Would I be wrong to keep her in my bed tonight?

[aewwwenxt]

My two week old doesn't sleep much at night and it's been getting to me for the last 3-4 days. Tonight as soon as I put her in her basket she wakes up, but she's been asleep next to me in bed for a while now.
I know it's not even midnight yet but I can't have a repeat of last night where I didn't get any sleep until 8am!
Would I be stupid/dangerous to keep her in my bed just for an hour or two until she wakes up for her next feed? I obviously wouldn't have a blanket near her or any pillows

I co-slept from day one with dd2 after having found trying to settle dd1 in a cot (even a sidecar) absolute hell and suffering through the first 6 months of her life with very broken sleep.

dd2 sleeps like an angel, i can dreamfeed, and everyone has been rested and so much happier second time around. that said i did co-sleep with dd1 too so i felt confident plus i’m a light sleeper and dh is in a different room - safety first.

if you do it safely then co-sleeping is wonderful for both mum and baby, i treasure all the cuddles!

We had a wriggly baby so sleeping was not specially safe: he managed to drag himself to the end of the bed a couple of days, and wedged himself between the bed and the wall by day 4, on day 5 he went into a bedside cot, which didn’t make much difference to him as in his little practical head he realised that next to me or not he was still in a cot/basket and not with me.

He was in hospital for a condition he was born with before he was 4 weeks old and while at the hospital, the nurses put him on a changing mattress (those with slightly higher foam edges) with a towel on, inside of a coat. He couldn’t escape that so we did the same at home but put the changing mattress and towel between us at night when it was difficult for him to settle.

Not inside of a coat, inside of a cot!

When I had my first baby 13 years ago, a midwife in hospital put him on bed with me when he wouldn't settle. She strongly recommended safe co-sleeping, which is how we continued when we got home.

A few years later when I had my dd, I was discouraged from co-sleeping at all. I still did it because I had babies who wouldn't settle in cots and fed a lot during the night, so it worked for us.

Bed sharing isn't just a case of 'bringing baby in bed', you have to make sure the environment is safe for them (no duvets, pillows or gaps etc) and not if you're completely exhausted. Would it help to set a bed up for yourself in baby's room?

I had a Chicco next to me cot which was amazing as my babies were right next to me and slept really well in it and I could just roll over and comfort them when they needed it. I was too scared to have them in bed with me. I sleep so heavily when I’m tired I was worried about rolling on them and not realising so the cot was perfect for us.

I am breastfeeding and I wake up st every little thing with her so not worried about that, it's just because every professional I've seen has been anti cosleeping I got worried I think.
I'm going to rearrange the bedroom today to make the bed as safe as possible for her, and I'm not going out at all or seeing anyone so I can definitely sleep when she does so I'm not too tired later.
Thank you everyone!

I co-slept with all three of mine - two till about 7 months and one till 14 months.

I co-slept with all my children. Newborns sleep much better with their mums

Aww bless you , I remember this so well , my midwife really encouraged co sleeping , I did from birth until she slept through , made my nights so much easier ! Good luck

I co slept from birth with my younger two. We had a bedside cot but they wouldn’t sleep in it. Now 2.7 and 6mo and we still co sleep. Works for us and no good evidence it’s less safe if you have no risk factors

Safe co-sleeping is definitely a thing. To be completely anti about it without offering sensible advise re safe co-sleeping is irresponsible. I understand there have been cases of babies being rolled on etc but just about every case involved unsafe conditions (alcohol, exhaustion, sleeping on sofa, father sleeping with baby etc).

Definitely look at the bedside cots because they're fantastic. And enjoy the snuggles and the lovely sleepy milky breath 😍

Pre kids I said I'd never co-sleep didn't understand those that did. Post kids mine was with me until 4months then in his own room x

Yes perfectly fine just make your bed safe. You can pull it out from the wall if you need to, but realistically at 2 weeks, they can’t go anywhere really as long as there is plenty of space. Both of mine slept with me from birth (eldest til she was 3.5 and youngest til just past 1 but he’s been back with me the past few days because of the heat).

Also make sure your partner is sharing the nights! My dh stayed up with ours sleeping on him watching films til 12-1am every night while I tried to get a few hours sleep (he’d bring them to me for feeds and then I’d hand them back). Then I’d take over from about 1am and he’d sleep in the spare room to not disturb us. It meant we each got enough sleep to survive until it got easier.

Also all professionals aren’t anti co sleeping and there is lots of good guidance on it now. Our red books in our area have a whole pull out section on the benefits of co sleeping and how to do it safely.