Help - should I co-sleep or not?

[lovelycate]

hi babymiracles

I second what everyone else has said, and obviously you have found out yourself now that following your instincts has made for happy mum and bub!

I just wanted to add my story - I had some fairly - not negative, but not positive either - preconceptions about co-sleeping before Zac was born. But we had problems with feeding, and I really don't do sleep deprivation that well Falling asleep in the chair after (or during) feeding just wasn't safe, and I was pretty quickly going to burn out. One night I brought him into bed for a feed and we both fell asleep. It was blissful. Waking up to my gorgeous little boy snuggled into me was an experience I am glad to have had! I was very nervous about it, and conscious of what I expected to be some judgemental reactions from others, but surprised at how many people started 'fessing up' to doing it themselves.

My DH moved into a separate bed so that he could sleep better as he was worried about how deeply he sleeps and also so that he could ensure he was getting some decent sleep. He came in one morning to see the two of us cuddled up together and how happy we both were and said "why would anyone NOT cosleep?"

Zac now spends the majority of the night in his cot, but we still have the odd nap together or he will come into bed if he wakes early in the morning.

It's wonderful!

In terms of safety, you should do your own research, but this is what I did: don't use fluffy doonas as they can settle over baby's face - blankets are better; when DH is in bed with us, Zac goes between me and the side of the bed; preferably only have one pillow; better not to have a really soft-topped mattress. I ended up using a woollen duvet (not fluffy, more like a very warm blanket really) and no top sheet to get tangled up in. No nightie or pjs for me, and kept my hair tied back. Zac would come to bed just wearing a little short sleeved body suit. He slept on his side facing me, but so snuggled into me that there was no chance of him rolling onto his face. As he got older he began to sleep on his back in my arms.

The only down side I can think of is you will probably end up having to change the bed fairly frequently

[babymiracles]

Thanks so much lovely Kate for the support, advice and for telling your story. Molly seems to want to sleep on her side cuddled up to me too although I got her on her back for part of the night. Had another blissful night last night - have had some negative reactions particularly from my parents but dealing with that okay.

Thanks again everyone

[nicjay]

Yay hun and yay for Molly too! Happy baby = happy mummy LOL

So glad it is working for you, and no worries at all