Q for co-sleepers

[Livinthedream]

I am just wondering exactly WHERE bubs is in relation to you when you sleep.
We dont co-sleep (I gave it a go when bubs was born but I was so worried about one of us rolling on him, I got NO sleep LOL)
Anyhoo, when he had a temp 2 weeks ago, I was getting up and checking him every hour and eventually put him in with us where I got marginally more sleep than I had been.
Now he has a green snotty nose and last night he was upset, so I bought him in with us.
BUT, here is my dilemma.
I put his head and shoulders between our pillows, which are half shoved off either side of our bed (so if you lift your head up, the pillow falls on the floor ) because If I put him any lower, then the doona would be over his face and if Adam rolled over onto him, it would be on his face KWIM?
But bubs still manages to get his face jammed into the ends of our pillows when he rolls over. So I am constantly checking him, in fact I am not really sleeping at all, just dozing all night.
How do you do it so bubs is safe?
In his cot, he has a sheet and his bear, nothing else, no bumpers or padding. He just sleeps in a bag. He also moves around heaps, like does 360's all night.
Tell me your secret....

[Ryatha]

when I cosleep with fred, I normally kick DH out now cause we need more room. I put his pillow on the other side of her and sleep with my hand on her chest. That way she gets the comfort from me and I sleep more soundly cause I know where she is.

However if I bring her to bed at about 5 am cause she wants to party I just lie her next to me in the crook of my arm with her head on my shoulder, I don't get too much sleep but I do doze a bit and DH doesn't get kicked out.

[onthefly]

Yep, I'd get DH to sleep somewhere else, especially if it's only a temporary thing.
With just the two of you there'll probably be room for him well clear of the blankets & pillows.

When we tried it when DS was very little, I slept with a jumper on and pushed the blankets down. We didn't do it much till he was 8 months or so, and by then he could move around and push himself out of the way of pillows etc, so I could relax more and actually slept. It sure beats getting up every half hour.

[Livinthedream]

LOL, kick DP out of the bed. I wish.
He would make US sleep on the floor before he got out
Nah, he is pretty good, but he LOVES his bed.
The problem I have, is that if I try to keep bubs from moving, he wakes up, andwhen he realises he is in with us, he decides it is time to play, and then we are all bloody awake.
I was just wondering if there was a position you put them in where they could do thier thing and I wouldnt have to worry.
Have got the vapouriser going in his room tonight, maybe that will help him sleep better.
Had green snot all over my sheets this morning, eeewwwww

[Miss H]

When DH slept with us (before we kicked him out!) we would use two single blankets instead of one big one. So bubs wouldn't get caught underneath the blanket. Get another bed for DH so he doesn't have to sleep somewhere uncomfortable.

[sneakysparkle]

I don't have to kick my DH out!!
When we have co-slept I have put bubs between us, between our pillows or I sleep on my side facing her with my bottom arm stretched out, her head either on or just under my arm. Her feet then rest on my legs (which are curled up so I'm in a "C" shape) and that way she's secure and I can't roll on her!
Its not such an issue now she's bigger though.
HTH!

[Shanti]

We have been co-sleeping since DD was 9mths old and started hating her cot! In order to get some sleep rather than being a zombie up every 1-2hrs we decided to co-sleep full time after doing it here and there some nights. So she was in our bed in the middle of us but as she grew bigger and longer she now takes up waaaay too much room and was kicking us in the head etc!! All night....
A week ago we decided to move her into her cot (hoping to gradually get her in her own cot full time and then out of our room in her own room ...gradual process... probly take mths.. altho we joke she probably will still be in our room when she's 12 )

Anyway she now is in her own cot...pushed up against our bed with cot side off one one side and her mattress level with our mattress. It's been great!! I can BF her and she just rolls back over her side and goes back to sleep.... (most of the time). She's a frequent waker so we had no choice but to do this for our survival and now we have our bed back!!!!! And more space and I can finally sleep next to DH! haha

As they get bigger it gets easier. We were always scared of rolling on DD in the early mths we too hardly slept with her it was way too scary. And I found it so uncomfortable sleeping with my arm out facing her etc... it was limiting to a good nights sleep. So ikwym... but now that your little guy is 11mths.... he'll tell you if you are squashing him

GL

[Fleur]

I don't think my Dh would take too kindly to being asked to leave the bed, either

Depending on the time of night (or morning) I either put her on my side, in the crook of my arm like Ryatha, or between us with the doona pushed way down or all the doona on DH. I have her level roughly with my armpit so the pillow thing isn't such an issue.

