When did your co-sleeper start to snuggle with the parent who doesn't have the milkies?

[osker]

We do a modified family bed system. E goes to bed in her crib and sleeps there til 2am or so, then she wakes up for milkies and comes into our bed.  Sometimes we fall back into letting her come into the bed if she wakes earlier than this, but generally if she wakes before 2am she gets a bottle of pumped milk and goes back into her crib with little fussing. After 2am she's on and off the breast the rest of the night.. which is great for her, great for mama, and just all around snuggly lovely. 

We've decided that when we travel we want her to sleep with us all night rather than carry a crib, and on trips we've taken so far it's worked great. Altogether, this system is working out really really well.. 

But here's my question... I'm jealous that my wife gets all the snuggles, even the non-milkie ones at night. E wants to sleep right next to her breast, which is great.. but will she ever decide that I'm nice for snuggling as well?

Did your co-sleeper eventually want to snuggle with both parents? Or do they tend to stick close to the breast? 

I'd love to be able to have her snuggle up next to me for sleeping, or to be able to keep her asleep if my wife has to get up to pee in the early morning hours.  Also, I'd like to be able to lie down with her and snuggle to sleep if she's having a rough naptime (usually naps are in her crib, but on the weekends we all like to nap together)...

She's only six months old, so I'm thinking we're far from this.. but does it eventually happen this way?

[OdinsMommy0409]

From sharing these types of stories with my friends, it really seems to depend upon the child. 

Friends who have independent sleepers (i.e. will sleep outside of the family bed, will fall asleep without bf'ing) experience the willingness to cuddle and fall asleep with the non-milkie parent around the time LO gains more independence (i.e. walking). Those such as myself with LOs who are very dependent sleepers (i.e. only nurse to sleep, usually only stay asleep if milkies are nearby) have yet to see non-milkies parent experience the cuddles willingly. It's only been in the past month that my spouse has been able slip into bed after our DS is asleep and cuddle with him. 

[LCBMAX]

Never in bed, til we night weaned at 25 months, and I moved out of the bed and daddy moved in at 26 months. Just turned 3 and I'm only barely recovering from the sleep deprivation and trying to move back in to the family bed. I sleep on the far side from my son, husband in the middle, and I wear earplugs!

[To-Fu]

My 3yo son who still nurses to sleep at night has been cuddling with his daddy for the rest of the night since he was just shy of 2.5yo and his brother came along.  It was by necessity that we suddenly reconfigured the family bed so everyone could have a snuggle buddy.  Now my big kid loves to snuggle with his daddy at night, but it was a bit of a transition to get there.  He is, to use the words of another poster, a dependent sleeper. 

It was a very sudden nightweaning process, but he adapted well.  He just had to learn a new way.  You'll get there.  It just takes time!  Like you said, six months is pretty wee yet. :)

[Sfcmama]

I don't think it was until she could crawl, maybe 8 months at the earliest? Even then, she mostly went to papa for nap cuddles not nighttime cuddles. Now, at a year, she migrates toward papa at night (I think for warmth when she's lost the covers) but comes to me for milkies if/when she starts to stir.
Do you EC? We started kind of late (10 months) but dh handles morning pees so she now goes straight to him when she's up for the day and needs the potty.
Each kid is different but it won't be long until you're being smacked awake to play in the middle of the night! ;0)

[starling&diesel]

When we nightweaned at 18 months.  She still reaches for me first, but if DP catches her, she'll cuddled with her so I can sleep.  We take turns now, depending on who has to work the next day.

[1stTimeMama4-4-10]

When I went back to work when DD was 3 months, she would snuggle with papa when I went to work in the morning.  She snuggles with me all night, but for naps and when I go to work before she wants to wake up, she's happy to sleep with her papa.  I think it happened out of necessity, but we are really happy with it. 

[Super~Single~Mama]

When I got sick of snuggling all night, after nursing baby got moved to snuggle with daddy.  We split over a year ago, but once ds was about 4 or 5 months I needed my space at night (he was like a little space heater and hated blankets and always kicked them off, meanwhile I was freezing cold all the time), and so I would move him to snuggle with daddy where he would snuggle.  His dad called him his little koala (thats what it looked like when he snuggled with him).