Thanks Meg & Catherine for those suggestions. I have researched some different types of safety arrangements for co-sleeping. The snuggle bed is good for preventing roll-overs and will also prevent baby from falling out of bed. So will the little bed thing in the middle of the parents that you mentioned Catherine.
Unfortunately, these are not conducive to what I am trying to achieve. I want to assist in the nighttime feeding, and if Baby was in one of these, it would involve me still having to remove baby and get Baby onto the breast. The same situation with the Arms Reach Bassinet. I plan on having Baby's bassinet right next to me on my side of the bed, and Baby will start the night off in there, then, when he/she wakes for the first feeding, I will be bringing Baby into bed with us and feed, then sleep the rest of the night there.
I did think of side rails, but was wondering, wouldn't I still need to put a pillow behind Baby to prevent baby from getting squished between the mattress and the railing? I know they are soft and some even have mesh, but are they really that snug a fit with the bed?
Catherine ~ DF is 'iffy' about the idea of all night co-sleeping as it is, just for the safety factor, so Baby will definitely not be sleeping in between us, as he would get no sleep just for worrying about the Baby!
Thanks heaps guys for your input!
Yasin slept in our bed on and off and Imran slept in our bed for all his night sleeps from day one.
After having an unexpected c-section I didn't want to have to try and get him out of the hammock in the middle of the night so I just got DH to put him in bed when I was going to sleep and he stayed.
Now he sleeps half the night in his bed and when I go to bed I bring him with me. My DH was nervous about it too when our first baby arrived (mainly thanks to MIL's scare mongering) but now he loves it and doesn't want to give it up.
I have to say that I love it too - there's something really wonderful about snuggling up to your children and drifting off to sleep.
As far as the safety - you need to find the guidelines for safe co-sleeping and follow them and you should be safer than having them sleep seperately.
I think that Imran would have died if he had been in a seperate room. I woke up one night because he had stopped breathing.
I have been reading up on Safe Co-Sleeping. I'm not particularly worried about the safety factor. I know it can actually be safer than 'solo-sleeping'! It's DF that's concerned. But he's very happy to read the books I have and inform himself properly!
I definitely think this is the go for me, I slept so soundly last night just imagining having my Baby right next to me while I sleep. This is the first time I have slept so well in weeks! Now if I am sleeping better just thinking about co-sleeping....how much better is it going to be when I actually am co-sleeping! I can't wait.
Im just still researching different bolster/rail/roll-off preventers besides pillows!
I've co-slept with DD since day 1 - completely unplanned lol. I'm probably in a bit of a different situation to you in that my DH snores like a freight train, so most nights I end up in the spare bed (I'm a light sleeper, he's a dead to the world sleeper). When DD came along, we sort of just commandeered the spare bed as 'our' bed.
When she was little, the bed was so big I wasn't worried about her rolling off - especially before she could roll. The bed was against the wall and I bought some really firm pillows to put between the matress and wall so as there was no 'gap'.
Once DD started being able to move about, we plopped the mattress on the floor and put softer pillows all around the edge, so if she did roll of, she hit pillows first before floor. Course now she just speed crawls off LOL.
But of course, both of those don't help you... hrm.
A snuggle bed might be an option, so long as your bed is big enough. I bought one originally because I too was worried about the safety side of it, but it took up a lot of room between me and DH. On my own with DD it wasn't too bad, but it did make me feel 'separated' from her. And as you mentioned, doesn't do well with the feeding...
Hrm, I'm no real help am I...
Do you have something firm you can place against your side of the bed? IE a big chest of draws? You could put the back of the chest near the bed to create a fake wall. Course, you'd have to shove DH out the way any time you wanted out hehe. BTW, my DH wasn't comfortable with DD in between us either when we did it a couple of times (it's amazing what 'new mummy' can do to help you sleep through snoring!).
In regards to sleeping better - I sleep so much better beside DD than if I don't. In fact, I actually find it hard to fall asleep without her beside me, and the second I lie down with her - bam, out like a light.
Hi Haydies.
Im glad co-sleeping works with you. I think I might invest in a side barrier that attaches to our bed. That way, I can still put Baby's bassinet right up next to me on my side to start the night off...then when Baby wakes for the first feed, I can bring him/her into bed with me and we can stay that way for the rest of the night, with the barrier to prevent falls.
I will do some 'looking around' while we are out and about tomorrow and see what kind of barriers are out there and what might be suitable for my purposes.
Still need to prove to DF that it is safe....but I really think my minds made up....going back reading my posts it sure seems like it anyway! LOL.
Thanks for all the info ladies....if an yone else has any tips or info they would like to share, I will be eternally grateful.
If your DF is worried about rolling on bubs you could ask him to think about when the last time he fell out of bed was or the last time he rolled on the cat (if you have a bed hogging cat like mine). The same senses that stop you from rolling out of bed will stop you from rolling on your baby. Amazingly enough all our senses except smell still work while we're asleep and although we're not conscious of it we can make descions in our sleep that safeguard ourselves and others.
Also if you sleep in the recovery position it's very difficult to roll.
Kel, we've been co-sleeping since our DD was born (apart from the odd night where she went in cot). It was unplanned. My DP also had same worries but it worked well and he doesn't mind now. It's so lovely waking up beside our DD. It has worked well for us as we can get sleep also. There was nothing worse than both of us being sleep deprived to the point of exhaustion.
Every bub is different though. Do what works for you
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