Novice Cosleeping Question...

[Maruschke]

So I guess I really have two questions...

1
During the daytime, if I want to cosleep when she is sleeping, can I put her down on my bed and sleep next to her? I have one of those sleep positioner things that I was hoping to use. Can I use that sleep positioner to put her to sleep on my bed and then leave her sleeping there? This is only while she is so young that she can't sit up or roll off the bed etc.

2
How do people move around the bedroom in the morning? DH will wake up before me and rumble through his dresser to find clothes, and then go into the wardrobe to get shoes etc. If you cosleep, doesn't this wake up the baby? What if you need to go into the bedroom while the baby is sleeping?

Sorry, silly novice questions!

[Maruschke]

[Shades]

I don't know about the first one, but my little brother slept through ANY amount of noise you could throw at him when he was tiny - so I wouldn't stress too much about rummaging around in the room where she's sleeping. I don't think Riley started waking to noises until he was a fair few months old. (This was 7 years ago so my memory may be faulty)

Would *think* that for the first question what you said should be fine - I'm wondering what happens when they CAN roll around etc!

[Arcadia]

My baby slept on me for the first 3 weeks, and then I started using the bassinet part of the pram for day sleeps, so she could be with me in the kitchen etc (I didn't like leaving her at the other end of the house).

We have a sidecar, so now I put her in that for day sleeps, but I know plenty of mums who leave the baby on the family bed for day sleeps. As you say, they can't roll etc, but they can wriggle, so make sure there isn't anything above them (such as pillows) they can wriggle under. Also I wouldn't put them under the big cover, rather wrap bubs and place on top of the covers.

In terms of being in the bedroom in the morning...newborns will sleep through a train wreck if they're in a deep sleep...light sleep or REM is a different matter. Don't stress, you'll get the hang of recognising bub's sleep cycles. They're typically 20-40mins long, and the light sleep is easy to pick beause bub will wriggle and groan and flutter their eyelids.

Deep sleep is also easy to pick..sometimes you have to check if they're breathing they're so out of it.

HTH

[Heaven]

Oscaroscar, I agree, don't worry about waking her up. Grace will sleep through anything once she's asleep. We've had lots of visitors talking and laughing and looking at her etc etc, and even picking her up and she just keeps on sleeping, lol.

[Maruschke]

Thanks everyone.

How long will this last for (sleeping through a train wreck?).

[Visitor8]

Ok I am a co sleeper so I will tell you what I do

Ashton sleeps with me at night, when he was little and couldn't roll I just had him in the middle and I was on either side, since I BF laying down at night this was the easiest thing to do instead of moving him.
During the day he would sleep either in the carrier, or in his cot. When he was REALLY new I would bring the basinette into the lounge. I only did this for the first 4 weeks though.
At the moment, he goes to sleep during the day in his cot. At 7pm he goes to bed in the cot, and when he wakes next for a feed I put him in the bed with me. His cot is in my room. I never worried about noise, they will sleep through it if they are exposed to it. Its the babies whos parents are so careful to be quiet that will wake to any noise I can vacuum the whole house and all 3 kids will sleep through it lol

[Mumma2three]

I've just put Jasper in his cot for the first time for a day sleep. He will stay with us at night. I just let him sleep next to me (got a my little bed but am not using it). It's better they learn to cope with the noise and if your baby is used to it early, then she will continue to be able to sleep with noise. My other two arent' fantastic as I was too quiet with them. Number three is already sleeping through HUGE tantrums from DD2, so he's used to noise already. Im leaving doors open, tv up etc!
If I do want him to sleep in my bed in the day sometimes I just lie next to him. I do wake at night and he's on me, which means I've burped him and fallen asleep! He's always safe, but I think you just play it by ear, see what's comfortable for you both. xo

[Indadhanu]

Shel used to be a rumbler too, but now she gets everything ready for work (clothes etc) so that she can just go to it and get dressed, not have to search through everything to get to something.

For day sleeps, it does get trickier once they start rolling but for the time when Jazz wasn't rolling we just put her on the bed. Oh I know I could give some people a heartattack with that info and I'm sure its not best practice but she was really NOT rolling so... anyway that what we did. before we have the cot set up as a side-car (pushed against the bed with the moving side off) we put her in the cot for day sleeps.
Now she rolls i jsut put some pillows on the edge of the bed, and put her in the cot for her day sleep (if she rolls onto the bed i usually hear her with the monitor anyway as she tends to not be quiet LOL!). I keep meaning to get a ... whatchamacallit thingygig... ah, bed rail thats it (brain blank LOL). Keep meaning to get a bed rail but she tends to let me know shes awake before she starts rolling around, I just have to be quick in getting her. When she starts crawling though I may have to get one...

