calling all bf mommies that bed share

[pineapple91]

just wondering how you all do it. i am bf and bed sharing it wasnt my indention to bed share but it came out of necessity, i needed to sleep and LO wanted to eat and i was falling asleep in the chair way to often to be comfortable continuing i was becoming scared i would drop him the heavier he got, as he now weights 18lbs. OH and i have a king size bed i sleep at the bottom of the bed, that started because the cradle is there and i like being close to it, now its habit but it also gives me and LO more room. LO stays with me on the couch until I am ready for bed then we crawl into bed, my OH joins later. I have a pillow and a comforter, but only cover my LO up to his waist. I lie on my left offering him the left boob throughout the night, when my OH gets up for work I switch sides. I sleep with my back to my OH. I would like to know what is working for you all, sleep times, blankets ya/na, switching boobs, making the bed safe

 

[misspriss]

I started bedsharing with DS quite early, we are still doing it at 20 months.

When he was little, he was always between me and the sidecarred crib (where he slept for a few nights when we first got him home). I never laid on my other side. He came to bed when I did back then. I would roll over occasionally if DH was not in bed yet (he keeps later hours) and then just put LO back on the safe side when or before DH came back. I was able to feed him from both breasts on either side, if that makes sense. I kept covers below waist high, and kept my bottom arm above his head, and my top arm around his waist. When we did start letting him sleep on either side, this ensured DH or the covers didn't get over/on him. Probably around 5-6 months, I started allowing him to sleep between us. DH was very good about not moving at night, he is a pretty still sleeper. I kept my arms around DS to protect him anyway. Shortly after, DH started working way different hours and started sleeping in the guest room so we had the whole place to ourselves.

After DS got about 10-12 months, I really quit worrying. He is big enough now to fend for himself re: covers, getting rolled on, etc. He now sleeps all over the bed if he has the space (depending on if DH sleeps in guest room or not) and nurses 0-2x per night.

 

[Cangaroo]

We planned to bed-share from the very start this time around, and it has been amazing! We have DD2 on my side of the bed between me and the sidecar cot. The duvet is tucked in at the level of my waist so it can't ride up. DD2 wears a sleep suit and a 1 tog sleeping bag, which I make sure is over the top of the duvet. I have my arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist so O can make sure she doesn't wriggle out of place. I can feed her both breasts from this position; I never move her to the other side if OH is there. We all sleep so well with this arrangement!

DD1 would not settle in her Moses basket, so we ended up bed-sharing out of necessity. At first, she slept on my chest with me propped up with pillows, which felt so unsafe! I gradually did the research and learned to do it safely, but I feel so much more confident this time around. DD1 slept with us until she decided to move into her own room of her own accord completely out of the blue one day this summer, aged just over 3.

 

[ALiKO]

i started bed sharing straight away since birth. when my dd was younger i used to sleep on my side and w/ my arm under my head i would wrap it around her like shes in a little cacoon if that makes sense. and i switched sides every time she waked to feed her. now she is almost 8 months and still bed shares with me and hubby, but since shes older and can role over, sit up, and all those things i no longer do that position.

 

[Feathers]

I bed share with my little one and have since birth pretty much. When he was smaller (no rolling/crawling) I just had him next to me, I'd curl around him and have the quilt only to his waist with my knees curled under him so he couldn't move down. He'd feed from one side and then I'd turn us the other way after each feed.
Since he's gotten bigger I've tried a couple of things. I've had a bed guard on my side of the bed to start with so he can't roll out, then I moved the cot bed up and took one side off (mattress height was that of my bed) like a side car sleeper but using the normal cot. Now I have his fully made up cot right there with the mattress on the lowest height as I'm trying to slowly help him transition into bed (it's not going well LOL!) so the cot rail stops him falling out of bed.
We switch sides each time he feeds, I turn us over. He goes into bed when I do, before that he sleeps on the sofa (although we're working on him going into his cot at this point now). As far as bed safety goes, DS wears just a sleep suit (in summer this was just a vest) as he has my warmth to snuggle up to. His head is at my chest height and I have the quilt to my waist. I do have a pillow but he doesn't get that high. He pulls the quilt up and down as he wants it and can roll around and honestly I don't worry about him now. He feeds roughly 10pm, 1am, 4am (this is often a long feed on and off till 6am whilst we both doze)

 

[luna_19]

We started officially be sharing around 6 months, before that my goal was to get him back in the bassinette but he would often end up in bed. I hug him to my chest and roll over to offer the other side for each feed. I used to always sleep with lo on the outside of the bed and my back to dh but now that he is bigger I do that or have him in the middle. I have a bed rail on my side and ifdh isn't in bed I out a pillow at the other edge which seems to keep lo from rolling all the way off (he's never fallen)