How old is too old for a mother and her child to be sharing a bed?
For lots of parents and children, the only way to sleep is to co-sleep. Though controversial, it can be comforting for little ones and, let’s be honest, some mums and dads too.
“To me, this is all just part and parcel of parenthood – and, to tell you the truth, a time in my life I know I will grieve when it is over,” wrote our own Trine Jensen-Burke about her experience of co-sleeping.
Now one woman has reached out online asking whether it’s problematic that her step-son sleeps in the same bed as his mum.
The woman explained to fellow Mumsnet users that things are pretty delicate between her partner and his ex and that as the ex will not allow the son to stay over at his father’s house without her, she shares a bed with the boy when they visit.
“AIBU (Am I being unreasonable) to think that it’s creepy that my other half’s son still sleeps with his mother at 9 years old?” she wrote on the site.
Many of the parents disagreed that the bed-sharing was an issue.
“It’s a child and mum. Plenty share when visiting away from home and limited spare rooms.”
“I slept in my mum’s bed when my dad went away on business until I left home! She’s my mum ffs.”
“My 9 year old daughter sleeps in with her dad as she gets scared staying at his flat. Sometimes bunking has to be done. Totally normal.”
“Most 9 year olds I know don’t sleep in parents bed. But I don’t think it is creepy. Just because they sleep in the same bed when away doesn’t mean that is always the case.”
But not everyone thought the woman was being unreasonable.
“If my man’s ex was sleeping round his, I’d bail out of the relationship. I’m not interested in that kind of relationship dynamic. I wouldn’t analyse it – I’d be gone.”
“I think YANBU (you are not being unreasonable), it sounds like a very odd set-up.”
“Is your real concern that mum and son aren’t really co-sleeping but that Mum and DP might be.”
What do you think, Mamas? Let us know your thoughts in the Facebook comments or on Twitter.
