It has been years, for me, since my children were little and they have already gone through that stage of co-sleeping problems with their own children. When mine were little, I would stay in their room with them if they woke up and were frightened or just wanted me there. It took about a year for them to realize that I would jump out of bed and run to them if they were frightened or lonely. They eventually knew they could trust me to be there when they needed me. It was hard on me and I was often tired, but, I took naps when they did during the day. It was worth it to help them to learn that their own bed was best for them and that I needed my own bed, too. At times, they would wake up early in the morning and crawl in bed with me and we would just snuggle and chat then I would run to the kitchen and get us a box of cereal to snack on. This gave us a quiet, quality time together before the busy days started. That worked for me and my children.
