At what age do you feel a child absolutely MUST sleep in their own bed?

[Macaela25]

Another interesting question off a local parenting board. The original question actually involved a 13 year old sleeping with his mother. I'm not talking about voluntary cosleeping...I'm talking about that older, mobile kid that just will NOT stay in their own bed. Do you have an age where you feel enough is enough, or will your son crash in your bed after his bachelor party??

[OneHotMomma]

I loved to snuggle with my little boy when he was born. I'd let him sleep with me and DH. After a about a month it started getting annoying. Every time I'd roll, he'd roll under me and he was a little heater so I'd wake up sweating. I decided he needed to sleep in his own bed and we'd snuggle during the day. He didn't like it at first but after he got used to it, we were all happier. Everyone slept better.

So I think, they should always sleep in their own bed. (I've heard it's safer when they're babies anyway)

[mzbeers]

I have had a horrible time with DD1. The only way I got her sleeping on her own (sort of) is to get her a full size bed, and now she sleeps with the dog. When she stays at Grandma's house, Grandma has to sleep with her, because she hates to be alone and will not go to sleep if she is, and if she wakes up in the middle of the night by herself she totally freaks out.

I guess it's a good thing for me we have a family dog....... LOL

DD2 on the other hand is 3 and hates to sleep with anybody, or anything. She loves sleeping alone, and won't have it any other way.

My girls are exact opposites in every way.

[mom2lucas]

Both kids were in their own cribs early on, and we like it that way. Everyone sleeps better!

[summermay]

My kids were always in there own beds.

My niece on the other hand slept in her moms bed till she was like 14-15. She has finally gone to her own bed. Now my sister in law has her grandson in the bed. I really don't see how she gets any sleep.

[lasab]

My kiddos always slept in their own bed. When they were sick, I would make a bed on the floor in our room for them, but they didn't sleep in our bed. I don't know why really, it was just what we did.

[meofcourse80]

Thirteen definitely seems excessive!

I think every family is different, but for us it was day one. LOL! Mean parents, huh? DD (5yo) has slept on her own every night unless she is sick. Well, except for the one or two nights when DH has had to work overnight and I've let her sleep with me because I can't sleep if I'm by myself - LOL!

[momof2inohio]

My kids have always slept in their own beds. I do not think its safe for a baby to sleep in the same bed as the parents. So we always put our kids in their own cribs from day 1. Once in a while my kids would have a nightmare or were scared of a storm and I would let them sleep in our bed for the night but other than that they had no problem sleeping in their own beds.

[Merczilla]

For about the first 4 months or so, I used a laundry basket as a "bassinet" on the bed next to me. It would be against the wall on the other side, so no risk of it falling off, no risk of me rolling over on them and convienient for all those throughout the night feedings. Once they began sleeping a little bit longer stretch (say 6-8 hours), they went in the crib. Never had any problems with it.

There was a "traumatic incident" that occurred when my daughter was about 3, and for about a year, I would wake up and find her curled up on the floor next to my bed. Eventually she outgrew that. OTherwise, we never did any "co-sleeping". I'm one of those that prefers to sleep alone. Every little noise, toss, turn, snore, dog pant, etc. wakes me up.

[gem7]

I've had it both ways. My two oldest were breastfed and I was too lazy to get up and feed them in their room, so they slept with me. It lasted way past breastfeeding and became a huge problem to get them in their own beds, even after age 5.
So when I had #3, she slept in her own bed from the beginning, and I've never had any problems.