# Cosleeping with 3 or more little ones? Help!



## Thealingmama (Mar 5, 2005)

I have 3 children...a 9 yr old, 4.5 year old, an almost 3 year old and I am 8 months pregnant with baby #4. I have co-slept with all of them, breastfed, night nursed and night weaned. I have used a humanity family bed, pushed beds against walls, put the mattress on the floor, put a toddler mattress next to our king size bed...tried everything lol! At this point I think co-sleeping with one or two is easy compared to what we r dealing with now. I am really hoping some of you with large families can offer me some new ideas and advice!

My 9 year old reads at night, goes to sleep on his own and sleeps through the night now. He only wakes and comes into our bed if has a scary dream. But when he does come in it is way too crowded in our bed with 2 adults and two toddlers and my pregnant belly. We often have to tell him he must go back to his bed.

My 4 year old and almost 3 year old both recently weaned. I did tandem nurse them for a while and it was not always easy! They start out in their own beds now...we read them stories and rub their backs, sing songs to get them to sleep. But after an hour or two they are waking and coming into our bed. We usually just let them co-sleep the rest of the night with us, but being pregnant we have tried to get them back in their own beds if possible. I love to cuddle, but now it is too uncomfortable. They often sleep sideways and kick me in the belly or back all night. I have woken up crying in pain from the kicks. Plus I cannot get comfortable or stretch out because it is so crowded in our bed. It is hard enough to get comfortable and sleep well just being preg...but in these circumstances it's impossible . So sometimes now when they wake we walk them back to their beds and they lay back down and go right back to sleep no problem, other times my husband will be up and down with them 5 times during the night trying to put them back to bed. The 4 year old is the worst. She never sleeps well. The almost 3 year old sometimes sleeps all night or only wakes once or twice. The worst is when the 4 year old is sleeping with us and wets our bed. It means a whole day of washing and drying our giant comforter...ugggg...it takes hours to dry!! I have tried every kind of pull up and cloth diaper...nothing will hold in the flood lol.
I want to be comfortable in my bed. I want the newborn baby to be safe and not woken by siblings. I don't want to drag the other children kicking and screaming back to their own beds multiple times each night. I have tried putting a toddler mattress or sleeping bag next to our bed but it rarely works. They refuse to lay in it. They want to cuddle next to me. But I am only one person and I only have two arms. How can I safely sleep with a newborn and two toddlers that want me all night too.....? My dh is at his wits end with co-sleeping with everyone. In an ideal world we could all sleep together comfortably all night...but it just isn't physically possible. Any one else have a large family of little ones? How did u do it!!!???


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## Thealingmama (Mar 5, 2005)

Any moms out there with large families, that co-sleep???? We r gonna have baby #4 soon and I would love some stories of how you manage the family bed with so many


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## Katica (Jan 13, 2008)

I wish I could help but I`m also struggling with the same issue. We have two kids ages 5 and 2 years old and I`m also 8 months pregnant with #3. I sleep between the two kids and DH sleeps on the bottom of our bunk bed. We originally bought the bunk bed for the kids but they rarely sleep in it.

We sleep on a double sized futon mattress with another single one attached to it. At least, they kids don`t fall off the bed. Ideally, I would like to put my 5-year-old son in his own bed but he is very scared alone at night even with all of us in the same room.

So, I`m also open for suggestions.


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## heyitskalista (Feb 14, 2012)

We have 3...4.5, 2 and 11 months. Its....squishy....but its not so bad. I actually found co-sleeping much easier once the baby came out!

Our set up is usually, my son (2) on the outside, cuddling with daddy. My daughter (4.5) is in the middle and then the baby is on the outside, beside me. There are nights when my husband or I will get up and go sleep in one of the kids beds...but we are usually followed by one or more child! haha

All of the kids have their own beds (the baby has a mattress on the floor) that they start the night in.

I'm sure that once the new baby comes, you'll find something that works for you!

Good luck and congratulations!!


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

I have 4 and all still cosleep. The only way that any one gets any sleep in my house is to spilt up, each parent takes 2 kids. The arrangements vary nightly in our house based on what is going on but I have tried to set it up for all possible situations. In the master bedroom I have a king and a twin mattress. In the room DH sleeps in he has a queen and a twin. In our third ( currently unused) bedroom is a set of bunk beds. I always have the 8 month old obviously. The 9 year is currently in my bed as well, she bounces all over the place as needed. Dh always has the 3 year old unless dh is traveling for work and then he ends up sleeping with the baby and I. the 5 year prefers to sleep in the twin in dh's room but will sleep in my room either in my bed or on the twin as needed. The girls very rarely will start off the night in the bunk beds, I don't think they have even attempted that this year. If Dh is gone, they have and will sleep in his bed together all night with no problems. dh does not love cosleeping, he can not wait for the day when there are no children in the bed. Since none of the kids will asleep alone, he has just given up and also sees this as the only option we have right now.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Will they sleep together in one of their beds? Our 3yo is still in our bed and the 5yo almost always ends up in here at some point, she usually starts in bed with one of the other girls. I am hoping that I can get both of them to sleep together in their room before the new one comes. I can manage 2 but not 3, especially a newborn. My oldest three transitioned fine without the back and forth, not sure why the difference with 5yo.


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## heyitskalista (Feb 14, 2012)

I've never tried mine together...I wonder if that would work! I should give it a shot!!


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