A good nights sleep??

There are many different schools of thought about letting your child/children sleep in the bed with you. Rabbi Shmuley says that the parents bedroom should be like Fort Knox. While a good friend of mine and mother of 5 says that you must ask yourself the question, "Will they be doing this when they are 14?" If the answer is no, then let it be. So what is the correct thing to do?

When Caleb was born I was still finishing up college, so whenever I wasn't studying or in class, he was with me. This included nighttime. However, when Jonah came along Mike and I decided that we would do it differently. From a very young age he slept in his crib. We had a lot of success with this, and even to this day Jonah mostly prefers to sleep in his own bed.

Having shared all of this we now come to our present day situation. Here is a quick snap shot of what I woke up to this morning. (from left to right) Mike barely hanging on the bed, Caleb spread eagle in the middle of the bed with his left foot somehow wrapped around Mikes leg, Jonah clutching his blanket next to me, and finally me. I am pushed all the way to the very edge of the bed.

As I continue to slowly wake up I recall what happened last night. I remember falling asleep just Mike and I, and then around 3am, Jonah coming in complaining about his ear hurting. But I don't remember putting him in the bed. And how in the world did Caleb get in? And not only get in, but why does he get the most space? This is what I woke up to. Questions about the nighttime activity and a sore neck!

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened. So what do we do now? Is there a remedy for children in the bed? Will they really grow out of this? Do I have to wait 14 years until it happens? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I hope that sometime in the very near future I can wake up one morning with everyone waking in the same place they fell asleep in.