Anyone have a family bed with children older than 3?

[Blue Aurora]

I"m wondering how alone I am... :giggle

We have a cal. king and dh and I sleep with our about to turn 2 year old and our 3.8 month old. It is the only place to sleep in our home besides the futon in the livingroom. The one other bedroom is our office/storage/bookshelves. I'm just wondering how to do this as the get older. I've actually suggested to ds1 a new bed b/c he rolls around and talks to himself while falling asleep and now ds2 has stopped nursing to sleep and I lay between them and it drives me a bit crazy but ds1 is very strongly attached to sleeping with mommy and daddy. He has made it clear he doesn't want another bed. Other then the difficulty with getting them both asleep dh and I truly don't mind having both of them in our bed. We'll be moving in about 6 months and once we have a 3 bedroom the boys will have their own room w/ a bed but it will be completely up to them if they want to sleep there. He'll *want* to eventually, right?

[Mother Duck]

:yes they do eventually want to sleep in their own bed :yes

Currently we have DH and I, our 2yo and our 2mth old that start the night out in our bed. Our 5yo starts in our bed, DH transfers her to her bed but she comes back in at some stage EVERY night. Our 11yo comes in occasionally too. Our 7 and 9 yo's very seldom come in at all.

Oh, we have two Queensize beds :smile

[JavaMama]

We usually transition them out around 2-3 years... they seem ready at that age. Dd1 puts herself to bed and always has so she was easy... ds transitioned fairly well by going from cosleeping with us to sleeping with big sis. :giggle Now he sleeps by himself in his room about half of the time.

We only have a queen and no room to put beds side and side and still access the back door so we can't do the huge bed thing, though I think it's neat!

[Yuliana]

Well I share the bed w/ my 7 yr. old and my 13 month old.

My 7 yr. old does want his own room but he says he is not sleeping there :giggle

[Teacher Mom]

We did. I think my daughter was about 6 and ds 4 when I started talking about how baby birds need to leave the nest. They did good and they still come in our "family bed" once in awhile. They are always welcome. I want them to start in their own beds though, but if they wake up and want to come in our bed, they are able.

Well, unless like right now. I AM SICK!

[The Tickle Momster]

We have a king with side-carred crib. We start the night with the kids in the girls room on the queen bed. Sometimes dd (6) will go up to her top bunk, but not often. By morning, all 3 are in our bed. We've started transistioning dd to a sleeping bag on the floor in our room. Mostly b/c I am pg and can't stand to have 2 kids sleeping on top of me any more, and b/c there is no place for baby to sleep, unless she transitions out. :( Ds is 5 an I don't think he will ever sleep in his own bed all night. He needs that daddy time.

[Yuliana]

oohh, this is a great link on how to side car a crib :giggle

http://groups.msn.com/SteveandLishsFamily/sidecarcrib.msnw

[deena]

:highfive for family beds! I find that they transition much better into a bed with siblings instead of a bed by themselves. At some point it might be easier to transfer them together. Just a thought/tip.

[LadybugSam]

My 4 year old still sleeps with us most nights. Although i'm sure the dynamic is different for people who were blessed with more than one.

[Heather Micaela]

My oldest is 6 and all the kids still sleep with us.

[domesticzookeeper]

I find that they transition much better into a bed with siblings instead of a bed by themselves. At some point it might be easier to transfer them together. Just a thought/tip.

:yes I shared a bed with my sister until she was nearly 6 (I'm 9.5 years older)

[Mother of Sons]

I can't remember exactly the kids ages.. but I think slept with us until 3 and then slept in our room on a cot until about 5. Then he decided he wanted a new room party and started sleeping in another room (with his brother)

I don't think any of them stayed in our room past about 7 or 8.

[Blue Aurora]

:rockon It's so cool to hear about other family beds. I don't know anyone IRL even in the AP community that exclusively has a family bed. I do imagine them transitioning at the same time but I honestly don't see that happening for atleast another 2 years. I'm so glad to not be alone. :jump2

[luvinmykidz]

We usually have all 3 with us....the 6 week old, the 2.5 year old and the 5 year old :giggle We do transfer the older ones out after they fall asleep but in the morning they are all back in with us again. :giggle We have a Cali king too.