Do you let yours sleep with you when they are sick?

From my previous posts, Jack is sick with high fevers.

So, he goes to bed fine, but the past two nights he has woken around 2:30 and will stand up in his crib and cry out for me. Jack and Lily both have been good night sleepers for a while and I basically NEVER go in to them when they whine in the night. We have video monitors so I can see what is going on and I have always said that unless they are standing in their crib I will not go in. They usually just wiggle around and whine a bit so I ignore them.

With Jack being sick I obviously cannot ignore him. Also, he is standing and calling for me so I go in and get him. Both nights he has felt hot to the touch so I take his temp and give him his motrin. The first night he was just so miserable and when I tried to put him back down in his crib he started screaming for milk. I brought him downstairs and got him milk ( he is not eating anything at all during the day so I had to give it to him). He then chugged it and screamed for daddy so we went in and saw daddy. The whole time I am petrified Lily will hear Jack screaming (they have separate rooms but he is so loud). Finally I took him upstairs and let him sleep in the guest room with me.

Last night, same story with the addition of an hour and a half screaming session. He had two previous hour long temper/sick tantrums during the day and he started one the second I got him out of his crib at 2:30am. Screaming screaming screaming for an hour and a half until we finally got him calmed down and he slept with me again. I also got him some milk again.

So, I am terrified that we have started some sort of co-sleeping thing. They have NEVER slept in our beds before and CIO is out of the question as he is sick right now. I am afraid that even when he gets better he will wake up and want to sleep with us. Do you let yours sleep with you when they are sick? How do you transition back to normal after they get better? I am picturing him screaming for an hour and waking Lily up while he demands to sleep with us.

Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping with my little boy but, no one is getting any sleep...

 

yes, we do. only when they are sick and obviously wake up from not feeling well or fever. after 2 or 3 nights (when the worst has passed) they will go back to their crib and wake up a couple of times, but stay there. this happens for the first or maybe 2 nights after they go back, but they readjust fine. we also don't let them cry much when they are sick....

hope he feels better soon!!

 

We don't let them sleep in our bed but we will try taking them into the guest room. After awhile they usually want to go back into their own crib and don't want to sleep with us.

 

i forgot to mention, when they were younger, i would put them in a pnp next to my side of the bed because i was afraid of crushing them :huh: the actual bed-sharing just started in november or so....with teething issues. so maybe a pnp right next to you might be a fair compromise for a couple of nights

 

No, this may sound mean, but our kids never sleep with us. ardon: It's just one thing we've never wanted to start.

 

I think if it were me I would continue going to him while he is sick and worry about the consequences later. I think you are doing the right thing.

:hug: I hope he is better soon!

 

QUOTE(summerfun @ Feb 16 2009, 07:59 PM) [snapback]1192069[/snapback]
No, this may sound mean, but our kids never sleep with us. ardon: It's just one thing we've never wanted to start.



Not mean at all...that is always how we were - until this recent sickness that is!

 

Yes we do too. I feel more comfortable letting them sleep with me plus I can be right there when they need me so I'm not up constantly throughout the nite. After they were over their colds (only 1 nite of sleeping with me), they went right back to their beds with no problem.

 

Yes I do, I've even been know to take them from their own bed and put them in mine, I just feel safer with them there when they are sick, especially with fevers

 

Nope never but I have been known to bring the memory foam topper I have on my bed, putting it on their floor and sleeping in between their beds (mine still share a room).

 

Yeah we do- especially when someone is really congested, they sleep better when propped on my pillow. I can't prop their mattress or give them a pillow because they move around so much that it would end up doing more harm than good- (no doubt they'd end up with their feet above their head!) Now granted, I certainly don't sleep as well, but it's only for a couple nights, and then if there is any problem with them going back to their cribs, it's only a night or two. We haven't had any major issues readjusting.

 

My girls sleep with us when ever they feel they need to, and no, that's not all the time. We coslept the whole first year, the whole crushing thing is a myth, the only time a parent has ever rolled over and harmed their child, drugs or alcohol were involved. They can come into bed with us when they wake up at night from a bad dream, or any physical complaint, but they are always happy to go to bed in their own bed the next night. I feel like we actually all get more sleep when they are sick if they are with me, I can check on them instantly, hear how much they are coughing or if congestion is making it hard for them to breath and instantly apply the vicks or what ever. If they are running a fever I can also check to see if it's gone down or back up or what ever without getting out of bed. If they aren't in my bed then I find I'm constantly waking up worried about those things. I don't think you wil have any problems once he's well. Turns out kids aren't as hard to ruin as we think.

