We do.  My youngest (17 months) sleeps with us every night.  The older girls moved out (on their own!) around the ages of 4.  It is not stressful, we have never had any type of accidents (no one has been hurt), and my sex life is very much active and well.  I just did what I felt was the natural and normal thing to do.  I could never imagine forcing a newborn to sleep in a crib, alone.

My mom never co-slept with me. She liked her space, she told me later. We have a fine relationship, and she said she thinks it made me more independent because I didn't wake her at night, and as I grew up I learned to do things for myself faster than her friends kids did(like potty training, and dressing myself, and making my own food).

I don't think I'll co-sleep with my baby, because I sleep like a rock, and I'd be scared of hurting my baby.

We have successfully reduced both communication and sexual intercourse in order to make room for co-sleeping, of which the mother of my children is a stolid proponent. My two year old son is a light sleeper (like myself) and sleeps better when given his own space. Whenever his mother attempts to co-sleep with him he fusses and flops about and wakes up about five times a night. On the other hand, if he is given a consistent bedtime routine and put to sleep separately from us (but nearby) then he successfully sleeps through the night. My seven year old daughter has always slept like a rock and would still prefer to co-sleep. She resisted the transition to a toddler bed until she was five. She still climbs into bed with her mother every morning.

I think the success of co-sleeping depends entirely on one's sleeping style and sensitivity to stimuli during the night. The deep sleepers in my family also prefer a plethora of night lights. My son and I tend to wake up too often if a night light is present in the room.

I also wold posit that co-sleeping may promote an unhealthy dependence of the parent on the child, perhaps even to the point that they try to force co-sleeping on an unwilling participant.

We co-slept with our daughter, but not intentionally at first.  We had a bassinet, but soon found it easier and much more conducive to a good night sleep when she slept with us.  I didn't have to get out of bed to nurse her, plus I'm a very light sleeper so I was never worried about rolling on top of her.  She started sleeping through the night at around 6 weeks old.  At that point we tried moving her to her crib, but she would wake often, so we gave up.  Around 4 months old we gradually started weaning her to her crib and it worked beautifully and she sleeps like a log there now (13+ hours a night!).  We'll probably do that again with our next one just because we had such success with it.  It didn't interfere with mine and my husband's relationship at all either, so I would recommend it for the first few months of life if the baby is having a hard time sleeping on its own.

My bed is too squishily comfortable to be safe for an infant, so bassinet it is.

My baby just plain sleeps better with us, which means hubby and I both end up sleeping better.  In fact, once my daughter started sleeping with us, my hubby started thinking she was sleeping through the night because he never noticed her waking up to nurse.

I don't think I'll co-sleep with my children, but my husband, if our child is a crier, will probably become desparate and put the baby in bed with us. I know this because he did it when we got a puppy! The puppy would not sleep on her pad and she cried all night. We put her in bed with us, and now she sleeps soundly.

I'm not an advocate of co-sleeping. I think children should learn some independence, even when they're little. Besides, I have enough problems with a snuggly husband and a snuggly dog in bed; add a baby to the equation and I'll probably never get any sleep!

We co-sleep.  Not sure how it evolved but it's been an awful experience.  I sleep horribly. When they were little, I was always afraid of rolling over on them.  And, now that they move around ALOT, I can't seem to sleep through the night.  We will not be co-sleeping with the new baby.  It's put a whole lot of stress on our marriage. It it works for you, great.  It has supplied a basic need for sleep and breastfeeding.  Besides that, I'm tired and I don't think that's been real great for me.  The one thing that has always stressed me out is the fear that I could smother one of my kids in the middle of the night.  My brother is a detective.  He has investigated many, many cases involving infant death and co-sleeping.  He begged me not to co-sleep--I don't discuss it with him!

Yes.  breastfeeding.  If I used formula and had to get up anyway, he would have actually slept in his crib.

I would never co-sleep.  I move around too much when I sleep, so it wouldn't be safe.  And I think if I tried not to move around, I wouldn't get much sleep myself.

I don't know of anyone in my generation who co-slept with their parents.  We all seem to be okay.  It's today's kids I'm worried about.  I personally know of a few who rob their parents of sleep because they never learned to be independent and now can't get themselves to sleep on their own.

I think it's probably better not to start; then you don't have to break the habit later.

