Going to sleep alone.. When should they do it??

[hey mommy]

C is 5(as of 4/13) and is now wanting me to sit next to him at bedtime again. I've done this on/off for hte past 3.5 years(since he went into a toddler bed. Before that i rocked him to sleep). DH says that he's old enough to go to sleep by himself and I shouldn't sit w/him.. But I think that if he needs me, then he needs me. KWIM? We call it 'snuggles' and as long as he is laying still and actually trying to go to sleep, I don't have a problem w/it. I usually leave him alone in his room for a while to 'get his wiggles out' and then he calls me in for snuggles and goes to sleep.. I have also found that it's faster/easier to sit w/him for 15 min. OR LESS than it is to fight w/him and keep putting him back in bed for over an hour(supernanny would freak out at my house at bedtime. LOL).

So, should I start making him go to sleep by himself? Is this something he really does need to learn? He does go to sleep by himself sometimes, but for the most part, he prefers to snuggle w/me(which really means, snuggle w/my arm b/c I can't lay in the toddler bed w/him).

Any ideas?

[Heather Micaela]

It is whatever works for your family. In our case my almost 6 yo still wants a grown up in bed. Our solution is a bigger bed

[lumpofclay]

Our oldest didn't start going to sleep by herself till she was at least 5 1/2. I still checked on her frequently and she knew we were near. Our middle child has never had to go to sleep by herself since our two oldest girls share a bed/bedroom. (DS is 2 1/2 and nowhere near going to sleep by himself.)

My take on this is that they have so many years ahead of them of going to sleep by themselves (well, without me!), so I savor every night that ends with snuggles. Truthfully, I would've laid/sat with our oldest longer (till she had a bedmate) if she would've been able to go to sleep with me in the room. She wanted to talk way too much though! :P