For those planning to breast feed:

[knitbit]

I co-slept and breastfed and would just fall back alseep while nursing. I am a very light sleeper, very aware in the night...and I never had a problem. I loved it, and it was simple and I got lots of sleep.

I know everyone has their own ways....

I did this with both of my boys, too. I had a cosleeper next to the bed if I felt I was over tired. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with twins... Probably a cosleeper.

 

[Celesse]

I'll be co-sleeping again. Baby in bed with me at boob height in a sleeping bag with pillows and duvets well away. We will both (me and baby) only have to wake enough to get baby on the boob, then can go back to sleep whilst nursing. Only effect on OH wil be slightly less bed space.

 

[kermie219]

we kept our daughter in our room right next to my side of the bed for the first few months, we slept with a night light on so because turning a light on and off kept wakign daddy. To be honest I just brought her in bed fed her and put her back it was the only way we could feed without disturbing her or I too much so we could go back to sleep. In the very beginning she would sometimes go only an hour or two between feeds and if I had to get up and go out the room every time I would have been a disaster

I hadn't thought of that. I wish we had more outlets in our house... I can't think of anywhere that a night light would work at. Might have to do some looking... maybe I can find a nice little lamp with a very low setting.

It was just a regular little bedroom lamp with a low watt bulb in it and I think they have some at b&q that you just touch to turn it on and touch again to make it brighter and they run by battery

 

[Samantha675]

I'll cosleep like I did last time and nurse in bed.

 

[ashley2pink]

I just breastfed baby where ever I was usually. I didnt have a special chair or anything but I did use a boppy pillow which was amazing. I didnt use it the whole time I nursed her, when she got big enough I didnt use it at all during the day, but still did at night because I was too tired to really hold her well. Nor did I use the boppy when I was out and about, but at home most of the time I used it the first couple months. I usually nursed on the couch during the day. At night I would just pull baby on the bed with me, grab my boppy which I had at the foot of the bed, then nurse then put baby back in the basinett, which I keep right next to the bed. This time I will be getting a co-sleeper basinett though to make it even easier.

 

[ashley2pink]

And like other have said I had a dim night light in the room so I could see baby and nurse easier or it would have been nearly impossible to get baby to latch in the pitch dark!

 

[chichestermum]

With DD i just used to prop my pillows up against the headboard and sit up against that to feed, i didnt once fall asleep whilst feeding as i cant sleep with any sort of light in the room so the light on my teasmade (plus the cuppa brewing in it) kept me awake by the time DD had finished feeding i had finished my tea and we would both be back to sleep before OH had even realised we had been up! thats if he did wake up! very heavy sleeper and 9 nights out of 10 he would sleep through everything and wake up worried the next morning thinking i hadnt fed DD in the night lol!

I will be doing the same this time around, If baby is loud during the night and wakes DD up then it will be something that i will want her to get used to, because i think that going past her bedroom with a crying baby and putting on the downstairs light would disturb DD, baby and me more.

But those of you that want to have a special nursing chair then have you ever thought about a garden reclining chair? MIL had 1 in her garden and feeding in that was a dream!! a nice comfy cushion and multi recline and a hell of a lot cheaper than most chairs! a white 1 would go fine in any nursery and would save you a bit of cash plus would come in handy in the summer! xx

Genius!! And they'll be pretty cheap at the end of the summer, too! And if its not overly pretty, I can find a nice blanket or sheet to cover it up anyway! I love the idea! Thanks for the idea!

Every penny counts with a lil one on the way so im more than happy to share my (only ever) moment of genius lol!

 

[lynnikins]

i plan to co-sleep and do it safely before anyone jumps on me and follow the guidlines so i'll probably be nursing while laid on my side in bed for the night feedings lol its much safer than sitting up and nursing in bed

 

[Louisex]

I bought a nursing chair, it was pointless.
I sat in it for the first two weeks, then when we got into the swing of things i just get her out of the moses basket and stick her on my boob still in bed i didnt have to get out of bed or anything and when shes finished just put her back in her basket.

 

[irish_cob]

When he goes back to work, I may feed in bed, but only when he is working nights. But that alone worries me, because if I do fall all the way asleep, I am a very sound sleeper and I don't want to roll over onto the baby.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about that. It's actually incredibly rare and tends to happen if the mother has taken drugs (prescription or otherwise (I don't think a paracetamol hours before counts lol!)), drank any alcohol or is a smoker.

