I co-slept the first 4-6 or so months. XP and i split up when she was 8 weeks old so he left the bed then, but it wasn't because of her presence there!!!

He wouldn't let me have her between us. I co-slept because i found having to get up out of bed every time she needed a feed was exhausting and he wasn't willing to help out with that at all. So i slept on the left hand side of the bed. I lay on my left side with my left arm high, stretched out from the shoulder, and my knees pulled up, so from above i was kind of a G-shape, with DD nestled inside. I used my right hand to stroke/cuddle her. I had a pillow or a rolled up towel between her and the edge of the bed, but she was always nestled close - it never "saved" her from a fall or anything. I had a duvet. In the early days (first 2-3 months) i would wrap the duvet over myself just below boob level, and tuck it under me. It was April when she was born and a long-sleeved T-shirt was always fine on chillier nights to keep my top half warm - she was wrapped in a shawl i knitted for her during pregnancy, she slept in that for many months. When she was older i was a bit more free and easy about the whole arrangement because by then i'd realised how in tune to my baby i was. By the time she was 3 months old i didn't even need to wake up properly to feed her, just roll a bit towards (right boob) or away (left boob) from her. I think if i'd been smaller breasted i'd have been able to do that from a lot earlier.

I am traditionally a heavy sleeper but i NEVER EVER slept heavily with her in the bed. I slept better with her there than not too, because waking from a deep sleep 4+ times a night was torture compared to sleeping more lightly but *just barely* waking up to feed her.

I moved DD out of my bed when i got together with DP because i didn't think it appropriate a) for them to spend time together until i was sure we were going to be a long-term thing, and b) that she co-slept with a guy who wasn't her father when we'd only been together a short time.

Because of our lifestyle (he works long hours) we really are the couple who mainly have sex in bed and for that reason i wouldn't co-sleep with a toddler as things stand - we need our alone-time in bed, but i'd definitely co-sleep with my infants. BUT we've been together more than 2 years now, are buying a house soon, and our priority with buying a bed is size, so that our infants can co-sleep and the kids of ANY age can get in with us of a Sunday morning and have a cuddle-up and a chat.

Bx