Wow this is so weird I never knew that some people regarded it as “strange” to sleep with your parents! I guess because I was raised this way, that I just grew up believing that this was what most people did. I slept with my parents pretty much until I went to college at 18, and on a regular basis until I was about 16. And for those of you who are wondering, I had no problem adjusting to sleeping alone by the time I got to college. Until I was about 13 I would sleep in between my mom and dad; then after that I would sleep on the end next to my mom. Starting at the age of about 8 I would fall asleep in my own bed and then crawl in bed with my parents in the middle of the night after they had gone to sleep. We all slept well. As for being overattached or overdependent, well I certainly was neither of these things; in fact I was pretty much as far from that as you could get. It was my mom who always wanted me to be dependent on her (she still does and I am now 23!), but I only see my parents about once every 6 months now… When my mom comes down of course we sleep in the same bed in the hotel room, but when my dad comes down to visit me with my mom they either get me a separate hotel room or my dad sleeps in one room and my mom and I sleep in the other. No, as a kid/teen I never felt the NEED to go into bed with my parents… I was usually just cold, or wanted someone to cuddle with. There is absolutely nothing weird or disgusting about that. Now that people around my age are having kids and warning each other about the fact that they won’t get a good night’s sleep for a while, well I know my parents never had that problem bc they held me thru the night so I never needed anything. I myself don’t plan on having kids for quite some time, but I know that when I do I will be sure to give them the same gift of comfort and affection that my parents gave me. As a teenager and even now, I was very rebellious and always getting into trouble, so my mom and I were able to put our differences to rest (pun intended) when we laid down for the night. When I was in college and using a lot of drugs and had my mom very worried about me, I felt like one of the best ways I could assure her that I would be ok (at least for the time being) was when we were in bed together. I myself am intrigued by “alternative” lifestyles and choices, and I believe we need to recognize the fact that just because we ourselves do something a certain way, does not mean that another way is right or wrong.

It’s really insulting to say that because a young person doesn’t ALWAYS sleep by themselves, that they must be overindulged and overly dependent. My parents were divorced and my mother worked nights. I slept in the same bed with her when she was home all through my teen years, but I obviously slept by myself at least three nights a week when she was working! I never had issues sleeping by myself, even though I was the only one in the house on from thirteen on! Since people have commented on the opposite sex thing, I’ll add that I slept in the same bed with my dad until I was about ten, at that point my mother was very insistent that there was something wrong with it and I made myself start sleeping in my own bed at his place. Looking back, I think that was stupid of her. There wasn’t anything strange going on, and I think her insistence that there was something wrong with being close to him kind of hurt my relationship with him. I don’t think there is anything wrong with what Kevin Kline described, opposite sex or not… When I start to have children, I would prefer to have my own private space for my husband and I, as I tend to think my experiences were more the result of divorce than my parents leaning towards a family bed. If they had stayed married, I believe things would have been different. I probably would have been sleeping with siblings at that point and my parents would have had more privacy, just guessing.
I have to also agree with the military wife who said that many people say they can’t sleep without their spouse. My husband just got out of the Marines, and I have had many women make the same comment to me.

wow! where do i start? i never posted before but i feel stongly about this and i just came across this post.First of all i think it is pretty obvious that he isn’t talking about every night! I slept in the same bed as my mom until i was 13 and sometimes in the summer my brother (5 years older) would join us too cos it could get hot and the only room with aircon was my moms,and it was only a double bed, also when i was staying at a frinds house my brother would still sleep with my mom if it was hot enough. It is sad to think some people have their minds so twisted that they would see something sexual in that!

Good for him! Sounds like a loving family.

I think what struck me as odd, as well as other posters who arent familiar with co-sleeping, is that i pictured it as an everynight thing. Like every night mom dad and both teenage kids go to sleep in the same bed. I dont think there is anything WRONG or TABOO or SEXUAL about it. It just seems that one would want their privacy.

Thinking back i can recal laying in bed with my dad and reading books, falling asleep and being carried to my bad. I still lay in bed with my mom and watch movies and eat ice cream when ivisit. I dont sleep in there but that is because my dad snores and i like to sleep in my undies. Haha…! WHen i was 16 i wanted to listen to loud music, stay up late on the phone and dance around with my friends. I didnt want to cuddle up between my mom and dad everynight. It’s not wrong, just different to those of us that need our space and privacy.

It’s COMPLETELY inappropriate for teens to sleep with their parents on a routine basis. Those of you that think it’s natural, maybe you should go move to a country where that sort of thing is considered acceptable. Burping at the table is considered a compliment in other cultures, so should we do that here in North America? And just because in third-world countries, they only have one room for the family to sleep in, we should adopt that too? Ok, I just bought a 4 bedroom home, but I guess I should just move everything into one room. Right. And women don’t wear bras in some countries and let their boobs just sag down to their bellies…. I guess we’re really behind the times here!!

Get with reality people.

How many times have you heard someone say they couldn’t sleep without their spouse sleeping next to them? Why are children expected to sleep alone, at any age, but then suddenly it’s ok to be attached to having someone sleep with you simply because you’re married?

I hear the “I can’t sleep without my husband laying next to me” all the time from wives of civilian men (my husband is in the military and often some comment is made about how the other woman doesn’t think she’d be able to handle military life.)

personally, i see nothing wrong with it.
i’m 28 and i grew up quite the opposite..not being allowed to sleep in my parent’s bed. when i had nightmares at night, it never entered my head to go into their room..i turned on my light and read books until i felt okay enough to sleep again.

teenagers needs love too. just because you are 13 or 16 years old does not mean that you don’t need to feel safe sometimes or that you don’t need to be cuddled or held. there is nothing wrong with a parent holding their child, no matter how old and i seriously think that the number of people whose minds AUTOMATICALLY went the “perveted” and “disgusting” route are far more worrisome than any 13 year old sleeping in the same bed as his/her parents.

let me ask you this..if a 13 year was taking a nap, during the day, with his/her parent in the same bed would you feel the same? and if so, then how is that different than at night? what, because it’s dark??? *eyeroll*

Lauren? That is exactly the reason why my AUTISTIC son has always slept thru the night in his own room and bed…
I didnt go running and over coddle him, everytime he fussed.
The reason Im making a point to point out my son is autistic is cause most autistic kids do not sleep thru the night and are up all night.
Mine sleeps thru the night EVERY NIGHT.
Its nice to be able to say that out loud cause I dont dare brag about that with my sons friends parents cause none of their kids sleep at night and Im afraid to brag cause I dont want them to feel bad.