect he might object though

ZF - I think I'd only close DS1's door as a very last option. Although he's 2.5years, he hasn't got the knack of opening the door knob yet (which is ok by us!) . We've actually tried it a couple of times, but both times he's walked straight into the closed door, which (a) scares him and (b) creates a very upset little boy. A dummy clip isn't a bad idea either though I'd prefer to wean him off them rather than enable the behaviour, if that makes sense.

Boomba - DS1 isn't going though anything that I'm aware of, but he's had his grandparents nearby for the last couple of months, and they returned home interstate two weeks ago. We think this is why he's looking for reassurance when he first goes to bed, moreso than coming into us during the night, which I think he now does purely out of habit. He thinks it's perfectly normal to come and sleep with mum and dad . I like your idea about getting a mattress into our room for him. And no, like you, I don't want to make sleeping on his own a scary thing so I'm super reluctant to take a hard line about the co-sleeping. If only he'd sleep without causing us the dramas! Sigh ...

Liz - Yep, think the fairy dummy might have to make an appearance soon

We'll see how we go tonight.. I might even crawl into DS1's king single and sleep with him so DH can get a good night's sleep. He can return the favour later in the week!

Hmmm, thank goodness DS2 sleeps through the night!

[boomba]

We'll see how we go tonight.. I might even crawl into DS1's king single and sleep with him so DH can get a good night's sleep. He can return the favour later in the week!

Good idea it will reassure him that your near. SLow and gentle is better than trying for a quick fix even though it may cause more sleepless nights Hope you work out a way that works hun and once you do send some sleepy vibes my way xx

[onthefly]

Yeah, maybe sleeping with him in his bed might be worth a try...? At least you can take it in turns getting some sleep. Or the mattress on the floor.
DS rarely cosleeps now, but he is a terrible bed hog and very fidgetty, so I feel your pain. But, he's great in his own bed if we find ourselves squeezed in there helping him get back to sleep - he's learned the hard way that if he rolls around too much he'll fall out!
We have to close the doors as the cat will take up residence on the bed and DS hates that. But he doesn't get out of bed in the night anyway, just yells for us till mum or dad turns up. Anyway, when he does come into bed with me DH sleeps in DS' bed

It sounds like the dummies are also becoming more trouble than their worth. Good luck with everything!

[Traveller]

We are having similar problems, with at least one fo the kids climbing in with us each night. It doesn't help that DH loves co-sleeping. I have gotton to the point that when a child climbs into my bed, I climb out and sleep in theit single bed instead. This way everyone is happy.