Co-Sleeping?

Apparently co-sleeping is part of natural parenting, and while I have absolutely no problem co-sleeping during the early months, I don't quite buy the "let them stay in your bed as long as they want" thing.
Co-sleeping at first makes a lot of sense. Baby and mama both get WAY more sleep this way (a precious thing), especially if the mother is able to breastfeed! She never even has to get up or stay awake while the baby nurses all she wants. So many new mothers complain that they can't get sleep at night, but the majority of them could get plenty of sleep if they learned this simple skill.
The worry of SIDs can be reduced slightly with co-sleeping as well. I am not qualified to say wether or not the risk of SIDs in the first place is reduced. But I do know that waking up and being able to see your baby's chest move up and down can reduce lots of stress.  I also know that mother and baby are incredibly attuned to each other and the mother is likely to wake up if the baby makes the tiniest peep or movement.

 So yes, I do see how it can be beneficial. I am just not sure it is safe or wise to tell the masses that unless they co-sleep with the children for as long as they want, the child will have horrible psychological issues of abandonment and loneliness. That is exactly what lots of natural parenting groups are saying. I find it hard to believe that by simply sleeping in his or her own bed a child might have long term problems. Sleep issues are unique to every baby. What works for some, doesn't work for others. While keeping this in mind I would like to share what worked for us because I do think it is ideal and hope dearly that we can do the same things with our almost born daughter.

Emma slept in the same bed as me for about four months. When she started being able to roll over, I switched her to a pack n' play which was right next to our bed. She was still able to hear our breathing and I was still able to hear her tiny sounds. When she turned 6 months old and the risk of SIDs was all but gone, I moved her into her room in her "real" crib. She fussed for about two mins every night, but went to sleep fairly easily. I must confess that she fell asleep with a bottle. I cannot remember how this habit formed, but I know that it did become a habit which was difficult to break. Shortly after she turned one and a half, we started making preparations to switch her to a "big girl bed". She took to her big bed very well and was moved to her big girl room where she still sleeps. Her bedtime routine has changed through the years, but always consisted of a bath, tooth brushing and some sort of "Emma time" wether it was a book, a song, some cuddles or rocking. There were a few hiccups on the way, but generally this worked extremely well for us. Emma learned to self soothe very early with our "wait 2 mins before checking on her" rule. Of course, if she was CRYing and not whining we got her right away. Any parent knows the difference between a "theres something really wrong/ I'm scared" cry, vs a "I want more attention/I don't wanna go to bed" cry.

This was our experience and I think it has been an incredibly positive one. We only had a handful of "UGH" nights. Usually they were the nights when Emma had been snuck sugar or soda at night.