Ending Co-sleeping: When Your Child Has Outgrown Your Bed

When we first took our eldest daughter Dindin out of the hospital almost four years ago, I put her on my bed but she had a mosquito net around her. But she was not able to sleep very well so we resorted to co-sleeping.

Because of co-sleeping, my daughter was able to sleep very well during her early childhood stage. She hardly ever woke up to feed. She just slept the whole night through.

Tactics to End Co-Sleeping

However, she is now four years old and for some time now, we had been trying to get her to sleep on a separate bed. Not really in a different bedroom, just on a different bed beside us.

That is because she is growing bigger and my husband and I couldn’t sleep straight. We wake up with aching backs and stiff necks  because our sleeping posture is less than desired. We do not get restful slumber.

But it seems nothing works.

Family Vacation

So our little family went on a vacation to visit our relatives in Mindanao. We stayed with our cousin’s home where we were provided with our room. The main bed was double-sized so Dindin had no space to sleep with us.

Co-sleeping was not an option then, otherwise, we would have a week of really bad sleep. When you are travelling and staying with relatives, you don’t have that many choices.

Our hosts provided us with a sofa bed though. And it turned out to be a blessing. <3

Sofa Bed Solution

The sofa bed was folded into a couch when we first got in the room. We could have just easily unfolded it because it was also double-sized. But we discovered that we if moved it facing our main bed, it looked like an extension and Dindin could easily fit in it.

We let her try sleeping there that night and it worked! She was able to sleep well throughout the night. We stayed in that house for six nights and we had that exact same arrangement. No fuss! That marked our first night of not co-sleeping with our daughter anymore and honestly, we were relieved.

We thought that maybe it was the right time for her and also maybe, she like being separate already but still rather wanted to be very close to us.

Coming Home

When we back to Bacolod, we decided to immediately buy a sofa bed. We thought that if we left her get back to co-sleeping even for a night, she may want to keep doing so and our one-week practice of having separate beds in Mindanao would be put to waste.

So even if we were still tired, we went to SM City Bacolod on the day of our arrival because they also had their one-day Thanksgiving Day Sale that same day. All items, even the already discounted ones, were at 10% off. We went there hoping to get a new sofa bed for Dindin but we found out that they did not have a lot of choices for this product and the discounting did not extend to this line.

Disappointed, we instead went to the Bacolod branch of Mandaue Foam. There we got Dindin a double size sofa bed. We chose a good quality foam so that it will last long. And the good thing is, there is a 5-year warranty to it–in case the foam gets deformed.

Practical

We chose the sofa bed because it is space-saving. You see, we do not have a lot of space in our bedroom and so we just could not get her a single bed even if we wanted to. And besides, we already tested this setup during our family vacation and she liked it. Since it is a sofa, the back rest serves as protection for her so that she will not fall off the bed in the night.

Dindin has just been raving about it. She likes it so much. She has been sleeping there for two nights now and there has been no problem. Oh I love this setup! I loved co-sleeping with my daughter but she has outgrown our bed already. Now I can sleep straight without getting punched and kicked on my uterus. And my spine can now rest. Hopefully, no more backaches for me.

Relief

Our daughter just woke up one day and decided that she wanted to sleep on a separate bed. How nice! I guess if just wait on our kids until they are ready to do something, they will just get to the point that they will separate like that. We did not force her to do it and we are thankful because there was no stress on both our parts.

I am soooo happy for this development as we bid goodbye to co-sleeping! 😀 This is for our health and wellness, first and foremost.