Co-sleeping?

[tasha41]

To those who co-sleep/have co-slept.. a few questions.. ok a bunch actually. Trying to make a decision, lol

What size was your bed? Does it matter?

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they?

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed?

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping?

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process?

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping?

 

[louise1302]

i habe a normal size double bed(not a king or anything) and archie like nothing better than sleeping in the crook of my arm right next to me..i dont put the duvet over him tho i use his own blanket..he only ever comes in with me early in the morning for a couple of hours

pros
baby sleeps longer
no getting up to feed if bfing

cons
you dont sleep as deeply as your concious of baby near
guidlines state theres a higher risk of sids due to suffocation or overheating...although lots of people do co sleep

 

[Serene123]

What size was your bed? Does it matter?
Double, although I've slept in bed with her in a single.

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they?
Um... I always slept on my stomach so I didn't roll. Got a "bed gaurd" when she got active too.

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed?
Nope

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping?
Nope

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process?
10 months, easy as pie. Took a week

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping?
Cons - not enough time for me and Rich.. I can't explain it. Majorly clingy too which wasn't always a bad thing.
Pros - Closeness, wasn't worried about SIDS so much, easy to breastfeed.



I am going to co-sleep again, but I'm glad I stopped now with Caitlyn.

 

[Pyrrhic]

To those who co-sleep/have co-slept.. a few questions.. ok a bunch actually. Trying to make a decision, lol

What size was your bed? Does it matter? superking, but all three of us co-slept in a double too and it was fine.

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they?Bed either against the wall, or with a bed guard up, and Niamh only slept next to me, never in between me and OH. Pillows were never allowed near her, neither were any sheets or the duvet.

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed?no

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping?no

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process?three months. She went down on her own the first night

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping?Pro -loved having her close to BF, loved cuddles, loved knowing she was always right next to me and ok. cons- I found she slept better in her cot

hope that helps.

 

[Pyrrhic]

cons
you dont sleep as deeply as your concious of baby near
guidlines state theres a higher risk of sids due to suffocation or overheating...although lots of people do co sleep

Really? All the factsheets I was given by MWs say the opposite because of the fact that the baby's sleeping and breathing is in rhythm with your own, and they sleep much more lightly.

https://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp

 

[starryeye31]

We cosleep also, we have a king size bed , Pierce sleeps in the middle but dh sleeps way on the other side of the bed usually at the oposite end that we do , he always has slept like that . this is the first time Ive co-slept with any of my babies but Pierce was spitting up alot and I was afraid he would choke , I do think its much safer to cosleep , And I love having him close to me . Also I put him in his little wedge thingy , I cant remember the name of it but it keeps him on his back . Oh and we also keep a fan on at night so he wont over heat , and we just keep a thin recieving blanket on him .

 

[Tam]

Alfie slept with us purely by mistake....I had my Dad staying with us so he had the nursery and Alfie stayed in our room and as he out-grew his crib and wouldn't settle, the only place he would settle was with us was in our bed. This is what we did:

We have a super queen bed, so very large. We folded up a double duvet and put that between us, and put towels all around the underneath so he couldn't roll out. He was raised quite high, so no fear of rolling onto to him and as the sides were raised there was no fear of him rolling out. He had his own blankets, not our quilt.

He stayed sleeping with us until he was physically strong enough to move about and roll over the raised sides, it then became dangerous so we got a playpen and put that in our room in place of his crib. He is still sleeping in that to this day as we are waiting to move, so no point in making his room up for him again.

The pros: He slept like a log and was very content. Feeding him was a doddle as I could semi lay with him so didn't really disturb him and the winding him would send him back to sleep. He would sleep anywhere as long as I was patting his thigh, so this worked really well. I also had complete peace of mind as I could hear every little breath

Cons: TBH there wasn't any for us, not where Alfie was concerned as he was raised up high so we were no danger to him, and he couldn't roll off. And he was/is very independent so didn't become clingy at all.

