Oh dear -- another guilt trip! I have finally recovered from missing the vaginal delivery experience (two c-sections after long and non-medicated labors) and then weaning my first at 9 months (ignorance is only temporarily bliss). Now I find I have missed another peak parenting experience - co-sleeping. Fellow lactnetters please please let's not make a religion of co-sleeping! I recommend it, by the way, to all new moms who complain to me of lack of sleep. When moms of older children who are co-sleeping call me to say they are being pressured by "friends" to end this I tell them to ignore the pressure. My attitude: if it works for you and the children then enjoy. I love the whole concept of the family bed. In theory. I can't do it. I know -- what an awful mom I am. But really. I tried. There is obviously some trick to it that I didn't get because the babies slept but I totally did not. At all. But I do want to set something straight -- Having your child/baby sleep in a separate room does not have to mean that child has to be a frightened, screaming mess before being picked up. Heavy sleepers should undoubtedly try to have baby in bed or at least in same room. But I can hear the grass grow at night. My husband snores on (and on) while I am up and off at the first hint of a changed rhythm from either bedroom. (All doors are open at night.) I loved night-feedings (well, most of the time). I had the baby's room set up with a separate heater (just the right temp for both of us), pretty decorations (for me to enjoy in the middle of the night), comfy chair for us to snuggle together while nursing, water at hand. Just the two of us. And my husband was much nicer to be around after he had slept all night undisturbed (he is not into night parenting in the least -- not the very smallest amount -- nope). So, I wish I had been able to co-sleep. It sounds very beautiful. But please don't make me feel that what I did was/is brutal to the children -- honestly, I don't think they knew they were on their own as babies I was in there so fast. I don't believe in letting babies cry for a moment... I envy those of you who have been so successful in what is obviously a natural and desirable approach to night-time parenting. Some of us just don't get an "A" in this event! Joanna Koch, IBCLC Los Altos, CA