co-sleeping?

[Jodie.82]

Hi ladies

I have read all the advice on co sleeping but thought it would be nice to hear real experiences too....
I´m unable to get a moses basket or any safe first sleeping option for baby where I am living. We can order a full size cot from Lima, but im not sure baby will settle in there straight away and I think it might be nicer to be closer to me to begin with, plus I hope to breastfeed again so co sleeping would make more sense.

My main concerns are....
did you put your baby on top of your blankets and inside their own seperate blankets?
baby goes on the outside of me so do I need some sort of guard on the bed, would I be ok without?
OH had been smoking a couple of cigarettes a night which he has now stopped in preperation! but he works in a smokey atmosphere, I have a nose like a bloodhound and hate smoke so he already changes out of his clothes outside of our bedroom and washes his hands and face before coming to bed...is this enough?

thanks for any tips

 

[tristansmum]

not sure how much help i can be. i didn't co sleep all the time but often we'd sleep with him in our bed for part of the night/fall asleep due to exhaustion/early morning sleepy cuddles. if you know what i'm trying to say.

i always kept him above my blankets and under his own. i had him quite low down the bed with his head well away from our pillow. so his head was maybe inline with my chest. we had him between us but if you have baby on outside then you would need a guard i reacon so he can't fall out. could your OH shower before bed while baby is sleeping in with you? To get rid of the smoke. I hate smoke myself and will not allow Tristan anywhere near it.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Probably worth postng in the Natural parenting section honey

 

[Jodie.82]

Probably worth postng in the Natural parenting section honey

ooh another section I didnt know about!

 

[Celesse]

When I co-slept with LO I had my duvet wrapped round me at below boob height. LO slept in a sleeping bag and wasn't under our duvet. I lay on my side and had LO on her side if she was feeding and back if she wasn't. LO was in the crook of my arm and I had a single pillow which was protected from LO by my arm. LO was between me and the 3-sided cot pushed up against our bed. OH was not next to LO.

I'll be doing same this time, only we moved out room round, so now my side of the bed is up agaisnt the wall, so LO wil be between me and the wall. I'm also thinking of seperate covers this time, getting me and OH both single duvets as this baby will be born in middle of winter and my last baby was born at start of spring so it was always warm.

If your OH could shower before bed it would probably be better, but that depends on your routine. Otherwise maybe you could have seperate covers/ blankets and pillows and keep LO on your side away from OH. And make sure OH doesn't use any of your bedding and transfer smoke chemicals to them.

 

[Jodie.82]

thank you Celesse that sounds about how I think I will do it, its cold here at night so having the blankets low on me I will need warm pjs! LO has a sleeping bag also, and a friend just replied to me to have baby in crook of my arm.
the shower would be good for OH but he doesnt get in until between 2 and 5am as he is a dj.....I might even get him to sleep in the spare bed for the first couple of weeks as a trial but that seems a bit mean!

 

[indigo_fairy]

We've kind of co-slept from birth, we had the cotbed right up against our bed. Sometimes I'd BF her whilst still in our bed, leaning over a little, or I would slide her onto our bed. She'd always have her own blanket which she hated anyway, and would kick it off, still does! And I had a few cellular blankets to begin with then duvet came back in when she got bigger.

She's got her own bed/room now but we still co-sleep a lot of the time.

When baby comes we'll have the same arrangement, only difference will be our daughter in middle of us sometimes, plus baby on other side of me. We bought a super king size bed earlier this year to accommodate this too!

Me and hubbie will need walkie talkies soon to communicate lol

 

[cowboys angel]

I have her under our blankets (blankets stop at her tummy) with her head at my chest. I have her on the outside of me, but do not have a rail. I tuck her facing me, and keep my arm over her stomach/side. My OH smokes also, I just don't let him smoke in the house, and keep baby on other side of me.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

When she was little Ruby would be in a sleeping bag outside our covers, now she is in the middle of us under our covers, it's not often she's in bed with us though. We have an Ikea double bed which is wider than your average so we hope 4 of us will be ok-ish in it together if needed!

 

[cowboys angel]

Most nights, my LO sleeps in her basinett from 11-5/6 and then with us til we get up for the day.

 

[NaturalMomma]

I've co-slept with both my kids, and still currently sleeping with my 1 year old. I always keep the covers and blanket away from baby. ds2 was born in April so it was getting warmer by then, so I just kept him in long pajamas. You could swaddle too, neither of my kids liked it though. Now that ds2 is older he has his own little blanket to sleep with. When he's 2 he can use the blankets we do.