who co-sleeps?

[guccibabe]

I co-sleep with my 12 week old as its so much easier to feed him during the night (he wakes often)..(hubby sleeps on mattress at the moment) but a comment was made to me today that perhaps he is waking and feeding often due to his insticts of being so close to me and mums milk and perhaps I would have a better nights sleep if he were in his cot next to my bed instead?
thoughts ladies??

[BellyBelly]

I co-sleep and have with both. Yes they can wake more often, but you don't have to get up Plus there is evidence that these more frequent arousals are protective against things like SIDS and baby learns to regulate breathing by being close to mum. It gets better but you have to do whats working for you! Grab a copy of Pinky's new book, 'Sleeping Like a Baby' which is great - just been released and great reviews already Covers all aspects of sleeping with facts and studies and most importantly, real life experience!

[guccibabe]

thanks kelly, have already ordered the book!

[Beckibee]

I'm all for people doing what works best for them. For us, it has been since we made the decision to move Maddy into her own room & own cot. As a result we basically co-sleep half the night. Maddy starts off in her own bed for the big portion of her sleep, and I get some rest. Halfway through the night she wakes and she comes back to bed with us for a feed and a cuddle back to sleep. We stay that way through til the morning.

I've known plenty of women who succesfully co-sleep; but I did find Maddy was constantly nuzzling at the breast when she spent all night in bed with us. It meant I didn't get much sleep at all and led to a sleep-deprived and somewhat cranky Mummy!

[Melbo]

WM comes into bed with us most nights. This usually happens after he wakes early in the morning, having spent the first part of the evening in his cot which is also in our room. It means that both he and I get to sleep a little longer, even if that sleep is light on my part. At the moment though, because I am on maternity leave, missing sleep is not so much of an issue for me.

I second what the others have said .. you have to go with what works for you. Some people find it too difficult to have a child in the bed and others wouldn't have it any other way.

[~Jo~]

We have Sammys cot pushed up next to our bed with the side rail off. He starts off in there and spends the night mostly cuddled up between DH and I. For day sleeps he is happy to sleep in his own cot with all of his specials to look at. I think bubs wake anyway and easy access to the breast with cosleeping throughout the night can ensure that milk supply is adequate.

Jo

[Astrid]

We "mostly" co-sleep and have done since Maggie was about 3 months. Most nights we start her out in the cot, as we are still up doing things and she will then come to bed with her first wake-up after we have gone to bed. Some nights though she when she is difficult to settle, so she will come to bed with us straight away.

Much easier for breastfeeding, but I do think some nights she does feed more often for it.

[BellyBelly]

That's a great idea Jo with the cot!

Elijah will start off in his cot these days too (which we've altered into a bed now), so he comes in when he needs to. We were doing so well with night weaning until he got sick *waaaaaah*. Will keep trying I know that him sleeping through the night is soooo close though, have been patiently waiting my four and a half years to sleep through the night, so when I do it will be heaven. And my legs will be crossed

[Jesswith6]

I have co slept with all 6 of my kids and they are all (besides Bella and Patrick) in their own beds. The only reason Bella stills sleeps with us now is because there is no room for another bed in the caravan. Pat will sleep in his capsule most of the night and then he comes in with us.

[Fenella]

We co-sleep and I think it's great! I don't think Tamsin's waking more often because I'm close, but even if she was I think I'd still get a better night's sleep co-sleeping and feeding more often, than I would if I had to get up (less times) to feed her.

ETA: Fletch, to answer your questions - I only sleep with her at night, although she sleeps better during the day if she's on my lap (or DH's); she goes into our bed on her own if I'm not ready for bed and I sneak in later, but we've moved the bed off the frame and onto the floor so if she rolls off the mattress (and she doesn't normally even wriggle) she won't get hurt.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

DH and I plan to co-sleep, but as the bed is small and we're both nocturnal wrigglers we'll be having Baby in a cot next to the bed with the front down, so I can reach over and cuddle Leibling or BF during the night easily (ooh, another excitement - I'll have a baby to feed in the nighttime too!). If DH and I moved around less then we would consider having the baby in with us, but right now we feel that the risk is a bit too high - we don't want to roll over and squash Leibling!

So we're not yet co-sleeping, but will be, I just got all excited that I could answer this.

[Phteven]

We co-sleep with both our bubs. Imran sleeps in our bed and Yasin has a double bed so when he wakes up in the night and is upset DH can go and sleep in his bed.

Fletch at the moment Imran has most of his day sleeps on my lap or in a rocker but we've also got a hammock and a crib and I'm hoping to convince him to sleep in them at some point.
We've also got one of those things with the bolster on each side to stop them from rolling but it was waste of $20 because we never use it.

[tiggy]

We co sleep, usually in the early hours of the morning. It's especially cold at the moment here and we find that if Ivy and Noah wake up for a feed, it's easier and cosier to just feed and sleep in bed. I didn't do it with my first set of twins but we did it with Lily. There was a difference in sleeping patterns but I think it had alot more to do with the nature of Lily than the co sleeping!

[beckles]

we co-sleep. we have with all of ours josh (11), zak (8) and now oscar. having co-slept with all 3 i have found that re the feeding more often it depended on my baby. josh was happy to have a feed before sleep and then in the morning where as zak would feed most of the night. oscar feeds early morning. fletch re when do you co-sleep during the day early at night. oscar sleeps on my knee or den's knee or we have a little bed where we watch telly in the play room and he goes on that until we go to bed then we pick him up and put him in bed. re the day sleeps he often sleeps in the sling still or i put him on the bed in the play room while i scrap book while he sleeps or i lie down with him on our bed and have a snooze too. just depends on where i would like to be really.
i find co-sleeping the easiest and most natural way for oscar and me. it works for us.
beckles

[bon]

Harry goes to sleep every night in his own bed but ends up in our bed at some point - he just comes in when he wakes up, climbs in and most of the time I don't even notice until I wake up in the morning! It is nice having him sleep in our bed, although it gets a bit cramped because we only have a double. We are planning to remedy that pretty soon, hopefully before the new baby comes. Grace only co-slept when she was a newborn and ever since then she has slept in her cot in her own room - I have brought her into our bed on occasion when she has been unsettled but she actually doesn't like it and wriggles and squirms and ends up settling better in her own bed. Little miss independent!

[Kirsty77]

Gemma co-sleeps for half the night, she goes to bed in her cot then wakes at about 2am and comes into our bed for the rest of the night. If shes sick or a bit clingy we just bring her to bed with us when we go to bed.

[Rouge]

We co-sleep on and off depending on how Seth is, most of the time he wants to be in his bed, but if he's unwell or in unfamiliar territory (say when visiting friends) he'll be in and out of my bed...

*hugs*
Cailin

[Ambah]

We have done co-sleeping in various ways with Aidyn.
Funnily enough it was only when he was a newborn for the first month or so that I couldnt sleep with/near him as I was so completely anxious and edgy with every noise that he made which stopped me from getting any sleep!
But when he was 1 month+ most commonly we would settle him in our bed with us, then transfer him to his cot once asleep. Then he would be back in our bed after his early morning feed.
When we was older (8 months +) we took one side off his cot and put it between our bed and the wall, so it was like an extension, and it stayed like that until he was over a year.
I used to co-sleep with him at nap times quite frequently when he was younger as well, but not so much when as he got older.
Now that he is over 2, co-sleeping pretty much doesnt work anymore. He comes into our bed for his early morning bottle, but does not go to sleep again with us. If he ever cries and come in our bed during the night, he is usually really restless sleeping between us after a while, and will ask to go back to his cot.