How long did you co-sleep?

[Bathsheba]

When our babies were newborn they mainly slept in cradles (small cots) beside my side of the bed... and co-slept in with me when I BF them or if they needed "warming up" in winter.

By the time my first two children reached about 3yo they developed preferences for their own space...actually my older DS developed this earlier... probably by about 2yo... and to this day (he is now 5yo) he has been an excellent sleeper... demanding to go to bed at 7pm and that's the last you see of him until the morning. I accredit this to co-sleeping when he was a baby. We didn't co-sleep as much with our first child and she was forever coming into our bedroom in the middle of the night until she was about 4yo. I really think co-sleeping makes them feel more secure from an early age. I wish i had given my first child that security instead of subscribing to the SIDS propaganda (back in 1994 when she was a baby co-sleeping wasn't endorsed at all)... I really think she would have grown up more secure like my boys.

ATM we have just transferred our youngest from his cot into a big bed. He has adapted very well.... DH organised all this when I was on holidays with my middle child.... by the time I got back our youngest was sleeping in the big bed. I thought there would have been more roaming at night but there hasn't been... pleasantly surprised.

If I was you I'd try setting up a temporary extra bed in your room.... maybe a futon roll on the floor next to your main bed. Maybe start the night sleeping down there with your child... then, when he is asleep, pop back up into your bed and see how he goes. We did this for a while in summer when it was just too hot for us all to co-sleep.

ETA: My post reads as a bit confusing LOL we actually do a combination of co-sleeping and cot sleeping... whatever they seem to need until they develop a preference for their own space. Usually each night starts off in their cot and I brought them in when they woke up for the first time... usually at about 2/3am and then we would co-sleep from that point onward.