Family bed

[Madness]

Re: Family bed

I love the image of a sleeping like a pile of hamsters! :P

I think a lot of other cultures do some form of a family bed. I recently read a book about China where the babies stay in the parents bed until the next one comes along. I'm actually starting to think this might be the way we go.

[Dez]

Re: Family bed

[quote author=volcaniclastic link=topic=549.msg8032#msg8032 date=1288364577]
Really? I've never liked sleeping with other people. When I was little, I slept in my own bed, in my own room - as siblings came along, I sometimes had to share my room. Now? The idea of touching my siblings grosses me out, let alone sleeping with them.

I think it stems from the fact that I think my siblings are disgusting.
[/quote]

Hah...nah, unless I'm pregnant (in which case, don't breathe in my direction, much less touch me while I'm sleeping), I'm very snuggly. Fiddly and I usually form a big lump in the middle of the bed, usually by 4 am with a child on my other side.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Family bed

[quote author=Deseret link=topic=549.msg8044#msg8044 date=1288366244]
Hah...nah, unless I'm pregnant (in which case, don't breathe in my direction, much less touch me while I'm sleeping), I'm very snuggly. Fiddly and I usually form a big lump in the middle of the bed, usually by 4 am with a child on my other side.
[/quote]

I tend to like cuddles falling asleep, and cuddles when I'm waking up, but in the middle of the night, I roll away from my partner and sleep on my own.

[Medusa]

Re: Family bed

As a single gal I always had a single bed. Just room enough to have sex. Too small for 2 people...oh so sorry, you have to go home now.

[SunSpireFire]

Re: Family bed

in reference to issues that might come along with growing pains, and kids needing some private time... I never went through that, but then... I'm not sexual.

Currently I share a bed with the BF and our 3... THREE cats. and we end up fighting with them for space.

I spent most of my childhood sleeping in my best friend's bed every single weekend. Sleepover tradition I suppose.

If I had kids of my own, I think I'd also be more comfortable, and secure with the little ones nearby, instead of in their own rooms, at least until they were old enough to make the choice themselves. But I don't intend on having kids.

[Raphaeline]

Re: Family bed

I got kicked in the head twice by a toddler foot the night before last.

[Dez]

Re: Family bed

[quote author=Raphaeline link=topic=549.msg10901#msg10901 date=1289244884]
I got kicked in the head twice by a toddler foot the night before last.
[/quote]

Hah...just you wait until he progresses to head butting, awake or asleep....

[Veronica]

Re: Family bed

Baby girl was literally stuck to my boob for the first year of her life. I never would have had any sleep at all if I hadn't coslept! Not to mention that this child argues with me non-stip so that my brain is always having to think of a way to cut her off before she gets started and gets herself into a tizzy. Sleeping with her at night is sometimes the only time I can bond with her without fighting with her!

She still sleeps with us, but recently I moved her to her own bed to start the night off with because she started sleeping sideways and kicking a lot more. If she comes in to our bed in the middle of the night she doesn't do that as much, but I told her that if she interrupts my sleep too much she'll have to go back to her room. So far so good...

I was getting NO sleep the past couple of months so a major change was in order. I still read to her until she falls asleep in her bed and I still get to wake up with her most mornings!

[Shahaku]

Re: Family bed

I slept with my parents off and on until I was 12ish. I don't know what it was like when I was an infant but I remember always being able to crawl into bed with my parents when I was scared at night. I had a couple major events that really freaked my out when I was little revolving around a medication that made me hallucinate and I remember being in my parents bed a lot then.

Even to today I have trouble sleeping on my own. Some of you may remember I had really bad sleep problems last year and panic attacks at night. Now I'm sleeping with my fiance at night and it helps a lot. I don't feel scared with another person there. I may not have ever developed this fear of sleeping alone if I hadn't been so welcome in my parents bed at night. I think it's very important to teach children how to cope and sleep on their own at night because eventually they will have to.

[CttCJim]

Re: Family bed

[quote author=Madness link=topic=549.msg8038#msg8038 date=1288365114]
I love the image of a sleeping like a pile of hamsters! :P

I think a lot of other cultures do some form of a family bed. I recently read a book about China where the babies stay in the parents bed until the next one comes along. I'm actually starting to think this might be the way we go.
[/quote]

Don't the Chinese still have a one-child policy? That must have been a very old book.

[Dez]

Re: Family bed

[quote author=CttCJim link=topic=549.msg20738#msg20738 date=1291811415]
Don't the Chinese still have a one-child policy? That must have been a very old book.
[/quote]It might not have been China...there are a lot of places in South East Asia that follow a similar practice. The toddler goes to curl up with Daddy once the new baby comes.

[thalassa]

Re: Family bed

China's one-child policy was never truly universal--and they've never been *one culture* the way we percieve them...and even now (since it "worked" in terms of slowing the population growth), it has relaxed a bit.

[Pagan_Jew]

Re: Family bed

I never really slept in a family bed with my parents. My parents were not the cuddly type. With the rest of my family it was a bit different. When I was young I lived with my grandmother about 80% of the time. My bedroom was across from hers and several times a week I remember crawling into bed with her. Whether it was due to nightmares or bad storms I always had a reason to climb into bed with her. I also shared a bed with my brother, sister, and cousins all the time.

I now am comfortable sleeping on my own but I prefer to have someone with me. It's just a comfort thing. It just feels more natural to have a warm person beside me at night. Humans are "pack animals" to a degree. We thrive on interaction and and contact. Look at babies in hospitals. They encourage the staff and parents to touch the baby often because it seems to help the baby. I think in a natural setting we would sleep in big hamster piles. To me that is natural.

When I have children I fully intend to have a family bed. And I will let my children decide when they want their own room.

Just my $0.02.

[Raphaeline]

Re: Family bed

We might as well take Jack's crib down. He refuses to sleep in it at all anymore, not even for naps.

We're also going to put the mattress on the floor (without the box spring, which is the only thing the mattress is on right now). He's waking up and getting adventurous - this morning, when he woke up from his nap, I didn't hear him make noise until he was already awake and climbing on top of the night stand!

He's more of a cuddler than ever. He's practically underneath us now when we sleep, scooting closer and closer until I feel like I'm smooshing him.

[thalassa]

Re: Family bed

[quote author=Deseret link=topic=549.msg10917#msg10917 date=1289246377]
Hah...just you wait until he progresses to head butting, awake or asleep....
[/quote]

I have a poofy lip...both of them climb in to bed with me at some point during the night no, and Collin head butted me in the mouth. Ouch.