Otherwise it really is not known. Your body is cleverer than you give it credit for - you don't fall out of bed in the night - you "know" where the edge is even when you're asleep. You'll have an even closer bond and a greater awareness when your baby is lying with you, studies show that mother and baby imitate each other, so when one goes into a deep sleep, so does the other, and when one goes into a lighter sleep so does the other. The mother's regular breathing also stimulates baby to keep breathing. And of course co-sleeping is great for breastfeeding and apparently it even stimulates your boobies to keep producing plenty of milk.

So read up on it, think about it, but don't get yourself into a panic over it. I read an interesting abstract of a journal the other day that was basically saying that there is too much importance placed on co-sleeping vs cot sleeping in cases of SIDS and not enough investigation into other factors to determine whether co-sleeping or cot sleeping was the cause. Authors tend not to look at whether safe co-sleeping practices were used, had the mother/father been drinking/drugs/smoking? Was the mother breast feeding? Was the bedding appropriate etc. They were arguing it's too easy to label all co-sleeping as unsafe without investigating the other factors. After all, statistically more SIDS occur in cot-slept babies and infants purely because more infants are cot-slept. So you can't always trust statistics.

You'll be a fab Mum, I'm sure Have faith in yourself to know what is the right thing to do at the time.

 

[sallymuffin]

I've got a rocking nursing chair that we got given so I'm going to have this in the corner of the nursery to use for a quiet feeding area. In the middle of the night I will see how we go but I may just use my v-pillow to lean on in bed and feed them there (OH is a heavy sleeper anyway so it won't wake him).
Hadn't thought of getting a dimmer light though, wil have to get one

 

[ahcigar1]

Since baby will be sleeping in crib in the nursery I have a very comfy glider chair that I plan on feeding from.

 

[letshaveababy]

I plan on breastfeeding this baby but didn't with my other children, so these are all great tips, thanks ladies!!

I think my conclusion is that I will feed in bed. LO will be sleeping beside me in a bassinet anyway, and DH is SUCH a heavy sleeper, he doesn't realize when any of our kids come in the room in the middle of the night now!

Plus, if I really need to feed outside of our room, we have a nice living area set up in the basement right outside of our bedroom. TV, couch... I think I might set it up nice for me and LO to use at night if I feel like getting out of bed.

 

[1stTimeMum33]

Purely due to lack of space, I'll be night feeding while sat up in bed, nicely propped up with pillows. I plan on getting a night light as well so I can see what I'm doing but it won't disturb us all too much.

 

[mummy2anangel]

ill probably go downstairs to BF as when i had my son i fed him in bed but once i fell asleep and i was pasrt myself when i woke up and realised (thankfully he was ok) but i think if i go downstairs and maybe put the dimmer switches on low with the tv on quietly it may wake me upa abit more. id love a rocking chair though but babys nursery isnt big enough xx

 

[hot tea]

I always breastfed/feed him lying down on my side in bed. Sooo comfy and relaxing!

 

[aley28]

Plenty of helpful things in here, thanks ladies!! I think I have plenty more to think about

 

[hot tea]

I should add if you are large breasted, feeding can be more difficult in some positions. Do not get discouraged!

 

[Maman]

i will breastfeed wherever i am at the time, my babys nursery will have a daybed in it for me to sleep in at night if baby is a restless baby as my husband has a very important and highly paid job so cant afford to be tired at work.

 

[Nimbus]

I have a couple of questions. Curiosity, really.

Are you going to set up a special place in the nursery to breast feed the baby, are you just going to feed him/her in bed, or is it a nightly migration to the sofa/favorite chair for you?

I ask because I'm trying to decide if I want to set up a little area in the baby's room for nighttime feedings or not. I'm not thinking a rocking chair or anything... just a little soft area on the floor that is warm and cozy where I can comfortably lay back and feed Baby and then put him/her back to bed. I don't have a complete image of it worked out in my head yet... but is anybody planning for something like that?

I suppose this goes out to everybody, breast feeding or not, really. Where are you planning to feed the baby during the night?

I breast fed our babe for a good while and we had a chair in his room for this. Nice and comfy but nothing that i had to heave myself out of carrying him. To start with he was in a moses basket by our bed so i simply sat up and got on with it in the night. I even had the laptop near by so i could use this time extra wisely - if i was going to be awake (and not fall asleep with him) then i'd spend time on here catching up with folk! Even if you don't plan on breast feeding for long, it's lovely to have a chair in their room - reading stories or if they wake and want a cuddle in the night. Very handy recently for us as our babe has been getting night terrors (!), not fun.