8 Year Old Still Coming to Our Bed

My daughter did that after we built this house and moved in 2000.

I mentioned it to her pedi. My pedi who has 4 children said... enjoy it while you can because in no time... they'll want nothing to do with you and you'll miss these moments.

So true. A bit of a hardship for hubby and me at the time which was short lived and cherished.

She's now on her on, hubby died in 2015. SO glad I didn't push her out when she wasn't ready.

She's a well adjusted 22 year old who has been my rock for 2 years.

They grow up too fast. Blink and they are gone. Cherish each moment, sleep later.

I tired a lot of advice when this was a regular occurrence at my house.

A sticker chart worked until they had the prize. A sleeping bag worked somewhat but as we have tile floors they still ended up at least on the foot of the bed.

At the time I was so sleep deprived and cranky that I just wanted a-single-good-night-sleep.

Well, now I got my wish everyone sleeps in their own rooms...alone...including me (well with my DH). I do kinda miss the midnight snuggles and three am kicks and the crawling over them to get up in the morning.

It will pass...so you can enjoy it, fight it, change it or go with it and they will still end up finally sleeping all night in their rooms alone. Good luck and hugs!!

My 8 year old did this occasionally when she was 7. I empathized with her, hugged her , would ask her what is wrong, offer words of comfort and then I'd walk her back to her room and snuggle for a few minutes. I made sure she had a night light on and a favorite stuffed animal. I just did that each time. She eventually stopped doing it.

I solved this by asking my 2 kids if they wanted to share a bedroom. They did, and neither of them came into my room anymore because they no longer felt lonely in their own room. YMMV

When mine would do that I always put them back to bed (unless they were sick), with a night light if necessary, and would lay with them for a bit to cuddle before returning to my own bed. I felt like I was doing the best thing for them but to be honest, now that they are older, I wish I had just let them sleep with me while they still wanted to. Cherish this time, it is so so very short.

My only concern would be if she/he was having nightmares or stressed and waking. So if there was some underlying concern - like a problem at school.

If not (and a lot of kids wake in the night) then I'd either make a bed on the floor or decide if you're ok to have him/her in your bed for a while.

My sister's child came into their bed around that age and did so for quite a long time. They speak of that time fondly now. My sister I think always enjoyed it - my BIL, maybe not so much. He would get out and go sleep in the kid's bed. It was this midnight shuffle every night or so.

As TF said though, it was relatively short lived and it's now a fond memory. So decide what you're ok with and I'd say knowing it will be a phase, it won't last long.

Personally - I would have a comforter on the floor (as I did with mine when they did this around age 3) and I would do sleepover nights (I still do this with one of mine, slightly older than yours). My kids enjoyed sleeping with me when dad was away, or even just for fun now and then and dad would sleep on our spare bed. Kids love that extra cuddle time with us. So maybe that's another possibility. Set it up for one night on a weekend, and say weekdays are for sleeping in your own bed (get a night light or something to add to their room if that would help keep them in bed).

Even when she was tiny I simply could not sleep with a kid in our bed. So she was allowed into our room at night but not the bed, except for a snort snuggle to help her feel better about whatever brought her in the room in the first place. We made a "nest" in a corner of our room: at first the mattress from the toddler bed, and then a sleeping bag and pillow.

Why are you kicking him out? Are you having trouble sleeping if he's with you? Or do you just feel like you "should?" There is NOTHING wrong with an 8-year-old sharing the bed with his parents IF it works for YOUR family. If it doesn't work then sure, consider the advice for accelerating the process. But if it is OK with you for now, then I promise he will stop on his own eventually.

Guess I am the minority's here. Life is to short. They grow up too fast. One day you will be wishing they would come into your bed.

I asked a similar question a few years ago, you can look in my profile for it, I received some really helpful advice. We ended up doing a sticker chart.

Set up a sleeping bag next to your bed so he can go there without waking you.
Eventually he'll figure out his bed is more comfortable.
A good sized teddy bear might be a good sleeping buddy for him.

I never allowed children in our bed.
They had their bed and we had ours.
If they were sick or had a nightmare, I fixed what needed fixing, hugged them tight, and tucked them back into their own bed.
If you think that your child needs to be near you, you might put a sleeping bag at on the floor of your room for him. He is close, but not in your bed. I suspect that a few nights on a hard floor will do a lot to keep him in his own bed.
People say I’m mean because I kept my bed off limits. So be it. My children are well adjusted independent productive members of society. I consider that a success.

I love what Patty K said. I would let them come in for a bit for a long snuggle if you're totally opposed to having them come into your bed then walk them back to their bed. Another thing is put a nightlight in his room & keep his bedroom door open. Is your bedroom door open? That would help also. What you could do is go into his room for awhile when he wakes up. Snuggle him back into bed then sit in a chair by his bed. Put a comfy one in there for this or sit on the floor for a few mins so he knows you're there. Soon enough he will be big and grown.

My oldest stopped wanting to come into bed with me at 10. It won't last forever, if it's not bothering you, then sure, why not.

I found that if I allowed them to stay in my bed once (like during a thunderstorm) they would come in again the very next night, even with no storms or bad dreams, etc. So I did the walking them back to their own beds and laying with them for awhile. They usually fell back to sleep quickly, and I returned to my own bed. But this didn't seem to create a habit when I did it every once in awhile