It is hard though & one of the reasons we don't do it every night, I don't sleep as well because I am so aware of her.
If I had another bed for DH I would do it much more

[Glamourcide]

I try to avoid sleeping bub in between DH and I because I know he's a deep sleeper and, although I am as well, 'mother's intuition' gives me the ability to not squash poor DD in my sleep. I sleep on my side or on my back, and I rest DD's head on my upper arm (it's always out to the side, bent at the elbow) and if I'm on my back, I bend my forearm down so that it's cradling her against me, if I'm on my side my forearm is up and my other arm cradles her so she doesn't roll away. DD sleeps on her side either snuggled against me, or in a spooning position.
HTH

[Livinthedream]

Miss H, Thats it! 2 doonas!
Sweet, that will work then I can put him a bit lower, I dont think adam will roll on him, and Lachy could prob move around a bit more too.
Hope fully , he will be ok in his room, but am pretty sure that at some point in the future he will be back...
Thankyou all

[ss_storm]

I put DD in bed with us sometimes, like if she wakes up ridiculously early or won't go back to sleep after a feed during the night. I know I would be hard pressed trying to get DF out of bed too! Lol.

I sleep next to DF and she is on the other side, between me and the edge of the bed. I have a pillow wedged between the edge of the bed and my bedside table, more for my peace of mind than anything as it probably wouldn't stop her from rolling out. I lie on my right side and have her flat on her back next to me (getting harder as she gets more wriggly...Df always complains she is taking up too much room!), then I put my left arm over her so I can feel if she moves over, and to stop her falling off the side of the bed. The other arm is the 'awkward' arm...wish I could just chop it off when DD is in bed with us..lol. Then I just tuck the doona underneath my right arm and make sure it isn't anywhere near her face.

If DF is away then i put her in the middle of the bed, but he is a heavy sleeper so wouldn't be game enough to put her in the middle when he is in bed.

[Shanti]

Miss H, Thats it! 2 doonas!

Thankyou all

That's a good idea!! I forgot to mention before.... with the doona thing... we'd push it all the way down so it was no where near DD but if DH got cold and brought it up onto himself in the night , mothers intuition would wake me and I would check on her make sure all was ok...and DH would also be aware of DD he got used to her being there and was very cautious... i don't think i ever really slept properly when she was in between us lol now she's in her own cot next to us with side down its MUCH better!!

[Arcadia]

dd is between us and I turn my pillow around and lie half on it on my tummy. It's how I like to sleep and then dd has lots more room. She still moves a lot and likes to bury her face in the pillows sometimes, but she is old enough to move and mothers intuition always wakes me through the night to check on her. I used to use a side car arrangement, but she outgrew the little cosleeper and the cot is literally enormous (it's on loan from a friend). Two blankets is a good idea. Dh and I dress warmly on top and keep the doona low. Hth

[Michelle71]

A king sized bed DD sleeps between our pillows but the king sized bed means there is basically a full pillow distance in the middle. We only use one doona but her head is up at the very top of the bed so she is barely covered from the waist down.

[Jennifer13]

I always held DD when we co-slept when she was little. Her face was always into my chest, so there was no risk of her being smothered by pillows and blankets. I would just roll her over with me when I needed to change sides. I sleep really deeply and so does DD. When she was a toddler I would occasionally wake up with a dead arm or sore neck, and from then on I would detach myself once she was sound asleep.

DD didn't co-sleep full-time as a baby, just part of each night. Some nights it would be the whole night, but when we got to the party stage at 14 mths it was either go to sleep or go back into your cot!