Co-sleeping with a toddler and bedtime?

jillianmb

If you co-sleep with your toddler how do you do bedtime? Do you all go to bed together? Have your toddler start off in his/her bed?  We are hoping to co-sleep when we adopt our son (if he'll have it!) to promote bonding but I can't picture how bedtime will work.

Thanks! 

NiniJ55

After bath and books (and sometimes a snack) DS usually falls asleep with us in the living room (it would be better if he fell asleep in the bed, of course).  I move him to our bed and secure him so he does not fall.  Then I finish taking care of DD and put her in her crib.  I'm able to finish my chores and have me time before going to bed.

DS is very much used to this and does not wake up looking for where I am (rarely).  I usually leave him in there alone for a few hours before joining him.

I would say in the beginning it may be scary to sleep in a strange home, strange bed - and then to wake up alone.. omg.  I would say make your bedtimes the same at least until thing settle nicely and then you can start putting him to bed and leaving him there alone (secured) while you go about your business in the rest of the house.  I would not leave him sleeping in the bed alone initially for fear that we would wake up scared.  At least when he wakes up he will see you there and everything will be okay.

 DS used to start off in his crib and then when he would wake in the middle of the night I let him join me.  But then things kinda changed and it was easier to just put him in my bed at the beginning of the night  - he STTN this way.

Good luck with the adoption and congratulations.

Rachel Sonnier

Our LO starts off in his own bed and whenever he wakes up, he spends the rest of the night with us. Its kind of what we've always done, and we have a pretty regular bedtime routine (milk, potty, book, prayers, kisses).

He goes to bed at 8:00, so it works out best for us. Plus, it gives us a few hours of time alone to catch up and reconnect every evening. 

tarahnpaul

We all go to bed around 9 p.m., she nurses and rolls around, we watch a movie or show.  She usually lays down for good around 9:30, and we stay up watching our show until 10.  It works perfectly for us.

KCKappa

We don't all go to bed at the same time. Our bedtime routine ends with DH or I (we alternate nights) lying in bed with DD for 15-20 minutes until she falls asleep, usually right around 7:45/8. Once she's asleep, we sneak out and do our own thing for a few hours, then get back in bed with her when we're ready to go to sleep around 10:30ish. Initially we were doing this in our bed, which we had pushed up against a wall so there was one less side for her to fall out (she never has) while we weren't there. About a month ago we replaced her crib with a full-size mattress on the floor in her room and I've been sleeping in there with her, using the same routine as before. This way I don't have to worry about her falling out and eventually we'll try to phase out the bedsharing so she's just sleeping in her own bed by herself all night. No rush on that though - this has been the perfect combo for us of time to ourselves in the evenings and snuggles with DD at night.

jillianmb

Thanks for the replies ladies. Helpful.