Melanie Edwards

Whether or not your baby sleeps in your bed is a hot topic which many people are ready to give you an opinion on. Some will tell you right away not to make the ‘mistake’ of letting your baby sleep in your bed, while others will encourage co-sleeping and feel it’s a wonderful thing to do for baby. I personally feel that you should do what’s best for your family and whatever gets everyone a good night’s rest…even if that means having your child in your bed for three years.

When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I were determined that our baby would not sleep in our bed with us. We were ready to have her sleep in her crib and in her own room. After many tiresome nights of late-night nursing sessions, we started bringing our baby into our bed – it was just so much easier to nurse her right in bed and go right back to sleep.

Once our daughter grew older, she had trouble sleeping in her own bed and as a toddler, she would frequently wake in the middle of the night screaming – we now believe she was experiencing night terrors. The best way for all of us to get some rest, was to have her sleep in our bed. After trying many things, we gave in and eventually, after she was three-years-old, she did move to her own bed in her room and has had no issues sleeping since then!

Our second child is now two-years-old, and though he’s had far less trouble sleeping, he does often climb up into our bed in the middle of the night. We let him, because again, it allows for all of us to get a good night’s sleep. That’s what it comes down to for us, we just want to sleep!

I asked a few parents if their baby ever slept in their bed (or currently does) and what their thoughts were on having babies sleep in your bed. Here’s what they had to say!