Need Help Co-Sleeper to Bed

Hi Angela,

Thanks for your reply. We have a KING size bed!! And I'm still always on the edge. He's just such a wild little sleeper (he's all over the bed, but at then by early morning he's practically on top of me). I love having him next to me, it's just every once in a while I want a solid nights sleep. But I guess that's part of being a mom I also wondered if he was too young for his own bed, so maybe he is. What is the average age?

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable with my child in a different room until I would be comfortable letting them play un-attended for awhile- probably around 2.5 at the earliest. I would want them to be old enough that if they were scared or hurt they could come to me without a problem.

BUT at his age I would think that you could work on some bed-sharing manners Is he kicking you? Is he sleeping sideways? Look at why you're getting pushed off and see if you can fix it. As a possible transition, can you put his bed up against yours?

good luck!

-Angela

I hadn't thought of putting his bed next to ours. I could try that. How do you teach sleeping manners? They're already asleep!? Cristian sleeps sideways, upside down, across my chest. Whichever way he finds comfortable. He doesn't kick me or anything like that. I used to be like that when I was younger. I was a wild sleeper. I guess that's where he gets it from

I guess what I'm looking for help on is how do you make the transition? I've read articles about moms who put their kids in the crib and the first night it's horrible because they scream and cry, the second night is rough, the 3rd night gets better, until eventually they are sleeping on their own. I can't do that because I know for a fact Cristian would be able to climb out of the crib. He's mastered going up and down the steps in our house at 11 months old, just 2 weeks after he started walking! He knows how to open the door to our bedroom because the door knob is within his reach. And he's only 16 months! He just figured out how to turn on and off the lightswitch to the hallway going up the steps today by reaching up from the steps.

Besides that, again, I nurse him to sleep. He is not a self soother at all! So how do I slowly make the transition from nursing him to sleep to teaching him how to self soothe and then transfer him to the bed? I don't mind if he climbs out in the middle of the night and ends back up in our bed. Because I know eventually that won't happen. I was once told that the "sleep breastfeeding" is the last thing you want to try to stop. Is that true? If yes, that's fine. Maybe I am trying to do things too fast. It's just I see/read about other parents who put their kid down in their bed or crib when it's time for them to go to bed and they go right to sleep and I get kind of jealous!