Need helpful hints for getting 7-year-old in his bed

[Jenifer76]

The title pretty much sums it up.

Right now the five-year-old and seven-year-old are in bed with me and DH is downstairs on the couch bed. The youngest will easily transition into her own bed but won't because the oldest is in my bed. When I try to move him after he falls asleep or start the night in his own bed (with me laying with him until he falls asleep) or even have him lay on a pallet in our room, he freaks. out. majorly. The minute I am not next to him, he is up and searching for me. Crying, sobbing, wailing and sometimes vomiting. Having them both in bed with me is not entirely comfortable and I think my hubby would like to sleep in his own bed again (we do sometimes trade off or the kids and I sleep downstairs).
Do I just suck it up and now he won't always be in my bed? Or does anyone have any ideas.

P.S. If you ask him why he needs to sleep with me, he says he doesn't like to be alone. I could have the kids bunk together but he doesn't see her as a good alternative to Mom.

[SinginMamaTo2]

I'm waiting on pins and needles to see what kind of replys you get. My 6yo DD is the same but without the sobbing and vomitting. She does talk/yell out and kick/punch tho. So having her sleep with us can be quite the adventure

I lay with her until she falls asleep(and I usually fal asleep too, so there goes any time with poor DH) and sure enough, 4 hours later she's standing at the side of my bed!

So no advice here, but please know that you are not alone and hopefully we'll get some good advice

[Jenifer76]

Well I guess misery loves company. It is funny because he would not co-sleep as a baby/toddler (while my DD was in our bed from the start) but now can't get enough of it. Perhaps he realizes what he missed as a baby, LOL.

[Freud]

My sister is doing this now. My niece, who is 3.5 years, will not take naps on her own. So my sister began talking with her about how she can do it, she's a big girl, and soon, she'll be able to take a nap all by herself. She didn't like the idea at all at first. Instead of lying down with her, my sister sat in a chair next to the bed until she fell asleep. She talked about the process, "When it's nap time, we'll go in your room, read some books, and then you'll fall asleep. I'm just going to sit in the chair this time and when you fall asleep, I'm going to go do some laundry and make us lunch. When you get up, we'll have lunch together and play!" My niece did great the first time. It took her over an hour to fall asleep, but she wasn't distressed or crying. She woke up happy as a clam. She usually wakes up crying for her mom, but she didn't this time. She just walked to the kitchen and was proud of herself for napping alone.

Maybe you can sort of adapt this to your bedtime routine and see if he can tolerate it.