We never planned to co-sleep, it happened very organically. From the first night DD6 was born, she wouldn't sleep anywhere else. She made it very clear that she wanted, needed to be near us while she slept! In the bassinet/cot she would cry and cry, put her in our bed and she would settle immediately and was straight off to sleep. It was lovely to wake up in the middle of the night and be able to check her without getting out of bed and traipsing through the house. As she got bigger she would snuggle in as she fell asleep- magic!

DS4 came along when she was 2 years 4 months old. I put the bassinet next to the bed for him, but he was very unsettled for the first 8 weeks - and NOTHING would settle him! I was prepared to co-sleep with them both (king-sized bed) to get some rest but DS was absolutely not interested. At 8 weeks he started to sleep through the night but he would only settle in his cot. As an aside, his crying (OMG... the relentless crying!!!) that first 8 weeks never woke DD, she slept right on through it!

So, DD always had her own room and we even made a big deal of her own 'big girl bed' when she turned 2. A couple of times we even tried to make her sleep in it. We all ended up so upset over the fight to get her into her own bed that eventually we stopped and wondered 'who are we doing this for??' We were all quite happy in the same bed, we all slept well, plenty of room. It was other people who had a problem with it, particularly my mum! So, we decided to let her stay in our bed until she was ready to leave, which happened when she was about 4 and a half. Honestly, I thought it was time, she was getting bigger and taking up more room!! DH though was devastated... his little girl didn't cuddle him all night any more! So, the kids are now 6 and 4... and they both sleep well in their own beds... but last night they both slept with us!!