Ok, waking to noises. jazz used to sleep through EVERYTHING until a few weeks old, dunno probably 6-8 weeks, thenshe started waking to noises. Not startling so much, just waking kind of like "hey, stuff is goingon without me" kind of thing. BUT unless you plan on having a party in the bedroom I wouldn't worry about waking bub up. I don't have an issue with Jazz waking if i need to put clothes away or something like that.

[Maruschke]

Thanks Leasha! I need to spread some love some more before I can rep you for that thoughtful reply .

[Bathsheba]

We co-slept with all three of our children.... still occassionally with our 2yo.

With the first query: My DH was the first to wake up and get up each morning but fortunately all the cupboards etc that he rummaged through were in another room to our bed. However using a night light that emits a low wattage glow rather than turning on the over head light would probably work for collecting items... maybe not actually getting dressed to... but there's the bathroom for that I guess.

Regarding noise levels: "wake-ability" seems to depend on phases, ages and temperaments. It's variable i have found. On the whole though, young children do tend to sleep more deeply than most parents. My 2yo still sleeps through a fair degree of noise, especially within the forst 20 minutes of a sleep cycle.....actually so does my 5yo! However there were times when they were younger that they were more wakeable... but it's hard to pin point exactly when and for how long... and each child would be different too. Remember that it's incredibly noisey in the womb! Newborns often find it hard to sleep because it's too quiet! Low rumbly/rhythmic noises like distant vacuuming, traffic, washing machines are typically soporific for newborns.

[Ezz]

I never worried about noise, they will sleep through it if they are exposed to it. Its the babies whos parents are so careful to be quiet that will wake to any noise I can vacuum the whole house and all 3 kids will sleep through it lol

This is what I was told when I was pregnant too - so I was determined to make noise while DS was sleeping so that he would be a "good sleeper". However, DS has ALWAYS been a wakeful baby - and particularly sensitive to noise. I gave up putting his bassinette in the loungeroom, or letting him sleep in the pram etc. because he just wouldn't settle with household noise.(Just showing you the other side of the coin - leaving the door open & making noise etc. doesn't necessarily mean that the baby will learn to sleep through it).

Anyway, re. co-sleeping - because my DS is such a light sleeper, I sleep in DS 's room on a king single & DH sleeps in our room. DH gets up early for work - so this gives us a better chance of keeping DS asleep. (now, before you think, "how horrible to always sleep away from DH" - I do actually start the night in my room & DS in his cot, but I co-sleep with DS once he wakes up about midnight).

You certainly can co-sleep on your bed during the day if bubs is not rolling around (nothing nicer than a sleepy cuddle in the afternoon ) - but once bubs is rolling around, you may want to use a mattress on the floor, or put bubs in a pram/sling/cot). DS does his day sleeps in the cot - but I still lie next to him & hold his hand until he falls asleep.

[mgm]

the others have pretty much answered your questions, but for what it's worth, here's what i do with dd (and did with ds): i co-slept, and put baby on bed during the day until old enough to roll off (i usually put a bolster each side of bubs in the day, just in case).

when ds was old enough to move round i put my bed (futon) straight on the floor and slept that way for 2 years. it was a pain making the bed, but it meant i eliminated all worries about falling out of bed in the morning. i haven't yet done this with dd, even though she's practically walking - i'm trying to teach her how to get herself off the bed safely, and i listen closely to the monitor so i can catch her the moment she wakes. that said, she did fall out of bed once during the night, but the bed's very low so it wasn't that big a deal.

as for noise, my kids are proof that the 'make a lot of noise and they'll sleep through anything' technique doesn't work for everyone. ds was the lightest of light sleepers - to the extent that there was one set of sheets i eventually stopped using because they were too stiff and crackly-sounding - but since the age of 3 or so, he's the heaviest sleeper in the world, which i like to attribute to his sense of nighttime security! we can turn lights on, move him around, open drawers, tidy etc and nothing will wake him. sadly, my baby is another light sleeper so we're once again tiptoeing around... the low, constant sounds are no problem but the high-pitched sound of her brother's voice is guaranteed to wake her!

good luck finding a good way to share your bedroom. hopefully your baby will remain a nice heavy sleeper and you'll be able to walk in and out of your room without fear!