greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (05/22/85)
> > Anyone else out there sleep together as a family? > > Regards, > > Ken Arndt Despite warnings of dire consequences for ourselves and our children (two boys, a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old) we often let them sleep with us. Of course, it can be a detriment to our sex life, although we find it works to go into another room for that and then come back to go to sleep. Definitely inconvenient. Unfortunately, the two boys aren't equally comfortable to sleep with. The older one cuddles in very nicely to whatever space is available. The younger one thrashes wildly in his sleep and can, literally, be a pain. We don't feel right just letting the older one sleep with us. Over the last several months, the kids have been increasingly interested in sleeping in their own beds. I think they're finding that it's simply more comfortable. We don't push it but we certainly don't discourage it. Now it's gotten to a point where they generally go to sleep in their own beds and then, sometime in the middle of the night, "sneak in". We often don't know they're there until morning. Most recently (last several weeks) they've been sleeping through the night in their own beds. I think that you ultimately have to do what feels right and comfortable to you. If you go against your own instincts for the sake of satisfying some external idea of what the correct thing to do is, you are likely to be causing yourself and kids unnecessary grief and aggravation. In our case, we like having the kids in our bed most of the time, so we let them come in. Other parents seem horrified at the idea, and they shouldn't force themselves to sleep with their children. - Greg Paley