Bed sharing with toddler and risks

[walkingbootspits]

As long as the bed sharer isn't on drugs or medication than is bed sharing safe? Finding it hard to get info online

Of course it is.
You can safely bed share with a newborn following lullaby guidelines; a todddler is much more robust.
use your common sense

Check out the lullaby trust. They advise seperate sleeping to prevent SIDS as the safest however do offer advice on how to make co sleeping as safe as possible.

Look at lullaby trust, but honestly the risks are much reduced with a toddler, obviously excluding risks like the parent being drunk or on drugs.

You may want to just follow most of the safe sleep guidelines for infants, as many of the factors still apply, although toddlers are more able to move around.

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/safer-sleep-information/co-sleeping/

Things to consider might be:

• what you've mentioned above - no sharing when adult smokes, or has been drinking, taking drugs, on medication that causes drowsiness
• keeping the child from overheating (e.g. use a toddler sleeping bag, don't put them under the adult duvet)
• preventing them from falling out the bed or getting trapped in slatted headboard (e.g. push bed against the wall and ensure there is no gap, or use a bed guard)
• removing pillows from the area they are sleeping in

You’ll need a bed guard unless you have a floor bed to stop them rolling out. And depends how deeply you sleep and if they go to bed before you but some basic baby/toddler proofing of the bedroom would be a good idea too e.g. anchoring heavy furniture. And yes no to being on drugs or drunk but I can’t see what else would be a risk for a toddler. They can have a blanket and pillow after age 1 although the duvet shouldn’t be more than 4 tog as they’re more prone to overheating than adults.

Lullaby only goes to 1 year old. I've got a toddler at 2.5

Only states for 0-12

Yes, but many of the considerations still apply, as mentioned.

I'm trying to do it just in his room with a floor bed and nothing else

I have a 2yr old, in his own room.and floor bed.

Make sure the bed is safe... no chances of getting trapped between wall and bed or slats in headboard etc

Use a toddler duvet or a quilted sleepsuit

Suitable mattress and pillows (firm)

Adult can't be a smoker, no drink or drug use

ETA: Anchor any furniture like wardrobes or drawers that could cause injury

We also have a stairgate across his door

Guidelines are a bit OTT. Just do it. It's a bed not the fast lane of the M1.

Bedsharing with a toddler; you’re more at risk. Be ready for feet in your face, fingers in your hair and no blankets. Oh and unless toilet trained, good potential of urine soaked pj’s.

And water bottle emptied over you lol

Why can't you just put the toddler in a cot?
You'll both sleep better.
I'd hate to share a bed with a small child.

Some kids don't like cots... my son is in a floorbed because he needed more space than a cot. He never slept well in a cot because he moves so much

Also, I don't cosleep muxh anymore but I actually get a much better night sleep in the bed with him because I can sense and feel when he moves about and I'm not just in a light sleep waiting to hear him shout to me from a different room.

My son vaulted out of his cot just after he turned two.

Last night he came to our bedroom (shut all the doors behind him), climbed into bed, then proceeded to kick me in the back for an hour.

Honestly OP, I'd worry more about yourself ...

Some toddlers need someone beside them to feel settled and safe enough to sleep. Some toddlers still feed in the night. Some toddlers still wake regularly for whatever other reason. Some parents don't want to have to get up and traipse around in the middle of the night to settle or retrieve a crying child. etc.

Now that reminds me of my DD2. She was under a year when climbing out of cot though

We're all different - I loved it. Nothing like snuggles in the morning.

Maybe OP doesn't want to put her toddler in a cot? I co-slept with all of mine from birth and it was lovely - easy to do night feeds and we all slept well. Youngest slept in our bed until he was 3.5 yrs old and then went straight into his own bed in his own room with no problems! Co-sleeping is wonderful if that's what parents want to do. Babies feel safe and most sleep better when close to their mum ☺️

My toddler started sleeping through the night we moved her out of the cot and into a floorbed! Sometimes the cot is the problem.

You might like the Facebook group The Beyond Sleep Training Project, I believe they have safe cosleeping guidelines pinned at the top but you can also post to ask about your specific situation.

You need the biggest bed known to mankind. For such small beings, they take up a disproportionate amount of space so the biggest risk is that both parents end up on the floor. Ours lies perpendicular so that he can punch one and kick the other at the same time