Getting him into the cot was no issue at all as he was still close to us. But what did take a few days was putting him to bed alone. This only took literally 3 nights, but within an hour each night he was spark-o.

I had never considered co-sleeping before, as I said above, it was by complete accident it happened due to my Dad being with us but it worked so well for all of us, I am considering it with this LO.

Good Luck hun. x

 

[isil]

I'm only a half co-sleeper! Alasdair stays in his cot until he wakes up (any time between 12 and 4). I do try to settle him in his cot if I think I'm going to be able to easily but tbh, I'm always so zombiefied that I just let him come in with me eventually anyway. So questions:

What size was your bed? Does it matter?
I've slept with Ally in a single and it was okay but we sleep now in a king size, his Daddy doesn't live with us so it's just me and Alasdair in the bed. He usually migrates towards me anyway and won't sleep too far away.

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they?
At the moment I have 2 pillows on his side of the bed lengthways so they act a bit like a barrier. I usually aim to place him towards the top of the bed when he sleeps so there is less chance that the duvet will come up over him. I'm quite 'aware' of what's going on though positioning wise even when I'm asleep. I also haven't moved the heap of clothes that are kept beside the bed for a while. I tell myself it's a safety precaution but really it's laziness!

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed?
nope

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping?
yes (as above!)

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process?
Still half in with me. Getting him to get himself to sleep in the cot wasn't hard at all. It's getting him to stay there that I find hard. We'll do a full night when we're ready but neither I (probably more me) or Alasdair are quite yet.

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping?
pros - I get sleep, bfing was easier (don't do it anymore tho), baby close by. I love it, I just can't explain it.
cons - I guess I feel like really he should be in his cot for the whole night just because some of my friends babies have never coslept. But at the end of the day, it works for us so I shouldn't worry!

 

[babymama]

What size was your bed? Does it matter?
We have a queen size at home but also cosleep on a double at my parents house

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they? Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed?
These two questions go together for me. When we brought Phoenix home he slept in a playpen/bassinet next to our bed but I found getting up to b'feed him exhausting. I wanted him in bed with us to make feeding easier but I wasn't comfortable just putting him on the bed between us in fear of rolling over (especially OH). Mom got us a travel bed and we put that in between me and OH. Now there is no issue of us rolling over.

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping?
Pros - Feeding def. Plus I can hear every breath so that's assuring as I was getting up every so often to see if he was still breathing. Another pro is that sometimes when he won't settle I cradle him on the bed in my arms and once he's asleep, it's a quick lift into his little travel bed rather than getting up to put him in the bassinet.

Cons - None for us so far. I don't plan to co sleep much longer but it's working right now so we're sticking to it.

 

[PeanutBean]

What size was your bed? Does it matter?
King size

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they?
We really haven't! But we sleep him on top of the duvet in our arms wearing a sleeping bag. He sleeps between us so can't roll out of the bed.

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed?
No

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping?
He naps in the cot during the day now.

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process?
Not there yet.

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping?
He sleeps through the night (or at least did until recently when he's too hungry as he's getting near weaning time). Before we co-slept we had stopped getting any sleep at all as he wouldn't sleep until 6am when DH had to get up for work. It was really horrendous. He just screamed all night. Not much chance of any nookie though and we don't get to cuddle really either as Byron is in the middle.

