We had doctors who SWORE to us that letting our kids sleep with us would mean that we would kill them while we slept. I am not at all kidding. Every single one of my kids crawled into our beds and slept with us and we allowed it. I have zero clue why the pediatricians were so rabidly against it back in the 1990s, but there was a MAJOR push against cosleeping. I remember an absolute ton of literature in our doctor's office and even videos on their tv about how awful it was, featuring tragic stories of families who lost children to accidents.
Wiz was more independent and by age 2-3 he preferred to be alone when he slept. Except for his army of stuffed animals.
Jess on the other hand was always in our bed. At age 2 she somehow got into the habit of sleeping with her head on the back of my neck and her toes in hubby's mouth. Most disgusting thing but she would wait until we were asleep to come into our room, swearing she wanted to sleep in her own bed. Why hubby never pitched a fit or bit her I have no idea, but that was their deal. We had a king size waterbed, and she was very very short, so her sleeping sideways between us wasn't a problem.
thank you rarely came in to sleep with us. He hated to snuggle because it was hot. That boy hates anything remotely warm or hot. Even when it is snowing out he will only wear a light jacket and his Dr. Who scarf. The only blankets he uses are a little plush throw and his baby blanket. No comforter at all. So coming in to sleep with us was WAY too warm for him even as a very little guy. I remember him being barely able to talk and asking me to leave his room because I was making him too hot to sleep.
As for diapers, cloth wasn't much of an option when my kids were little. They were expensive and hard to find even as burp rags in our town. I had to drive over an hour and the big baby store only had one package of them in stock and that was their normal amount to stock when Wiz was born. I didn't have the time or patience for washing them either.
My aunt had a child six months before I did and got several months of a diaper service as a gift. It was nice to have them delivered and everything, but her son kept leaking through them even as a newborn. Not even those rubber pants could contain him and he broke out in hives when she used the wool covers. She gave up and went back to pampers. I doubt she would have the patience to wash diapers on her own and the service cost more than double what brand name diapers cost. It was really expensive. She liked the idea of the service a lot more than the reality of it.
Your post reminded me of the collection of stuffed animals I amassed over the years between all of my children! Each kid had upwards of a half dozen each, and if someone liked someone else's stuffed animal, it was fair game! LOL!
LOL, about your daughter making use of every angle when co-sleeping with you! makes me think of a grandson of mine who just loved to fall asleep in his crib with his legs jutting out from the bars of the crib railing... and his diapered butt pressed up against the rungs! So uncomfortable looking but that's the way he liked it!
I used to worry and fuss over the temperature of the home, bed-clothes along with blankets, etc), related to my children and their comfort when they were little, but by the time baby #2 came along I was at ease with knowing how hot - too hot was, and how cold - too cold was. It's funny how quickly you become in-tune with the needs of little ones when you're around them 24/7.
Re: cloth diapers, I do believe as mothers, choosing to use them or not use them, hinges largely on our own childhood experience and upbringing related to. Growing up in a home with baby siblings and lots of baby cousins always around, everyone wore cloth diapers, and the same held true when I babysat, so for me, washing a load of diapers every two or three days and pinning them up on the outdoor line to dry was standard routine, a routine I remembered growing up, so doing the same for my own children just felt right, and back in the 80's when my kids were at the diaper stage, cloth diapers were still hugely popular and widely used, so they were still readily available in our area and of course, super economical.
The only leaking I remember in my home related to cloth diapers, was with one of my sons who was born with spindles for legs. I could get his diapers to fit just fine, but rubber pants, no way. The leg holes were always MILES too big on him, so I do remember an occasional leaky diaper or two with him, but it didn't last for very long, as he quickly grew out of the toothpicks for legs stage. He earned the nickname, "chicken legs" in our home! LOL! Every time I changed him I'd comment on his chicken legs!