[forty-two]

Originally Posted by allisonintx

I think there are developmental windows for lots of kids where these transitions are easy, and some parents are really good at hitting them.

Originally Posted by mamacat

I sure didnt know about them

Me either . I sort of feel we are the poster children for "kids who will never leave the bed" . And none of them sttn . When dd8 and dd5.5 start out the night in their own room, they *always* end up together in the bed next to our "big bed" before the night is over. (To the extent that I am slightly panicked if I get up in the morning and they aren't there, but stayed in their beds .)

Dd8 was incredibly high needs and Dd5.5 couldn't sleep alone as a baby because constant gas issues would wake her up every 45 min. They both slept in arms or next to me until the next baby came, and then, though they started the night in their own bed (an impressive accomplishment, btw, for them to not wake up the minute my warm body left their side ), they always came in during the night and slept between dh and me until they were too big for us to sleep comfortably with them there (somewhere between age four and five). And they still come in every night to this day, but thankfully they are ok with coming into the bed *next* to ours instead of needing to be snuggled right up next me . Both girls still won't go to sleep alone, though - I snuggle with one girl while the other goes to sleep on the couch in the living room with dh and ds3 (alternating nights wrt which girl is where). (Tbh I see the writing on the wall wrt the nightly snuggles ending with dd8 and I'm enjoying them while they last .).

Ds3 was our last baby (complications during pg, so we decided before he was born he was going to be our last), and he *might* have been able to transition early - I joked with people that I had heard tell of babies that fell asleep in a swing, but until ds3, I'd never seen such a thing with my own eyes . But I was so used to holding babies for all naps and cosleeping that I hadn't any clue how to teach a baby to sleep alone. Plus I wanted to enjoy as many baby snuggles as I could , so I didn't bother trying to learn .