No more co-sleeping!

[zrieka]

We've had a routine....
Bubs goes to sleep at 11pm, wakes for a feed in the chair at 3am and I bring her into bed for the 6am feed and then we both have a snooze till 10am. Or rather, Bubs snoozes till 10am and I will normally get up earlier because of her kicking and grunting.

Well we need to change that so she is sleeping more in the EVENING and less in the MORNING.

This last week, I've had a cold, so I have been bringing Bubs to bed for her 3am feed (and sometimes starting the night with her in bed). I've been too tired to do the chair feed and lying down just seemed like the best solution.

This was working out great because if she needed a top up, it was all there and ready to go. Now I realise that it is not great because she isn't filling up, just snacking. Every couple of hours I am being kicked awake again to give her another feed.

Instead of getting 6 hours of sleep with one break, I am getting lots of little interruptions. My partner also sleeps less well because he is a light sleeper and can hear Bubs tossing and turning and grunting for more boob every hour.

So no more co-sleeping! No matter how tired I am, I've got to get into that chair.

[Cherished]

We co sleep with DS and it works well for us. He sleeps in the middle of the bed but does not have free access to my boob as his head is up too high so I sit up in bed and feed him. How old is your DD?

[zrieka]

DD is 4 months.

She doesn't really have free access, which is why she rolls over and kicks me till I open up the shop But I do tend to drift off once she's there so I'm not really marshaling how much she drinks...

[berrme]

Totally understand, Meela. Been in your exact situation a few times.
I am not against the idea of co-sleeping but just can't do it. Neither DH or I have ever been able to get a good night's sleep with either of our noisy, wriggling boys in our bed. Good luck finding the strength to sit up with DD, can be tough when you are already exhausted!

[Cherished]

As I suggested can you sit up in bed to feed? And keep her feeding by a gentle rock when she starts to slow down/drift off? You can even tickle her feet or squeeze your breast to put some milk in her mouth to keep her sucking. That way she will get a bigger feed in an hopefully leave you alone for a bit longer. How long does a good feed usually take? my DS is 5 months and it takes him 10 minutes all up and that's having both boobs maybe I'm lucky that his feeds have always taken him 10 minutes.

Hang on a minute, maybe I'm totally out of line here. Your post isn't about finding ways to keep co-sleeping it's a statement that you are no longer doing it I must have presumed that you are co-sleeping because you wanted to and enjoyed it but I must be wrong... sorry

[zrieka]

Hang on a minute, maybe I'm totally out of line here. Your post isn't about finding ways to keep co-sleeping it's a statement that you are no longer doing it I must have presumed that you are co-sleeping because you wanted to and enjoyed it but I must be wrong... sorry

Hi Cherished1

I don't mind co-sleeping. At first I worried a lot about squashing DD, but now she is a little bigger ad more mobile now and its less of a concern. I just hate getting kicked awake for another feed and I think it makes me a bit lazy about making sure she gets a proper feed. (I don't think all co-sleepers are lazy!!). Its really more my partner. He is such a light sleeper that DD keeps him awake with every kick and grunt.

I think you are lucky that your DS takes 10 mins for a good feed. Mine can be anything from 3 mins to half an hour. Sometimes she will fall asleep as soon as she feels the boob, and then kick me again after half an hour because she didn't actually get any! She is also at a stage of thinking every feed could be her last and getting frantic when she knows I am there but boob isn't ready on time.

I think I am just having a rant because DD doesn't have regular sleep patterns at all. During the day she might sleep for an hour or for 5 minutes every hour. I feel like the co-sleeping has taken away my only vaguely predictable sleep. waaaaaaah!