where does baby sleep after getting home?

[puppies]

Is there anything wrong with having your new born go straight into its cot and in its own room straight out of the hospital?
We only have a small master bedroom and there is no room for cot, bassinet or cradle in there. Plus we are getting a good baby monitor. Is there anything bad about doing this? Plus I do want my DH to get as much sleep as he can as he will still be working. And I will need him strong and well slept to help me out when I am tired.

[Muffy]

i personally dont have a prob with putting them in their own room,
it just depends on how u feel
i think most people with the first child are paranoid about them 'not breathing' etc..... and like to have them close

[visitor1]

DD1 went straight from hospital toher own cot and bedroom

DD2 went into our room in a cradle..BIG MISTAKE!...All her noises kept me awake all night and was horrid..

DD3 will be going straight to her own room from day 1!!!

[Phteven]

Another option is to pop bubs into your bed and co-sleep. Nothing so nice as snuggling up to your baby and drifting off to sleep.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

yeah thats fine. that is my plan this time round. i found that having DD in my room in basinette was too distracting for me. every noise or movement she would make i woke up just to check on her. i figure if she is in the other room i will hear her when she needs me not when she is just dozing.

[BellyBelly]

Co-slept with both of mine and loved in. In cultures that co-sleep, SIDS is unheard of.

[Sammiejane]

MJ went straight into her own cot (not bassinet) in her own room.
Cosleeping was not an option as DH is a smoker and it is not recommended for smokers and there was no room for a bassinet or cot in our room.

We have NEVER had a problem with her sleeping or settling at all.

I was terrified i wouldnt hear her, but although we had a monitor we stopped in a few weeks as every noise was amplified and i was getting no sleep

[Phteven]

I love all the noises in the night - they're really comforting. When I stayed with my Dad a while ago he put my boys in a room far from mine and I barely slept a wink without the snuffling.

[Je$$_84]

Both times we have used a basinette as co-sleeping wasnt an option for us. I'm a very fussy sleeper and dont stay still and so is DP...

I dont see why bubs cant go straight into the cot... Maybe if you get worried put a single bed or just mattress on there is you have 1. But as you said you have a good monitor... You'll probably get up a few times at first to check or bubs waking for feeds anyways.

[Nai]

I wouldn't worry about DH sleeping - I found that DP will wake up if the dog scratches himself at the other end of the house but if DD screams the house down DP can sleep right through it!! He says it's instinct as he has to get up and hunt wild bison for dinner - yeah right!

I had DD in a cradle right next to our bed and we re-arranged the room to fit it in by putting it where my bedside table was. She moved to her own room at 5 months and then we put everything back the way it was. Our room is also very small but with some planning we were able to fit everything in.

[DANNIIM]

I really think it is a personal choice and its hard to decide until bubs is actually here! DS co slept until 6months and wouldn't even wake for a feed cause he was so comfy...can't really blame him and we did live in a much cooler place at the time. This bub will be in a bassinet right next to the bed...i just feel better having them closer, again a personal choice.

[Curly]

I did exactly that. Had the monitor on so that I would hear DS and it worked very well for me. DH slept through everything. The amount of times DH would ask in the morning "Did he wake up at all?" and I would answer through gritted teeth!

DS comes into bed a lot with us now (he is nearly 2) - I am now far more relaxed about co-sleeping but I still get a much better quality of sleep if he is not in the bed.

[boomba]

I think its a personal choice!
When we bought DS home he went into his room all by himself! But after reading some books which i should have read before DS came into our lives he began co sleeping! Now when i look back i think how lonely this would have been for him after being so snug and close to me for 9 months!
When our next baby comes along i will be co sleeping from the start!

Dh never had time off and once DS started to sleep with us he just got used to the little nioses. Now he doesnt even here him! Unfortunately you both will be tired no matter what.

Good luck with your decision you will make the right chioce for you and your baby! x

[tenar]

Does anyone else find that their co-sleeping baby won't sleep well without mum (or dad) there sleeping with them?

This seems to be the case with a toddler I know. I think she's tired the whole time, because she doesn't know how to get to sleep when she is alone. She's certainly really really hard to get to sleep, sleeps lightly at best, and is often a real handful (she's delightful in other ways too - it isn't all bad).

Her parents are doing the whole "attachment parenting" thing, which I haven't read much about, though I gather there is a lot of information out there about this. But it doesn't make sense to me to not teach your baby, as easily as possible, that it is OK, safe, and comfortable for them to sleep on their own. It also doesn't make sense to me to make someone who is upset about it have to sleep entirely on their own every time.

Surely there is a middle ground here?

[MantaRay]

As a general rule, parents get more sleep when they co-sleep. And when done according to the guidelines it definitely reduces the risk of SIDS (they don't call it COT death for nothing!). But that doesn't suit everyone and if you decide you'd rather put the baby in another room that is ok. Just be aware that you might feel differently when you actually bring baby home. Especially after you've had your baby in your room for a couple of nights in the hospital, it can be pretty difficult to leave them in a different room by themselves when you get home. I am sure one way or another you will find what works for you. It just might not be what you expected it to be!

[Willow]

I'd say wait until the baby arrives. DD slept in a bassinet right up against my side of the bed for 6 months and then we moved her to her cot. We tried the same thing with DS - nope, he had other plans moving him to his cot in his own room saw a huge improvement in his sleeping. I came to a compromise of sleeping in the spare room next door so I am literally 5 steps away from his cot because I hated being away from him - and yes, 10 months later, DH and I have still not gone back to our own bedroom

If I had my time again, I'd probably get one of those Arms Reach co-sleepers in the hope he'd be more comfortable in that, he really hated the bassinet.

The other option if space is a problem might be a hammock, I don't think they take up as much room and you can hire them.

[amberj]

My LO has always slept in his own room, apart from a few nights at the start when he wouldn't settle (and I just wanted to cuddle him).

It was our plan to put him straight into his cot, but he was just too small for that when he first came home. We have a nice rocker that we ended up putting into the cot and he sleeps in that. At 11 weeks, he is about to transition to his cot because he is getting too big for the rocker!

I will second what someone else said- you might be surprised at how much you actually want to co-sleep when you get them home. I have always been very much "your space/ my space" kind of person, but when LO came home, I just wanted to be close to him all the time! I figured this seemed pretty natural and as much as I could I balanced this with also wanting him to learn to sleep by himself.

Good luck, you will love it!

[Cassius2]

with DD we planned to have her straight in a cot in her room.

however, once i had her i decided that she was too tiny to be in her big cot and the constant feeds in those early weeks seemed impractical to have her such a distance away (i knew that i would be too tired getting up every 2-3 hours to do nappy changes and a feed then a re-wrap and settle).
so the day we brought her home i went out and bought a moses basket and stand and we had her in our room. DH would get up and bring her to me and i would feed in bed with her. this way she would stay pretty sleepy and nod off and we could transfer her back.

she stayed with us for the first 4 weeks. then the noises got too much and i wouldn't be able to relax thinking she was needing a feed etc. after that she went to her own room.

i wouldnt worry too much about DH needing sleep. being the primary carer of a newborn is a much more labour intensive job, that goes 24/7, in fact at times, going to work can be the relaxing part! LOL!
getting dh to help change nappies and bringing them to you in the night shift is also a nice way for dads to feel a real part of caring process. my dh felt pretty inconsequential to her well being and was pretty bummed until we worked out a system whereby he had his little rituals with her...ITH...