co sleeping and breast feeding - any tips 4 starting with a 6 wk old?

[louloupoo]

I'd like to try co sleeping with my 6 wk old ds but I'm not totally sure how to go about it.

How do I position myself so i'm comfy all night? And do I use ds's bedding over him and duvet to my waist? And do I put ds on his side to sleep all night so he can get to my boob?

Any and all advice on what to do greatly appreciated xx

I've co-slept with all of mine. I think the NHS publish safe guidelines because my HV gave me a leaflet about it when I had DD 2 months ago.

I personally position DD on her side with her face adjacent to my face in the middle of the bed. I then change sides throughout the night as she feeds from each side. DH is currently sleeping with our other children as he's nervous about sleeping in the same bed as a small baby. Co sleeping is great. - I breasfeed her without waking really. It will probably take you a bit of time to get used to it but I could not imagine having to get up 2 or 3 times during the night to feed and resettle a baby in a cot. And when you wake up in the morning, you have a little face looking at you. I would worry if I couldn't see/hear my baby at night.

There is a UNICEF Baby Friendly leaflet about safe co-sleeping - I'll try to find it and link.

Ds 1 wasn't interested in co-sleeping, but with ds2 it has been a Godsend.

I wear a warm top and the duvet sits around my waist. Ds has a sleeping bag on and no duvet/blanket.

www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/sharingbedleaflet.pdf

I used to wear a fitted cardigan so that my arms and shoulders were warm but my boobs were free. I found waking up to fiddle with a bra was too disturbing.

I second the unicef leaflet that nicky has linked.

My DH slept either in the spare room or on a mattress in the same room when DD was small. It meant I could move her around the bed to switch sides without worrying about DH squashing her. We all sleep together now (she's 20 months) but she stays on my left all night and I feed her from both sides without moving her. That was tricky to master but worth the effort because it meant more sleep for me!

Enjoy!

Hi i'm still co sleeping with dd who is 18 mths now! when she was very little i slept with her face level with mine almost as when she woke up would just pull her close to me and she would feed then nod off again i kind of slept in the recovery positon with a pillow to my back so i could lean back and give her room and me a break from that i position when i needed it. i would have her in a sleeping bag and duvet to my waist and no pillow above her head (i would sleep at end of pillow with majority behind my head just incase it slipped over her)as she got older it gets easier as she kick me away if im too close and moves herself in for a feed ! its a fab way to get more sleep and she is basically in the same sleep pattern as me now! only downfall i have found is i have no clue how to get her into her own bed now! good luck

Thanks 4 the tips I'm going to give it a try tonight. My DP shares the bed so we'll c how it goes with swapping sides...

A little nervous but definitely keen to give it a try :-)