Toddler Still Sleeping with Mommy & Daddy

Tonight, we are hosting my son's first sleepover.  He recently received his 10th green sticker for which he was allowed to choose his reward.  He asked to have one of his daycare friends spend the night, and we agreed.  What did he have to do to earn a green sticker???  He received a green sticker for each night that he fell asleep in his own bed, and woke up in his own bed.  

That's right, I admit it...our 3.5 year old son, still sleeps in the bed with us.  I have been told that this is a terrible thing, but no one (not even the pediatrician) can tell me WHY.  Truth be told, I enjoy having him in the bed.  Maybe it's a bonding thing, or maybe it's because I know he's happy being close to us.  Nonetheless, I have given in to the expectations of everyone else, and begun the transition to his own room and his own bed.  

We have tried everything!  First we placed a small bed in the room with us, so he would still be close, just not in the same bed.  We then progressed to moving him to his own room, but we found that one of us was spending the night in his room every night.  When I realized that he simply did not want to be alone, I had a genius idea.  I allowed the cat to sleep with him!  That worked for a few days until I made the mistake of telling him his cough might be from cat fur in his throat.  After that, he no longer wanted the cat, and we were back to sleeping with him.

So the current tactic is a reward poster where he gets green stickers for good nights, and yellow stickers for not-so-good nights.  It seems to be working.  Fingers crossed!  

As for the sleepover...it's been quite an experience.  I wonder what he will want for his next 10 green stickers.

Well, I'm off to take care of the baby.  I'm still trying to transition her to a bottle with little success.  But we'll get there.  Thanks Marc J for the vote of confidence.

Good night.

-Barbara-