Co-Sleeping - how do you do it?

[Jakabella]

HeyAll,

Sorry if this is a silly question but I am intreiged - how do you co-sleep?
Where does bub go? Do they sleep in the middle of you both or in the middle of the pillows??

Sorry to sounds so dumb!! Bella sleeps in a bassinett beside me but some mornings when DH goes off to work and she is a bit unsettled and I would like some more sleep I have thought of her getting into bed with me - but im really not sure how to do it and scared that something might happen.

Can someone explain the basics for me??

Thanks in advance!!

Kate xox

[mountain mummy]

Personally, I lie on my side, facing towards the middle of the bed, and have my baby sleep in the crook of my arm ... have done it with all of my kids. If you like, you can lay pillows down the other side of the bed, but at Bella's age, I don't think she is likely to roll too far and she would be more likely to happily snuggle up to you and go back to sleep

I think it is all fairly instinctual when you co-sleep, whether it is for a few hours in the morning or all night.

[MrsB26]

I dont co-sleep with DH in the bed as he is a heavy sleeper who moves aroud roughly all night long. When Byron and I are in the bed together i lay facing the middle and he is either on his back or his side facing me (if we are breast feeding) and my top arm is cupped around his bottom/back.

I find that we both sleep really well being cuddled up together and i dont ever worry about squishing him, i quess its like mountain mummy said - its instinctual.

If you are worried about squishing i have seen these bed things at baby shops where you put bub in it in your bed. I havent really looked at them myself but i do remember seeing one somewhere - ??

[Indadhanu]

Hi hun,

bed things at baby shops where you put bub in it in your bed

We had one of these, it was ok when Jazz was little but grew quickly... to be honest it was a PITA, took up all the room in the bed, and I had to get her out to feed her anyway. It was good to start with though as we both worried that we'd squish her.

Now Jazz is just between us. Shel and I were talking about it on Sunday and we didn't know how to describe it but you just KNOW where they are in the bed. I guess that probably differs for some people, we are both fairly light sleepers. She sleeps between us, i just chuck her in bed with us. She generally snuggles into me, and I put my arm around her. I find myself waking up to any noise she makes, but I feel more rested than when she was in the cot. Not that that makes any sense LOL

So, yeah, we don't do anything different. We push our pillows off to the side, and she sleeps with her head close to my shoulder in my arm. Being summer we only have a top sheet, no doona, so that takes most of the stress away (me worrying about her slipping under the doona).

[1MOREPLZ]

the safe t sleeper bed things are in my opinion a waste of money.. we bought one when we were co-sleeping and Jack wouldn't sleep in it..he wanted to be right near you..in the crook of my arm.. i always slept on my side facing the outer of the bed and Jack slept snuggled in the crook of my arm on his side...

[Lolli]

Hi kafer,
When bubs was tiny we slept him in between us, now he sleeps between me and the wall, to avoid dh being kicked in the stomach all night (ds sleeps sideways).

I think like the other girls said, it really is instinctual. You will know where bubs is in the bed in relation to you. The only excpetion to that I would say is if you are really, really, really tired.

I did remove the pillows form our bed when bubs was tiny, so he couldn't squash his face in them, and I made sure the doona was covering me and not him to avoid him overheating.

I had a scary situtaion a few months ago where bubs had a bad case of croup and stopped breathing in his sleep. I was very lucky we were co-sleeping- I woke up immedisntly. By body just knew something was wrong- that how instinctual it is.

Enjoy your co-sleeping. there is no better feeling than watching their little sleepy pouts as they drift off next to you

[yummymummy]

the way mountain mummy said to do it is the way the hospital taught me how to and when you wake up to turn over in the night (trust me you'll wake up feeling uncomfortable) just bring your arm up with them in it, put them on your tummy as you roll over and transfer them into the other arm - simple!

liberty has reflux and sometimes she will choke in her sleep and she will be silent but wriggling (she does this in the day too even when awake - her eyes bulge, scary stuff) so with co-sleeping i wake up to her wriggling and get her up to prevent her choking. i do have a monitor in her cot though for day sleeps.

[Visitor8]

To start with I brought a co sleeping bed, but Ash was so long he was out of it before a month old!
Now I just have him next to me with a pillow on the other side because he rolls now. I am about to buy a bed rail so he wont roll out. I don't have a partner so dont have to worry about it, it's just me and Ash in my queen sized bed!

[blackduckies]

I co-slept with my eldest DD 16 but it was pretty taboo back then. When DS4 was coming along we decide that we would'nt co-sleep DH was worried that we would suffocate him. I ended up having a CS and he had bad reflux and like Lauren said would choke and I just could'nt get out of bed quickly enough so into our bed he came. We moved the pillows and made sure that he could'nt be covered by the doona, same with DD3. I always slept very lightly and spent a lot of time pushing DH pillow back from them though.

This time we bought a tetra bed, but it is way to big to go into the bed, so intially I co-slept in a king single bed until she started sleeping through and know she sleeps in a cot hard up against our bed another form of co-sleeping and I have to say I feel heaps better about it, she has her own space, I can see her and vice versa, if I need to reach her I can easily. In our area there are a lot of Bangladesh families and this is how they co-sleep. When the child is old enough they can come and go into your bed when they like. I feel very relaxed and know that everything is ok, would'nt dream of not co-sleeping

[Butterfly Dawn]

is the yummiest! We have our bed against a wall and have baby sleeping nearest the wall then me then sometimes DS1 (if hes sick etc, otherwise he sleeps in a cot at the end of our bed) then DH. Sometimes baby is between myself and DH.
Over here everybody co-sleeps (but most familys only have 1 baby) I think its a great way to build a nice bond with your kids and its so yummy all suggled together on a stormy night. Also if you have a baby with health issues you can keep a better eye on them and as somebody said here, if they stop breathing/choak/etc you do wake up.

[Jakabella]

Thanks ladies. I have Bella in a basinet hard up against my side and I can hear her anb touch her - S I guess thats a form of co-sleeping huh!!

[*charmalea*]

i just pop her which ever side im feeding from them i fall asleep while she feeds , wake up to roll ofver and take her with me .. her head is under my arm pit usally , in the mornig when dh gets up i move over and sprawl out just so i can have a strecth ... sometimes even tho they are so small.. they hog the bloomin bed !!

[Indadhanu]

LOL Lea, Jazz manages to push me as far over as I can go until I'm practically falling out! Somehow Shel keeps her half of the bed though lol I stretch out when Shel gets up at 5am, assuming Jazz doesn't wake up and want to get up too.

[Kitt3n]

... sometimes even tho they are so small.. they hog the bloomin bed !!

PMSL, so true!!!!

[Lolli]

Thanks ladies. I have Bella in a basinet hard up against my side and I can hear her anb touch her - S I guess thats a form of co-sleeping huh!!

Yep kafer it sure is- anything within arm's reach is co-sleeping and very good for you and bubs