 

I do sometimes. My girls share a room and I will take one to the spare bedroom with me if she is keeping her sister awake by waking and crying all the time. I always worry that it will start a bead habit but it hasn't yet.

 

QUOTE(ehm @ Feb 16 2009, 06:46 PM) [snapback]1192259[/snapback]
Nope never but I have been known to bring the memory foam topper I have on my bed, putting it on their floor and sleeping in between their beds (mine still share a room).


This is what I do too!

Mendy

 

We keep a pillow and blanket beside our bed and any of our children can come sleep there. The blanket is a quilt that I have folded over so it offers more comfort than the hard floor. WE have used it for all our kids. I do not sleep well with a child in our bed so after the first year we tell them that they can come into our room but not in our bed. I have one son who will be six on Friday. He has always been scared of the dark so he finds comfort in being close to me. He still comes in about once a week and he almost never wakes me anymore. I just find him there in the morning.

The pillow is on my side of the bed so when someone is scared or sick I can rub their back or head while I lay in my own bed. I am comforting them and still comfortable.

Cindy

 

When my girls are sick...YES!!! We all seem to sleep better on those nights if we just take the sick one with us into bed. Usually it's only Arwen because Lorien can't seem to fall asleep in our bed. She really loves to be in HER bed so it's really just Arwen that we have to do it with. We alwayd try to put her in her own bed when she goes to sleep and if she wakes up crying and having a coughing fit, she goes right into our bed. But there usually comes a time when we know she is on the mend and then we have to break the habit but it only usually takes a day or two to get her back to her bed without a fuss. She is usually an all night sleeper so if she is waking up it is because she is really sick and not feeling well. I just couldn't bare the thought of thinking that she is suffering and feeling horrible and just ignore her need to be comforted. I just couldn't do it.

 

We are not cosleepers... unless someone is sick. Then by all means they can come into our bed. My DS who is 6 can sleep on the floor next to our bed if he wants to, but I don't let him sleep in our bed anymore...I probably started the floor thing when he turned 4. If my girls are really sick I will bring them into bed with us for awhile. Usually I end up taking them back to their cribs after awhile, but if they need some extra comfort, etc from being sick, then I let them come to bed with us... in fact, I had one of them sleeping with us for about 2 hours last night. This is rare though.

 

yup, sleep with us, especially when sick! I think when I'm sick I love to feel comforted and what's more comforting than snuggling up with your parents in bed! They start off in their own bed but almost always come to o ur bed when their sick.
Then again, all our kids slept in bed with us/co-slept for a while when first born. Both my ds's have been more attached to that than my dd's. We have a family rule you have to start off in your own bed and stay there until at least mom & dad are asleep then it's fair game. First come first serve. :laughing:

 

Hardly ever, I've tried it, but they usually don't sleep well.

 

I've only ever slept with them, like, twice -- once when Amy had croup and I held her on the couch all night, and once when Sarah was throwing up and we were on vacation. I didn't want to put her back in her crib in the same room with Amy, but she was terrified to sleep in the PNP in my room because it was all totally unfamiliar. So I brought her into bed with me.

In both cases, the child slept, I didn't.

However, I'm lucky in that mine never really want to sleep with me anyway. Even when they're sick they pretty much just sleep through the night. (Don't hate me.) But if they were too sick to sleep, rather than actually bringing them into bed with me, I would probably snuggle down with them on the couch. (Or, now that they have twin beds, I might lie down in their bed.)

Do what you have to do when he's sick. Yes, it might be a hard habit to break later, but when they're sick it's just about getting through every day and every night.

 

when they are sick, yes. they usually adjust back to their cribs after they feel better. maybe 2 or 3 nights. they do fine with going back to their crib.

 

I have never brought them into our bed (only did it a few times when they were newborns), mine usually sleep the same (maybe even better) when they are sick, they just sleep right through the night. I have set up the spare room in preparation of having to sleep with one of them a few times, but never needed to use it. But if I needed to I would sleep in the spare room with one of them, probably only a night or two and then right back to their crib. Actually mine don't sleep well in a bed, because they think it is time to be awake when they are in a bed (they play, stand-up, roll around etc).

good luck - do what you need to get through when they are sick, a few nights is not going to ruin them! And when they feel better you can do a little sleep training again.