Anyone else out there co sleeping?

[crunchymummy]

Feel like I'm the only one haha... I have a 10 week DS who won't sleep in his moses basket or cot or anywhere else really... he will only sleep feeding next to me (we are EBF) everyone else is saying I am making a rod for my own back, I will never be able to get him out of my bed ect but articles I have read that support co-sleeping describe it as a perfectly natural thing... would love to know that there are other MNers out there co-sleeping and feeding to sleep!

[PumpkinPie12]

Ive done it and im still suffering. It is great for them though, so much calmer and relaxed, and if baby sleeps better so do you!. My boy is 1 soon and im having a horrid time trying to get him into his own 'big boy' bed.

Do what feels right for yourself

[Sadmother]

this is lovely and tells you all you need to know

[Sadmother]

And I did it for years and never suffered. It was always so lovely

[Roddas]

Toddler snoring next to me, its been 2.5 years so far

[HappyAsASandboy]

I have been cosleeping for five and a half years :)

Currently feeding my 15 month old back to sleep alongside my 5.5 year old DD. Her twin brother is in his own bed at the moment, but there's time for that to change before morning!

I have never found cosleeping to be a 'rod' of any kind. My kids sleep through everything, we are good at cramming in to one room when we're away, and have had so many more cuddles over the years because we can cuddle all night :) Those extra cuddles were so important to me (and them!) when I returned to work.

Cosleeping is great :)

[KatyBeau]

We have always coslept part-time - from about 5 weeks slept first 4 hrs or so in cot, then brought her into bed with me from first wake up. It's the only thing keeping me going, as she has only once or twice slept 4hrs in a row. Usually she wakes every 2hrs and always has done. 6 months of waking that often and little chance of a nap in the day. If I couldn't doze a bit through the night wakings I would be seriously suffering.

My husband is in the spare room as he also sleeps badly due to joint problems. Took me ages not to feel like everything about our sleep arrangement was "wrong". Once I stopped stressing and reassured myself that I'm doing it as safely as I can, I feel much better.

The ISIS site has some good info on the reason there are some risks and how to avoid them (Infant Sleep Information Somethingorother).

I would say about 1/4 of the Mum's I met at least partly coslept in the early weeks. From about 4 months (when even the good sleepers started waking) I would say more like 50% doing it part of the time. But that's just my circle of friends.

[daisydalrymple]

Yes still going strong at 17mo with dc3. Did the same with ds1 and dd and ds1 used to regularly appear in our doorway at 3am fully prepared, teddy under one arm, pillow under the other

[Artandco]

We co slept. I found It far easier. We travelled the world and didn't have to take any baby bed with us etc as they just slept with us.

They slept with us full time as babies and have gradually as they grew moved on their own accord to a bed of their own. Roughly that was 0-2.5 years in our bed all the time, 2.5-4 years in half the time. Mine are now 5 and 6 years and they mainly join us now if feeling unwell, or upset about something, maybe once every few weeks.

We have a super king size bed

For a newborn now I would look at the sleepyhead cushion. You can put them in that and in your bed so they have slightly more own space if that's what you want

[NorthernChinchilla]

Co slept with DS until 5 months when I went back to work and DP took over at home. DS was napping in his crib, and then moved to sleeping in his crib at that point. We kept the bed in his room so that when he had a bad night one of us could scoop him up and sleep with him.

[Fevertree]

Yep got my 2yo dd laying on me now

[NickyEds]

We never Co slept with ds as we were too nervous about SIDS. With dd we've brought her in with us as and when needed (every night!) since she was born. I'm in two minds tbh. There was a period when ds woke every 90 minutes-2 hours and , looking back I now just think why the he'll didn't we bring him in with us. On the other hand he is a great sleeper now and never wants to come into our bed because he doesn't see it as an option IFYSWIM. Dd is 8 months and I have no doubt that Co sleeping has given us more sleep than not doing it. However we have perserved with getting her into her cot and she's just started to sleep through in there most nights. I'm glad as she's getting pretty big and dp was retreating to the spare room fairly often for a decent nights sleep and that isn't what we want
I suppose it depends on how long term you see yourselves doing it as to whether it's a rod or not. Most people I know are happy to do it for a few months for the extra sleep but all of the parents of toddlers ds's age (2.3) who are still co sleeping are desperate to get their beds back.

