So Do you sleep with your children?

[Curiosity]

Sleeping with kids...

Fear or illness - those are pretty good reasons...

Around the ages of 5-7 the issue becomes "iffy". We have to rely on the parent and the child here, because it is intensely personal and family habits and acceptable mores can be totally innocent.

Lying awake on the bed beside a sick child outside of the covers is not "sleeping" with the child in my mind....but again it is up to the parent and how the child "operates" within the family.

After the age 7 - please don't - unless everyone is in a big bundle in a tent camping or on a boat... or something fun like that....

Parents do know the difference and if not should know the difference.

 

[TenPenny]

When either child is sick, or feeling needy, one of us will sleep in their bed with them for a little while (an hour, a few minutes, whatever); but they're 8 and 5.

We have never (as in, not ever) allowed them to sleep with us in our bed. Which makes us oddities: a lot (almost all) of the parents we know allow their kids (10 and under) to sleep in the parents bed.

We just have this idea that our bed is our bed; they have their own beds. To each his own, I guess.

 

[Finder]

Oh come on get off it. I can remember when I was a child, like 8 or something, and you get scared at night or something and you want to run into your parents bed to get away from the boogy man, or MEN! (As Homer Simpson would say)

I would say it's ok if it's on occasion but as a norm.... like every night and communal bedding. I'm not so sure. Maybe it's a cultural thing.

 

[tracy]

It's definitely a cultural issue. I personally wouldn't sleep with kids. I've seen to many sound sleepers in my time to feel comfortable doing that. But, if other people want to sleep with their children and aren't harming them in any way, I really don't think it's any of my business.

I do let my doggie sleep in the bed.

 

[TenPenny]

I figure that it's up to Michael Jackson to sleep with the children.

 

[missile]

Sleeping with the children is not a problem. Any other action towards them while in your bed is :twisted:

 

[Dunkin]

I find no problem sleeping with kids if its for survival purposes. Like you go lost hicking in the mountains and you need to huddle to keep each other warm and you eventually fall asleep that way.

And I can see moms doing it when a kid is sick or has been through something tramatic and the kid is really young. Otherwise its just creepy.

 

[TenPenny]

It's not creepy; it's perfectly normal for a 40 yr old man to sleep with 10 year old boys, especially if they aren't related. Didn't someone out in California prove that?

 

[papabear]

I like to look at what parents did in the 70's. Their room was forbiden.
Kids back then had respect and morals, unlike today which tells me that whatever we're doing isn't working. I'm glad I didn't sleep with my parents and become a mushy metrosexual.

 

[Kakato]

seeing how this necro is 4 years old we should have some good feedback from the posters that said they do sleep with their kids.
Are they sane now or crazed screwed up lunatics?:lol:

 

[VanIsle]

I didn't vote as I am long passed that stage (to a point). My son's wife moved out. Says she doesn't want to be a Mommy or a wife anymore. I thought she was kidding but her contact with the children over the past couple of months is so remote that I guess she wasn't. She even has to be reminded that it would be nice if she just called to say good-night. The two boys share a room so they seem to be okay with staying in their own bed. Our granddaughter (9) cannot seemto sleep and needs to be near her Dad. He says that if she is feeling safe there, then he's comfortable with her sleeping in there while she adjusts to the change. Lately she has been climbing into her brother's bed (he's dis-abled and is nearly 4 years older). Her Dad laid down on my sofa last night and within seconds, his little heater (as he calls her) was laying full out down his side (literally on top of him as he laid on his side). He says it seems to be the place she needs to be for the past few days. The other two are wanting to know when they can have their turn. He promises that when they get home, they too can have their cuddle time. They need to feel that kind of security right now. They'll get past it but for now, it's what works.
In a normal situation, I would not allow my kids to sleep with me but when his wife lived at home, they both believed that if one of the kids wandered in, it was okay. When my kids were small the advice was - let them get in for a few moments, then walk them back to their room and tuck them into their own bed. That's what I did and it seemed to work.
I took my grandkids camping last summer and I put the oldest one in my bed because it's a queen size. The next morning he asked me if I would mind finding another bed!!! lol I realized that he likes the same side of the bed I do and he rolled in that direction giving both of us a bad night's sleep. The next night I traded sides and we slept fine.

 

[AnnaG]

Our kids have moved away, too, so I didn't vote either.
We used to have them in our bed sometimes when they were young and they had nightmares or just wanted company. For a while they shared a room (at about 7 years old) and then eventually got their own rooms, but they still climbed in with us sometimes even into their teens. Now if we sleep together, it's because of a shortage of beds. lol

 

[VanIsle]

Our kids have moved away, too, so I didn't vote either.
We used to have them in our bed sometimes when they were young and they had nightmares or just wanted company. For a while they shared a room (at about 7 years old) and then eventually got their own rooms, but they still climbed in with us sometimes even into their teens. Now if we sleep together, it's because of a shortage of beds. lol

That's what happens when we go camping. I have to keep the oldest one with me if I take the kids out. Then I send the next one to the next trailer where he sleeps with his cousin and I take the two granddaughters in my trailer where they share a double bed. They love it because they get to have a "sleep over" at Gramma's and they get to share it with each other.

 

[Kakato]

Nice necro though,you have to admit pulling one out from 4 years ago and getting a comment is pretty good.
Getting more then one is excellent.

 

[Said1]

What's a necro>

 

[VanIsle]

What's a necro>

necro-,
a combining form meaning "the dead," "corpse," "dead tissue," used in the formation of compound words: necrology.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

*sigh* Telling parents how to express their emotions in the privacy of their family is nobodys business. Maybe we should get the government to regulate that also? :roll:

Quite so, it is their business, nobody else’s.

Indeed, sharing bed is not at all uncommon in third world countries; they don’t have enough beds for everyone. They come up with innovative ways, they will put down a sheet and sleep on the floor, they will share a bed with someone else etc.

It isn’t at all uncommon for a father to share a bed with his son (or with another man) or a mother to share a bed with her daughter (or another woman). A mother normally wouldn’t share a bed with her 12 year old son.

We know an Indian Cardiologist; he was describing to me a party he attended in USA at the home of his cousin. He said there were many people who attended the party and they all slept at his cousin’s home.

When I asked him about the sleeping arrangements he said “Oh, my wife and my mother shared a bed. I slept in the same room on the floor.”

So as I said, each to his own, I don’t judge anyone.

 

[TenPenny]

I like the Michael system: when you like to sleep with other people's kids, preferrably 10 to 12 year old boys.

 

[Kakato]

What's a necro>

a necropost is a post from years ago that someone performs CPR on and brings back to life.

A necroposter is someone who does it for whatever reason,mostly for kicks.:smile:
We had medals on a forum I was once on,there was humerous,ubercanuck,right wing,left wing,most annoying and a bunch more but there was also a necroposter medal.

 

[Francis2004]

This topic should be easy but...

It was a sore point in my marriage.. I was dead against our kids in bed and my ex wanted our newborn to sleep with us so she could more easily breast feed him.. To me that was just laziness..

There are many reasons I would not want a child in bed and only a few exceptions..

Personally I would love to have split beds anyway.. Two beds together so I can sleep a much better as I am such a light sleeper..

Second I was always against having our newborn in bed as I saw it as a dangerous issue.. Then I read an article that confirmed my belief that adults could (and I believe had ) rolled over and suffocate their newborn and that made it even worse..

As to when they get older, it is no doubt a no brainer as far as getting a better sleep.. Both you and your child are much better off in your own beds..