Co-Sleeping - What Worked For Us and How We Transitioned

We all have our own ways of bringing up our babies and what works in one family won't work for another.  For me, it wasn't a problem having a baby in the bed.  One thing I always tell people when they feel what they're doing is 'wrong' because it's

different is: If it isn't a problem to you, it isn't a problem.  This is my story.

Even while in the hospital, I had her in that plastic bassinet thing for the first night, and then she was with me. The nurses were ok with it but I guess they didn't really get a choice.  I told them I will be sleeping with her and if they don't allow it I'll be going home.  It wasn't a good idea to go home as I was suffering from high levels of anxiety to start with and due to sickness was only 47 kgs, about 8kgs less than before I fell pregnant so they wanted me to stay in until we all knew it would be ok to leave.

Why it worked for us:
We like to travel.  We go on holidays, we go away for a weekend, we spend a night in a motel on occasion just to break away from the routine and spoil ourselves.  I wanted to get her used to sleeping anywhere and figured the best way to do that was for her to go to sleep with me, that way if I was there she would sleep.  Makes sense to me, even though many wouldn't agree with it.

I also wanted her to sleep all night every night and co-sleeping is the best way to do that!  I don't like having babies cry so any other way of doing it seems cruel to me.  I like my sleep too much to be bothered waking through the night.  I would give her a nappy change through the night or feed her in bed if she woke but that was it for me.

Transition:
The way I encouraged her to go from my bed to hers was by creating a room for her that she helped create.  She chose the duchess, the wardrobe and the bed frame.  They all came from Vinnies or Salvos but she didn't mind.  The only thing I bought new was the matress.  She then chose the lamps helped me put her room together. 

She chose the sheets, blanket and pillow case.  This was all when she was about 20 months old.  We had story time in her room every morning, every evening and every day we were home we would read after lunch too.  I gave her the choice of where to sleep and where I was to sleep.  Sometimes we both shared her single bed, sometimes we were both in my bed.  I bought a water proof matress protect that doesn't feel like she's sleeping on plastic and told her that when she starts sleeping in her own room without me she can stop wearing nappies.  She hated nappies and was day-trained very young.  So around her 2nd birthday she decided to sleep in her bed, alone, and not wear nappies anymore.

We still do it from time to time if we both want the company but it's also good because if I tell her she can't sleep in my bed for the night, she goes to bed in her own room too.  I feel that by giving her the options it allowed her to make the transition when she was ready to do it.  I didn't hold her in my bed, and I didn't force her out either, it was a nice balance of encouraging her to her room, while leaving the decision to her.