[HollyC255552]

Nicky - what did you do to keep her in her cot all night? We co sleep also & our DD is nearly 9 months we want her to sleep in her own cot all night.

[trilbydoll]

Yep, with 2.10 and 10mo dds. It's fine as long as noone wriggles. DD1 had a horizontal across the pillows phase which was awful she has slept through in her own bed, I'm sure she will again.

[JoyofSpring]

Yes! Did a bit of co-sleeping with DD1 but she always had her own Moses basket / cot which she started the night in. Now she sleeps through in her own bed (age 3).

DD2 I properly co-sleep with. She has never slept anywhere except my bed (at night). She is 5 months old. I can't tell you how much more sleep I have had compared to DD1. Even in the early weeks I felt like a human being instead of a zombie like I did with DD1!

I have no idea how we will ever get DD2 out of our bed though... At the moment I would like to get her to go to bed on her own in the evening for a couple of hours (am currently sitting on the sofa with her using my boob as a pacifier while she sleeps).

[bunny85]

I had my first baby almost 5 months ago and we've been co sleeping from the very beginning. I'm also EBF. It's much better now he's bigger, and even though he wakes often at night, these nighttime cuddles are so very precious. He always sleeps on his side, facing me and hugging me with one arm. It's so sweet. One problem I found was the backache since I always have to stay in the same position. I started moving gently on my back recently, once he dozes off. Overall, it is great for them emotionally, but I've heard many times that co sleeping and EBF babies wake more often at night. Whether or not I've made a rod for my back we'll find out in few years!

[Ughnotagain]

raises hand

We only started doing it around Christmas when DD was about 7 months and her sleep went to shit. Sometimes she'll start the night in her cot but every night comes into bed with us.

Sometimes DH sleeps most of the night on the sofa, which is shit for him but good for me as it means I actually get some bed when we're all in there I have very little room. But I actually don't mind really. It's lovely waking up to her little face.

[Ughnotagain]

I'd bloody love a bigger bed tho

[Starspread]

Cosleeping and bloody loving it here. Deborah Jackson's book Three In A Bad is lovely for a bit of backup/vindication.

[Isthereeverarightime1]

We never co slept but our 2 year old ds now comes into our bed most nights after doing a few hours in his own, I don't really know how it happened as he used to be good at staying in his bed!
You never know what will happen over the next few years with their sleep so try not too worry too much, things change overnight!!! Enjoy the cuddles now if your happy to cosleep!

[Toria2014]

Have co-slept since day one, toddler is now 21 months. She's a bit of a bed hogger at times, but we all get much more sleep this way. She is still breastfed too, I never liked the idea of getting up to go to a different ( usually cold) room in the middle of the night to feed. Much easier to stay in bed together! We have bought a super kingsize bed and I still end up squished in the middle, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

[Quokka12]

Dd is 6 and now varies between her bed and ours we co slept until she wanted to have her own space missed it and loved it x

[NickyEds]

holly since weaning dd eats absolutely loads and has completely refused bf during the day. She has always had a ff at bedtime and we upped that to one at bedtime then a dream feed so she gets some milk. Her sleeping better also coincided with her being able to crawl as she's more tired perhaps? She can roll onto her tummy to sleep too which seems to be more comfortable for her. We have had a lot of going upstairs to resettle her in the evenings. During the night I was a bit lazy tbh and would just bring her into our bed at the slightest murmur whereas now I put her dummy back in a do some back patting and head stroking until she goes back to sleep.

[VikingLady]

DS turns 1 next week and I've no plans for getting him into his cot. I love cuddling him. And he's lovely and warm in winter!

as for the "rod for your own back" brigade, well, I treat it like natural term breastfeeding, slings, attachment parenting, potty training bribes, dummies etc. I do t know any teenagers who require any of these things, so I'm pretty confident kids will grow up whatever you do

[Bishybishybarnabee]

We did until about 4 months, the he's fall asleep on me and if move him into a cosleeper crib, then at 5.5 months he went in a cot in his room. Didn't have any dramas in moving him.

[WakeUpFast]

Dc1 from birth to 3.5 years
Dc2 from birth to 2.5 years
Dc3 from birth to currently (over 2 years)

The elder two transitioned to beds very easily and I loved having them in with me. even now they all jump into bed and we kick dh out 😁. Everyone gets a full nights sleep and it's win win all around.