Musical Beds: Does It Matter If Your Child Won't Stay In Bed All Night?

Musical Beds: Does It Matter If Your Child Won't Stay In Bed All Night?
|

I spent part of last night in my nine-year-old's bed. And then he spent part of the night in mine. From 5am I snoozed in the four-year-old's bed, after he woke up from a nightmare. I frequently go to sleep with my husband and wake up with one of my sons. I know it's not just us - it's a problem shared by lots of my friends.

But is it a problem?

i

Are we, as various relatives have told us, "making a rod for our own backs" or is it perfectly natural that families who are close during the day, also want to be close at night?

i

Laura Clempson thinks so. "As long as everyone is getting the most sleep they can in the least disruptive way where the children feel safe and loved, I don't think it matters who is in which bed.

"Theo, who's three, comes into our bed most nights and honestly I love it. Five-year-old Matilda has only just started sleeping in her own bed through the night and I think that's because she feels ready to. We never made her stay in her bed, and always let her snuggle with us - or my husband would get in her bed with her at 3am.

"I think we all just crave someone to hug in the middle of the night, and children are no exception."

Mum of three Tiffany Ashton Baker agrees: "My 10-year-old has