I didn't co-sleep with my daughter. And I don't plan on co-sleeping with baby #2 (who's due in April), either. I had my daughter in a bassinette (sp). She was right next to my bed, but in her OWN bed. So breastfeeding was easy. She was right next to me. I could hear her. But she was used to sleeping in her own bed. Which made the transition to her own room VERY easy.

I would be afraid to co-sleep with my baby.  A woman I worked with almost smuther her baby that way.  She rolled over in the middle of the night.  My husband co-sleeps with his daughter when we have her but I do not plan to do so with ours [due in April].  She now refuses to sleep unless someone is in there.  Including when she is taking a nap.  And its a little frustrating for me sometimes.  I don't mind sleeping with her but she is definitely a kicker in her sleep and wakes me or him up constantly.  And between waking up to pee constantly and get comfortable [this is my first pregnancy and sleep has not been coming easy and I'll be 11 weeks on Saturday], waking up to being kicked or pushed just adds on to more uncomfortableness.  My mother raised four children [the youngest currently 9] and she didn't do it with any of us and I think it is better that way.  She can be independent but its alot harder because sometimes she won't.  Like she insist on being carried all the time and soon there will be another baby.  Plus, I can't carry her anymore since finding out I'm pregnant [doctor's orders] because she is too heavy.  As far as our future child. I would be much too scared to sleep with the baby in bed with me.  Because I roll around alot in my sleep and so does my husband.  However, there will be a crib right next to the bed in our room.  I think it would be easier just to have them in their own beds and own rooms once they get older.  It promotes independence which I think is very important to learn at a young age.  But that is simply my opinion.

I think it's definitely a matter of choice, for each family's situation is different.  But I also think that there is a lot of misconception and misunderstanding out there about the safety and benefits of co-sleeping.

We slept with our youngest when it became a sanity issue for me.  I wasn't getting much sleep at all what with breastfeeding through the night, and not having the opportunity to nap during the day because of 3 other children forced me to co-sleep to get sleep!  And I LOVED it,  My hubby wasn't bothered by it and we found other creative ways to keep our marriage alive and well.   He would nap in his own bed during the day, start out the night in his own bed, and then when he woke up for his first feeding, I'd take him to bed with me.    He gradually outgrew it and now at age 4 is a super independent very well adjusted boy.   His older siblings, I'd say, are actually less independent to a certain extent, and I often wonder if the way we parented them with sleep issues affected that .......things like forcing them to sleep alone and crying themselves to sleep.

Since having my last baby I've done alot of research on co-sleeping.  I HAVE heard that mothers can smother their babies ....but there has usually been a reason for that ...medication/drugs/alcohol/smoking/mental issues etc.   Yes, there have been babies who died because of suffocation - but in many cases it was because of bedding and spaces between mattress and headboard or what have you.  There are definitely safe ways to co-sleep and I'll bet that many of the babies who died while cosleeping was because of unsafe practices.

The fact of the matter is that human infants are DESIGNED to be with mother.   We are mammalian, and ALL mammals keep their babies close to them 24/7.  Out of all the cultures of the world, the western culture is the only one that insists that our immature infants learn to be "independent" from birth by forcing them to sleep alone in a separate room and in a crib all by themselves.   Our human babies are designed to be kept close to mom so that she can learn her baby's rhythms and needs.  So she can respond to the baby's hunger cues and other cues.  Babies that stay with mom have better temperature regulation, have lower stress hormones, cry less and are generally happier babies. In many other cultures babies are attached to their mothers (known as baby-wearing) and co-sleep.  They are fine.  SIDS? not heard of there.   SIDS often happens precisely because WE ARE NOT THERE.   SIDS does not occur when babies sleep next to mom because our sleep cycles become very close, and neither babe nor mom enters the deep sleep cycle.  (you should google Dr. James McKenna who has done numerous studies in his sleep lab on this very issue). 

You may also want to check out Dr. Harvey Karp - author of Happiest Baby on the Block for his information on what babies need - and how we can deliver it so that we don't have colicky fussy babies, but well contented happy babies.

All this said, I recognize that there are many parents out there who are just not comfortable with the idea of sleeping with their babies- and that's okay.  All I'd ask is that those parents do read up on it and understand the safety and benefits of co-sleeping so that it is better understood.  If after that, they still want separate sleeping quarters - then all the more power to them!  Whatever works to make a happy family I say!

Thanks for reading my awfully long comment!!