For Co-Sleepers -- When did your little one(s) move out?

[kbf2plus2]

Hi

We have co-slept with our girls since birth and both are still sleeping with us. I am pregnant and bub is due in about 4 - 6 weeks. Our girls are 5 and 4 and the 5 year old has experimented with sleeping in her own bed but doesn't last the night (usually about midnight she'll make her way to our room). She is very "touchy-feely" and I'm sure it is because she misses having someone to snuggle with.
The 4 year old just isn't ready yet to move out of the family bed.

Our problem is: both girls sleep in the middle of the bed. One snuggles with DH, the other with me. By morning, both hubby and I are pushed to the outer-most limits of the bed and there is a huge expanse in the middle of the bed which is unoccupied. If either one of us moves into the space in the middle, we are immediately sandwiched by our girls and still have no space to move. Planning to co-sleep with the new bub, but there's going to be no where for bub to fit (even though there would be heaps of room for 5, if everyone shared the space evenly.) We are sleeping crossways on a king size bed and there isn't room to fit another bed of any description beside it. I have been planning for the bub to be on the outside of me, because I don't trust our eldest daughter to be aware of her new sibling in her sleep, but with the way things are now, bub is going to be going "plonk" on the floor rather regularly or I'm not going to get any sleep trying to keep him/her from falling out.

Any suggestions??

[Laksa]

Will they sleep together in a double bed?
Or could your DH sleep in a bed with the older kids and you with the baby?

Mine both got single beds at 16/17 months but still came in during the night until about 2.5yo. The younger one (3 in Nov) still comes in sometimes...

[missie_mack]

I feel your pain. My DS who is 5 still sleeps with us and whilst I would love to have our newborn in our bed it is a big no no to have children in bed with a newborn.
I second trying to get them into a bed together or a room together. I would try and wait til it is a bit warmer too if you can because at the moment they would be accustomed to your body heat as a temp to sleep at.

[Merla]

My toddler is 2.5 and has just willingly moved to sleeping in her own bed all night from co-sleeping. The thing is though, her bed is in our room, pushed up next to our bed.

Could something like this work? Having a mattress on the floor or a 2nd bed in your room for the girls to sleep in? My smallie isn't ready to sleep completely alone, but she is quite happy to have her own space in the bedroom and it suits us all well.

[MamaNurture]

Not really solving your current problem, but could you sidecar your new bub? That way they are still right beside you in bed, but they have their own safe space? Plus gives you more room. We are about to set up a sidecar for our little bub, google gives heaps of tips etc from others.

[trishalishous]

we are about to start dd in her own room in her cot, this summer.
personally i was co slept and moved into a shared bedroom at about 5/6. im the middle kids :)

[kbf2plus2]

Thank you ladies for your replies.

Laksa -- Have tried them in bed together, but the younger one really isn't ready to be away from us yet. Have thought that bub and I might have to move out into the spare room for a while and leave the rest in the "family" bed.

Missy Mack and trish -- the thought had occurred to me that perhaps warmth might be a factor. Ours is a water-bed so nice and warm in winter, not to mention heat from other bodies. Also our eldest often kicks the blankets off -- in our bed, either my husband or I pulls them back up and over her so she stays warm; by herself, she just gets cold.

Merla and Mama -- being able to set up a bed/mattress in our room would be ideal. Unfortunately, there really isn't enough room to do so. The room is already fairly crowed. As I said, there is actually PLENTY of room in our bed, if only the space was fairly shared -- but apart from setting up fences (LOL) it's a bit hard to get everyone to stay in "their space".

I guess we will find a solution somehow -- where there is a will there is always a way!!