Co-Sleeping and SIDS

[Phteven]

I woke up when Imran stopped breathing once. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. The adrenaline kept me awake for hours afterwards and for months afterwards I would wake up feeling panicy if he was breathing very softly.
If he hadn't been in bed with me I wouldn't have woken up so I think co-sleeping saved his life. I can't imagine sleeping any other way with a baby under a year.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Michelle, maternal instinct is nearly always right. Good for you for going with it.

I still co-sleep with DS sometimes. Obviously if he starts climbing over me and wanting to play then he's on his own again! But you can feel the baby relax and the sleep is so much calmer. I, too, started co-sleeping because I was falling asleep feeding and decided that it was (a) easier and (b) a lot safer to plan to do it than to just fall asleep sitting up in bed holding a baby. Or on a sofa during the day. I had pillows and duvets, which isn't recommended, but you have to be aware and move the pillows away from the baby (a bit of hassle when changing sides) and consider blankets rather than duvets, which meant we were both freezing, so that stopped - although DS's head (and usually his neck, shoulders and arms) was never covered.

[satya]

Interesting subject this one. At hospital I was came across a brochure on co-sleeping and it said that co-sleeping was very popular in other parts of the world and thought to be quite safe. I was also given a SIDS brochure which said the opposite. It's quite confusing.

I try not to co-sleep as I don't want him to get into the habit, but if he just wont settle he ends up in bed with us. This is usually after the early morning feed and as his cradle is next to our bed it is very disrupting if he wont go back to sleep (DF does have to get some sleep before he goes to work). I just hope I'm doing the right thing.

[BellyBelly]

Co-sleeping is safe, there are safe sleeping guidelines just like there are for cot sleeping.

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/baby/c...art-of-bonding

Something interesting I saw at an ABA conference was results of a study which showed a huge percent of cosleepers were breastfeeders, and very little were bottle feeders - bottlefed babies were highly likely to be in the cot. Not saying everyone but it was huge.

[EmnM]

Satya, I did a similar thing with my now 4yr old daughter. She sometimes comes in to sleep with us still but she is also fine to sleep by herself. And to be honest, we (DH and I) don't care - I figure when she is ready she will sleep by herself. Interestingly as parents we sleep together yet expect (generalisation) our babies to sleep by themselves???? trust your maternal instinct on this one.

I am not co-sleeping with DD2 this week as parents are down and using bed that DD1 and DH sleeping in - not enough room in our bed for three of us! It was much harder to relax and go to sleep as I kept worrying about DD2's breathing, even though she was in a bassinette right next to our bed. So far though, I haven't noticed a difference with either of our sleeping patterns but I do miss her being next to me!

Hugs,

Mich

[meow]

We coslept full time when our bubby was a newborn- I believe it's the safest and most natural way to care for little bubbas (provided you have the right safety measures of course).

At about 2-3 months old we started putting him in his cot (next to our bed) for the first sleep of the night and he's taken to that no problems at all. I don't believe in forming habits with little babies as they are different people from one age to the next anyway so just because he needs more attention at 3 months old, doesn't mean he'll have the same needs at 6 months old so things can change as part of the natural course.

[Pretty Butterfly]

I have co slept with all 5 of my babies!!!

They have a policy that you cant in hossy, but i insisted with all 5, and they let me!! Provided i signed a form, and kept the safety rail up in my bed. When they were saying no, but would find us asleep together anyway, they gave up!! (esp with Kane, I couldn't let him go. He was supposed to stay in the nursery and I also refused that!!)

I could not imagine not having my babies with me, and beleive i have had good sleepers due to it.

Do what is right for your family hon!!! You know best...