Commented by Susan Carraretto, Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:54pm UTC

Co-sleeping was one of the best decisions our family ever made. I nursed both my girls for about 2 years and co-sleeping helped make night-time nursing a non-issue.

Co-sleeping has been the best bonding experience and I have treasured every moment. My girls are 2 and 4 and we still all co-sleep with a king size mattress directly on the floor and a toddler size mattress next to it.

I was terrified to try co-sleeping because I was scared of all the warnings of dangers to the baby. But when my first was 5 months old and was having difficulty sleeping in her cradle beside my bed, I weakened and started to bring her into bed with me. She would sleep beautifully and I could see a difference in her behavior during the following day. She was more rested and happy throughout the days.

Since her safety was my top concern, I purchased the firmest king size mattress I could and put it directly on the floor. I used no covers and had only one pillow for my own head.

I could tell that I wasn't moving during the night and that I wasn't risking rolling on top of her because I would wake up in exactly the same position as I fell asleep.

Perhaps my sleep wasn't as deep as before I had a baby, but even with her in a cradle beside my bed (or with a monitor and her in another room) I think once I had my newborn, I'd never sleep without a care again. LOL

As time went on I became more used to sleeping with her next to me and my quality of sleep was quite good.

When I had my second baby, we continued co-sleeping but took many precautions again. I was very worried about how to make co-sleeping work with both my girls since my first was still co-sleeping. When the new baby came, she didn't generally go to "bed" until late anyway, so I'd ensure that I slept between the two girls and that my husband slept on the other side of my older girl.

(I tend to think men don't have the same sensitivities as women do to a baby sleeping next to them and so I worried about ever letting my husband lay too close to the babies when they were small. I think it's a bit of a risk that a man could roll over on a baby.)

That co-sleeping arrangement worked wonderfully and I often joke that it helped me get more sleep and lose weight because I had to make sure I was in the bed the entire time that both girls were. I lost weight because I went to bed early and didn't overeat in the evening. LOL

A few months ago, I posted the following video conversation starter and if you click through to
http://www.sayitfacetoface.com/conversations/do-you-cosleep-with-your-ch...
you can hear some other responses about co-sleeping from other women.

But my overall advice is to do what is best for your family... just take the necessary precautions.

Have a good sleep!!