Can you still night feed and have baby sleep in the crib?

[fashionlover]

So I'm in a bit of a predicament. I have been co sleeping and night feeding with baby for 10 months now. My husband has not been on board with the whole thing, but has allowed us to have this time...Well, times up and he wants baby in her crib. I still really want to breastfeed and am afraid that if I put her in her crib that will come to an end. I am hoping to hear any insights from anyone who is going through or has gone through this situation.

 

[Elmo5]

Why would it not work? I have the cot next to my bed.

 

[Itsychik]

I can understand the anxiety about making a change, but both my babies were moved to their own room (in a crib) at an early age and that had no impact on breast feeding. My DD started sleeping a lot better at night once we moved her though!

 

[halullat]

My DS in a crib next to the bed and is ebf. He is 4 months. It shouldn't affect your ability to bf, although I can understand finding the change daunting x

 

[BigAl]

I only coslept out of sheer laziness, my lo was fine sleeping in his cot (if you count 2 hrly wakings lol). Tbh I think my lo was more interested in the milk than me being there, so in my experience you will be fine. Just a bit less sleep maybe?

 

[irish_cob]

My daughter sleeps in her cot in her own room now, if she wakes up in the night I bring her into our room and sit and feed her in bed. If it's still early I'll put her back in her cot when she falls asleep again, if it's later on and my partner is getting up for work I put her in bed with me and we both snooze together. We're still ebf 6 months on and she's been in her cot for a couple of months now.

 

[hans2009]

My son has always slept in his own room and we've always breastfed. Both my husband and I were against co sleeping. He is such a light sleeper that he would never sleep and I am such a deep sleeper I'd be worried about having a little one in bed with me. It just wasn't for us and we've successfully breastfed for 3 months

 

[fashionlover]

My son has always slept in his own room and we've always breastfed. Both my husband and I were against co sleeping. He is such a light sleeper that he would never sleep and I am such a deep sleeper I'd be worried about having a little one in bed with me. It just wasn't for us and we've successfully breastfed for 3 months

That is wonderful! Just out of curiosity how many night feedings do you do?? I have a particularly hungry baby and am hoping to bulk up her day time feeds as well as her solids to ensure less feeds at night.

 

[hans2009]

My son has always slept in his own room and we've always breastfed. Both my husband and I were against co sleeping. He is such a light sleeper that he would never sleep and I am such a deep sleeper I'd be worried about having a little one in bed with me. It just wasn't for us and we've successfully breastfed for 3 months

That is wonderful! Just out of curiosity how many night feedings do you do?? I have a particularly hungry baby and am hoping to bulk up her day time feeds as well as her solids to ensure less feeds at night.

He is 12 weeks and he hasn't woken up in the night to eat since 6 weeks (aside from this past weekend, he went through a small growth spurt and would wake at 4 am and go back to sleep..this lasted only 3 days)

The most he ever woke up was once every 3 hours. He has always liked his sleep though and waking up did not last long. He started cluster feeding at night so he could sleep longer.

You could always feed her every 2 hours during the day to get more in her for the longer sleep stretch at night!

 

[Emmy0320]

My daughter is 8 months old and has neither had a drop of formula nor spent a night in our bed. It is recommend that babies sleep in a crib… it's the safest place for them. You can most definitely continue to BF with little one in a crib. You simply get out of bed and get them when they're hungry.

 

[LaDY]

I understand that you may find it daunting but you can do it...i have and did previously. It just may take some getting used to x

 

[fatandlumpy]

I had my wee man in a side crib and semi-coslept until fairly recently, My OH put his foot down at 9 months... so I've been sleeping on a futon in the nursery. Although - I've just had the norovirus so OH 'allowed' (git!) me to sleep in our bed with our wee man and OH went and had the futon instead. Cry It Out was not an option for us.

The first week was Hell with LO getting up and screaming every couple of hours. We got to the stage where he was learning how to self settle and was just needing a top-up feed 1/2 way through the night. He did still have a problem self-settling after 3am - so I just used to have him in the futon with me from then until 6am when I'd bring him through to his Dad so I could get ready for work (OH is the stay at home parent).

I was considering packing up the futon soon, as things were going in the right direction (it took about 4 weeks), but I'm afraid the noro may have thrown us off track a bit (or perhaps I just grabbed the opportunity to prolong the baby snuggles....*).

Whatever you decide to do - you are the Mother. It is your baby and you know them best.

Goodluck!

(*Yes - I know I am the problem, not the baby...)

 

[merristems]

Yep mines 9 months I wanted to co sleep but lo just refused to settle with me in our bed so she's been in her cot next to my bed and wakes nearly every two hours sometimes longer for breast feeds. It totally doable

 

[YoshiPikachu]

Of course. Not everyone that breastfeeds bed shares.

 

[Rachel_C]

As long as you're okay to get up, it'll be fine. Co-sleeping does increase the chances of BF successfully but I imagine the greatest increase would be in the early months when LO can feed non-stop and you're still knackered from being pregnant, giving birth, getting used to being a mum etc.

However, and I apologise if it's been said above, why does your husband think he has 'allowed' you to co-sleep up till now? I'm all for shared parenting decisions and valuing your relationship with your OH but unless your husband has a pair of boobs and has induced lactation, HOW you breastfeed is really between you and your baby. BF with baby in a cot will be harder for you - does he know this? If so, why on earth is he insisting you stop co-sleeping? Could you look at ways to make co-sleeping better for you all instead? A bigger bed, a side-carred cot, ear plugs for your OH, a spare bed to sneak off for some grown up fun etc?

 

[Bevziibubble]

I did it for 8 months until I started bringing her in with me in the night. Bedsharing is a lot easier IMO, but crib sleeping and breastfeeding can still absolutely be done

 

[fashionlover]

As long as you're okay to get up, it'll be fine. Co-sleeping does increase the chances of BF successfully but I imagine the greatest increase would be in the early months when LO can feed non-stop and you're still knackered from being pregnant, giving birth, getting used to being a mum etc.

However, and I apologise if it's been said above, why does your husband think he has 'allowed' you to co-sleep up till now? I'm all for shared parenting decisions and valuing your relationship with your OH but unless your husband has a pair of boobs and has induced lactation, HOW you breastfeed is really between you and your baby. BF with baby in a cot will be harder for you - does he know this? If so, why on earth is he insisting you stop co-sleeping? Could you look at ways to make co-sleeping better for you all instead? A bigger bed, a side-carred cot, ear plugs for your OH, a spare bed to sneak off for some grown up fun etc?

My husband has been afraid from day 1 to sleep in the bed with baby. He is a violent sleeper, aka kicks and punches in his sleep. Therefore, he has slept in a separate bed for the past 10 months because he is afraid he will hurt baby. I love co-sleeping but I am definitely getting closer to my stopping point for breastfeeding as we are reaching 1 year and I am not getting enough sleep at night. We have a California king size bed, so the size of the bed is not the issue, My next move is going to be bringing her crib mattress into the bedroom and setting it on the floor...who knew this would be such a process.