You’ve gotten through the sleep-deprived period after having your baby, where they get up throughout the night needing to be fed or soothed. Now that they’re a toddler and sleeping better, you feel that you’re in the clear and able to count on real sleep.

However, your 18-month-old suddenly starts refusing to go to bed or starts screaming in the middle of the night. At first, you’re frantic that something is seriously wrong. However, your baby is fine. He just is going through 18-month sleep regression, giving you an extended time to deal with nighttime fussing.

“I went through sleep regression four times, with each of my kids,” mom of four Christine Luna told Mom.com. “My son, who was the best sleeper, regressed at 18-months. It was awful!” To soothe him, Christine ended up bringing him into her bed for nearly four months as he demanded to be rocked to sleep. Sleep regression can happen to any child, but is not something to be overly concerned about in most cases.

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Safely co-sleeping — or room-sharing as it is more accurately presented — involves having young children sleep in their own crib in the same room as their parents or in a co-sleeper bassinet attached to the parent's bed.

Bed-sharing – when babies and share a bed with one or both parents — is a subset of co-sleeping and has come under fire in the past due to the risk of risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or suffocation. Thus co-sleeping has evolved into room-sharing with the understanding that it is unsafe for little ones to sleep in their parents' bed overnight.

But what about older children? Is co-sleeping with a toddler safe?

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I love the toddler years. Yes, toddlers are messy and demanding and so stinkin’ rigid about everything. But they bounce when they walk. They are fascinated by the most ordinary things. They love you even when you suck. And their rigidity has actually helped you settle into a comfortable stride over the past few months!

So why has your tiny, change-averse tyrant suddenly decreed that the existing bedtime routines, which have served you both so well, no longer suffice?

The not-so-great news: If your little one is around 18-24 months, it’s likely that he’s experiencing a sleep regression. So, what is sleep regression? By definition, it’s is a period of time when a baby or toddler experiences a shift in their sleeping pattern. It usually begins with the infamous 4 month sleep regression and occurs every three to four months after that.

The good news: This will pass! Toddler sleep regressions normally last one to three weeks, and the two year one is typically the last one. With some consistent approaches and lots of patience and grace, you’ll all be slumbering till dawn in no time.

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I miss my baby.

The thought came and attacked me the first night my youngest was sleeping in his own bed. Having co-slept with both of my kids, its ending hit me harder than I thought it would.

Co-sleeping always made the most sense to me as they both nursed to sleep, were hard to put down, and just wanted to cuddle. I nursed my youngest to sleep in his bed and left that night. It was just like I’d been doing at naptime for weeks, but this felt different.

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Welcome to the wonderful world of co-sleeping. You’ve arrived here either through meticulous research and planning or by complete accident. One thing remains certain, though: We’ve all fallen into this big bed for a real big reason — sleep.

Months of colicky screaming and the dreaded 4-month sleep regression led me to co-sleeping. I was so sleep-deprived that I was routinely putting the cereal box in the refrigerator and the milk in the cupboard. Co-sleeping allowed me to catch hours of z’s, and the best part was those hours were all in a row! I was a fan!

My husband, however, was woken up by every tiny baby sniffle and snore. He was not a fan. Like my husband and myself, co-sleeping brings out a love-it-or-leave-it attitude in those who try it. Ever wonder which side of this bed you lie on? Here’s a list to help you decide.

The post 5 Reasons You Love Co-Sleeping and 5 Reasons Your Partner Can’t Stand It appeared first on Mom.com.

Not all toddlers easily transition out of a crib and into a toddler bed. Some kids will happily ditch the crib in favor of a more grown-up bed. However, others crave the security and aren’t thrilled with the major change in scenery.

“My son loved his crib,” said Olivia Anderson, a nurse and blogger. “It seemed he would be happy to sleep in it until his feet were poking out of the railing, so transitioning him to a toddler bed terrified me. The first night of the transition, we explained that he would be sleeping in a big-boy bed. We then implemented the same bedtime routine we always do, but when we stepped out of the room, he started to cry.” (It took Anderson’s child about a week before he finally adjusted to his new bed.)

For parents who have never done this before, a screaming child who refuses to sleep in his new bed yet doesn’t fit in his old crib anymore can seem overwhelming and intimidating. Where do you draw the line? How do you get your child to accept their new bed? Here’s what the experts have to say about the milestone of transitioning your child from their crib to a toddler bed.

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A move to a new home or even a new room in the same house can be a slightly strange experience for a toddler. But can you really blame them? Trying to fall asleep in unfamiliar surroundings can make anyone a little uneasy. But if you’re a little kid who’s used to sleeping with Mom and Dad nearby or even in the same room, it can be downright scary at first. That said, easing your toddler into the idea of sleeping in a new room doesn’t have to be so hard — and the more you prepare for it, the smoother it’ll go.

The post How Do I Get My Toddler Used to Sleeping in a New Room? appeared first on Mom.com.

Co-sleeping is something that many parents experience, even if for just a short time. Whether it’s part of your master-parenting plan or it just sort of happened, you quickly become aware of the pros and cons of sharing the bed with a toddler.

Here are some things that may happen at some point if you find yourself with a little human cub in your bed:

Sure, when you let your toddler sleep with you, you may be in for a night filled with bloody noses (yours), tears (again, yours) and interrupted sleep. But spending those hours snuggled up with your baby boo, filling her warm little breath on your cheek, watching her dream, hearing her night giggles and just knowing she is safe and sleeping peacefully by your side is all worth it (or that’s what I tell myself). They won’t be this little forever, and the throat kicks will hurt so much more later on.

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