 

[mommyof3co]

What size was your bed? Does it matter? full/double...I don't think it really matters, they are so small anyways

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they? nothing more than usual really, we kept fluffy bedding away from them, no pillows around them, we of course never drank then went to bed or went to bed on any kind of medications that would alter our sleeping patterns

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed? no they just slept right next to us

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping? Casen didn't until 7mo, we would put him to bed in his bed then when he woke up to nurse I would bring him to our bed for the rest of the night. Hayden never slept in a crib, he coslept until a year then went straight to a toddler bed, did that and our bed for a couple months and then starting at like 16mo he has slept in his bed all night except maybe a few nights a month or so

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process? Casen was 11mo Hayden was 12mo. No it wasn't hard at all, we kept their same routine but just put them in their new beds instead, by sticking to the same routine they knew ti was bedtime. We also start out letting them nap in their beds so they would be used to it once bedtime came...we probably did that a couple weeks before trying nighttime. It took each of them just a few nights

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping? pros~ I think it's better for the baby, forms a great bond (yes I know you can bond in other ways, but it is diff having them right there sleeping next to you all peaceful everynight, we didn't cosleep with my oldest), some experts will say it increases the risk of sids and then others say it decreases it, i personally think it decreases it, makes breastfeeding at night easier if you do that

cons....honestly I loved every bit of it, they didn't wake easily if i got out of bed, they napped in our bed but didn't have to have me laying there the entire time, so our whole cosleeping experience with both was wonderful, wasn't hard to transition them to their own beds so no complaints

 

[louise1302]

cons
you dont sleep as deeply as your concious of baby near
guidlines state theres a higher risk of sids due to suffocation or overheating...although lots of people do co sleep

Really? All the factsheets I was given by MWs say the opposite because of the fact that the baby's sleeping and breathing is in rhythm with your own, and they sleep much more lightly.

https://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp

i didnt read it anywhere itwas just my hv bleating on at me i think she was trying to put me off having him in my bed

 

[AC81]

What size was your bed? double - but OH slept downstairs while we co-slept, he was too nervous to sleep in with us.

Did you take any extra safety precautions when sleeping & if so, what were they? Not really, I slept with her in my arms though (really uncomfortable as she got older!). I found that I wouldn't get into a very deep sleep with her there either which made me feel safer too.

Did you put one of those travel beds on your bed? No

Did your baby ever sleep in their crib while you were co-sleeping? Occasionally for naps, but not at night

What age did they go to sleep on their own? Was getting them into their own bed hard/how long was the process? At 3 and a half months I put her into her cot. It took about 3 nights before she would stop waking up after each sleep cycle, then she slept longer and longer. After about a week, she was going to bed on her own every night at 7pm with no tears at all.

Major pros & cons to co-sleeping? Pros: I loved the closeness, cuddling and not having to get up for feeds (I was breasfeeding). She slept so well in bed with me too. Cons: I would have to go to bed at the same time as her every night so hubby and I had no time together! Plus I couldn't get up to pee without waking her. As she got heavier it got very uncomfortable too.

 

[tasha41]

Thanks girls! My nurse practitioner said never ever do it but I have pretty much all week. She seemed to sleep longer, and I didn't feel as tired in the morning, and loved cuddling. I'm still paranoid about rolling onto her or something so I will take some of your suggestions into consideration if I decide to make this an everyday thing. I heard that it decreases the incidence of SIDS also. She's 6 weeks on Friday and seems very clingy already, I'm not sure if it's her age or if it's just because someone is almost always holding her/has her in a carrier that she's like this- not used to being on her own? So I am worried that she'll be in my bed forever.. but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it I guess!

 

[ryder]

cons
you dont sleep as deeply as your concious of baby near
guidlines state theres a higher risk of sids due to suffocation or overheating...although lots of people do co sleep

Really? All the factsheets I was given by MWs say the opposite because of the fact that the baby's sleeping and breathing is in rhythm with your own, and they sleep much more lightly.

https://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp

Most of canada usually advises against co-sleeping too... and suprise, most of our factsheets say different!

but each to their own.

Any time i've let Jasmine sleep in my bed, I take the second pillow off my bed and she gets her own blanket and half the bed... I wont sleep with both her and my Oh because I think it is too crowded. My bed is a queen.

Ive only brought her in if she is unsettled... and I bring her in in the morning to snuggle sometimes too.


Jasmine has been in her own crrib and bedroom since 1 week old. I found this has helped her really get a good bed and night routine down...