Just wanted to say how much Im enjoying this thread. I was expecting to have my head completely bitten off but thankfully it hasnt happened...phew! Great discussion
Redpoppy
- Did you read any books on this that you can recommend? (getting baby to sleep etc.)
I did have one book but I cant remember the name of it. To be completely honest I mostly found my own way. As you can tell Im pretty strongly opinionated (hehe) and very certain about what I do/dont want/like so I made a lot of desicions on the whole comfort/sleeping thing as I went along. I did look up information online about comforting/sleeping tecniques and took bits that I liked and left bits I didnt. As with anything the more research you do and the better informed you are about ALL the options then the better overall view you have and you can be sure your own desicions are the best for you and your baby. Whats right for one person isnt for another, as very clearly seen in this thread
- Also, how long did you have baby co-sleep or was it just when he was ill?
He co slept from when he was 3 months til 15 months, this was due to nessecity as we only had a fold down sofa bed to sleep on in my mothers living room. However it worked very well and I am open minded about it with this one, as all babies are different I am waiting to see what happens. I do feel that it helped my son and had a large beneficial effect for him.
- How long before you put him in his own room?
I put him in his own room when we got this house, we did have to decorate and so on before we could move it so he was probably closer to 18 months when we was in his own room and in a "big bed" He transitioned perfectly from my bed to his own bed in his own room. As mentioned above he has never needed a nightlight, comforter and has never been a night waker.
- Did you worry about SIDS at all?
Yes, I lost a baby girl at 6 weeks old to SIDS. SIDS plays a large part in many desicions I make, such as having baby in my room til 6 months, the type of mattress, not using bumpers. However I made the desicion not to use a dummy although I read as much on the topic as I could find BEFORE making a final desicion on it. I think it would have been silly of me to have said no to dummies but not been informed of the research that has been done.
Oh and I didnt SAY there was anything WRONG with children having a comforter. What I have been saying is that my PERSONAL CHOICE is to not use comforters of any description, its not wrong its just my choice based on my personal opinions,feelings and research. It doesnt mean Im wrong to not give my child any sort of comforter it just means thats my CHOICE. Im sure I said in several places I wasnt saying it was wrong for any person to make a desicion to use a dummy, blankie, teddy whatever I was just giving my reasons and opinions on not doing so because someone asked. What Ill add here is that my personal thoughts are that at times comforters of various descriptions (dummies, putting babies to sleep using certain songs etc) can lead to learned behaviours that may cause some problems, such as the whole being unable to sleep without said blankie, teddy, dummy and so on. This does not pose a problem or concern for many, many people and thats completely ok if that is someone choice...its just not mine thats all!!