Co-Sleeping, What's the big deal!?!?

I am the worlds biggest Hypocrite. I have always preached to friends of mine that co-sleeping is a big no no and now as I breastfeed our 3rd kiddo I find myself doing it again! I did it quite a bit with Alexzandra, not as much with Dominic, and now here I am with baby D doing it. At 4 weeks he started sleeping from 10 PM-5:30 but now that we have some growth spurts going on, he's waking again at about 3. I do put him in his crib but as soon as he cries, to our bed he comes. I give him the boob pretty much every hour (or whimper) till I get up in the morning. Dave doesn't mind he likes to cuddle up behind me when I nurse in bed.

With our daughter, she slept in our bed ALOT and I was afraid she was going to be hard to break for awhile there. I always have put them in their crib but as soon as they cry for whatever reason, I bring them to our bed. I'm a sucker! I remember with Alex waking up freaking out because I was afraid she may be dead from SIDS or me rolling on her but she was always ok. Even with Damien every morning when we wake up, I lay there looking at his chest making sure it's rising or I grab his hand to make sure he's still alive. I'm paranoid about it, yet I keep doing it. Hmmm.......

I would imagine a huge majority of breastfeeding mothers are co-sleeping the reason being why should we get out of bed?? I am lazy and want all the sleep I can get, I need it and I'll admit, this is an easy way for me to fall back asleep but there are so many risks why do we even do it?? To bond? I really don't believe having a baby or child in your bed brings you anymore bonding time than holding and interacting daily with your child throughout the day. I could see it making a baby or child feel more safe being cuddled up with mommy and daddy. If my kids had their way they'd all jump in bed with us. When they see one there, they all want to join.

I don't see this changing anytime soon unless Damien starts sleeping through the night again. I never have him in bed with us from the start, he just ends up there in the end. I'm afraid he'll start waking up if I try to move him back to his crib. Our bed is a pillowtop and so plush, there's a big difference in feeling there! Another reason to worry, he hasn't been sleeping on a flat surface. Hopefully we'll get back to normal soon.