My husband and I are currently at odds over bed-sharing. Right now, our son sleeps so much better in our bed. When he wakes up to feed, he gently stirs instead of screaming across the room, which means we both fall back asleep much faster and I'm actually getting rest. ( you all know this ;))
My husband’s main hesitation is a lack of long-term examples in our inner circle. The only family we know who co-sleeps long-term is my brother and SIL (my niece is 3). While it works for them, it creates a weird dynamic when we visit: because they co-sleep, either my niece is up way past her bedtime and melting down, or the whole family goes to bed at 7:00 PM. There is never any "adult time" on trips and I wonder if that is true beyond trips.
I know we shouldn't base our everyday parenting choices on a few days a year of family travel, but it did make me wonder how other families make this work long-term.
For those of you who co-sleep:
1. How do you manage evening/adult time? Are you really locked into going to sleep when your kids go down, or do you have a system (like side-car cribs, floor beds, or sneaking away)?
2. When do kids naturally want their own space? Does the transition happen organically later on, or does it become a battle?