Bed-sharing with your child

YOU never meant it to happen but there are three in the bed — you, your partner and your toddler. 

Nobody’s getting proper sleep. Your deepest wish is for your child to be sleeping independently, tucked up in his own room — and for you to have some serious shut-eye, as well as some couple space with your partner.

Studies suggest as many as half of all parents bed-share with their child at some point. Paediatric sleep consultant Lucy Wolfe distinguishes between two groups of bed-sharers: those who plan to co-sleep as part of a philosophy of attachment parenting and those who never planned it but find themselves in the grip of reactive bed-sharing.