Feeding in bed - am I missing a trick?

[redandyellowandpinkandgreen]

We don't co-sleep, mainly because DH is a smoker, he doesn't smoke in the house or around us but the guidelines still say you shouldn't. I bring DS (three weeks old) in to bed to feed him and find this works okay. However, when I feed from my right side it means the baby is lying on the outside of the bed with no wall or anything, so he could roll off (in theory, I keep a hand on him so he can't).

I have sometimes found myself dozing like this and worry about him falling off the bed so now I have to force myself awake to feed.

A lot of people post about just latching on in the night and not really waking up. How do you manage to do that and not worry about the baby rolling off the bed? It is fine when he's in the middle and between us. Do you just feed from one side at night? Would that work?

I wonder if I'm missing a simple solution!

My dp is a smoker and a heavy sleeper so I don't feel comfortable having ds between us, but we have a cosatto bedside cot up against my side of the bed so he can't roll out anywhere and I only feed on that side. You can get guard rails that attach to the bed too though.

I too don't really know how to feed and co-sleep in bed, so I'll be watching this thread with interest!

I still co-sleep a lot with DD2 (nearly 6 months). I've always found she doesn't move a lot in her sleep when she's in with me - she lies on her side facing me, attached to the boob, and that's how she stays. Recently she has started rolling onto her back sometimes but that's all. I usually just shift over to make sure there is quite a big space between her and the end of the bed, and I usually have an arm round her anyway.

Having said that, DH left our bed for the sofabed about 5 1/2 months ago (he is a very light sleeper), so me and DD2 are sharing a king size bed so there is plenty of room! On the odd occassions DH has tried to sneak back into our bed he ends up sleeping practically hanging off his side of the bed to give us enough room.

Dunno if that helps as I'm basically saying kick your husband out of bed!

Cot was right up against the side of the bed, if that's not poss for your room layout then I agree that a toddler clipon bedside thing might reassure you (it'll probably come in handy for holidays when he's older too).

We have a guard rail and a superkingsize bed.

I sometimes just roll a little bit further over and feed off the top boob if I am too tired to swap sides. And saves ds2 getting kicked and headbutted if ds1 who sleeps on the other side has strayed too far over.

I second the toddler rails - we have a lindham one. it is supposed to be attached by rods that go under a single mattress and up the far side to sort of hook on. Obviously this doesn't work on a kingsize, but the weight of the mattress seems to keep it in place.

I have a rolled up cellular blanket to just put behind her back to stop her rolling over. As long as it's not behind the head so that they can still unlatch or move if boob covers their nose at all.

I worried about this so I used a foam bumper, I think the brand is "bed bugs", I got it on eBay for under a tenner. It goes under the sheet. Now the cot is bungied to the side of the bed with the side down so if he did roll he'd just drop 2" into the cot.

baby in the middle and i used to move (next to dh or next to the wall.

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I used to leave baby in the middle and then change where my head was, either at the right end or the wrong one. Obviously I used to have to move baby up and down the bed.

I also feed with baby in the middle of the bed and just roll over a bit further to do the top boob. She actually seems to prefer that angle to the bottom boob and it's just as comfy.

I did start of by swapping her over, but it just woke us both up too much!

I received one of these from my SIL and would always use it when I bought my DD in with us
bit.ly/hIiWA1

I waken my DH up to swap sides so that my DD is always in the middle! HOWEVER, I don't usually have to that much as my DD is usually asleep before finishing the first boob these days

I started co-sleeping and BF DD in bed when she was around 5 months (sat up in bed and returned her to moses basket when finished before this) and I used to put a pillow on the edge of the bed so she wouldnt roll out. Shes now 9 months and sleeps between DH and I because she started kicking the pillow away and it wasnt very safe. I usually just feed from one side in the night as she just lies there and helps herself when she wants to suck.
If I was to go back in time I would have just bought a bedrail and co-slept/fed from day 1 as it is a lot easier and you get a lot more sleep.

I used a Lindam rail till DS got bigger, when we just put the mattress on the floor.

DS has never got the idea of automatic latching, but I have been known to fall asleep once he's feeding.

I roll him across my body once or twice a night to switch sides.

I was wondering the same thing!

The thing is many posters have said they put the baby in the middle of the bed, but I haven't done that because of SIDS guidance (risk of dad rolling over). I'm assuming because many of you do it it isn't as much of a risk as I thought so maybe I'll try that.

It probably depends on your DP - mine can sleep through the fire alarm going off, so I don't doubt that he'd roll on the baby If you sleep with your arm around the baby though you're giving some protection.

We have a guard rail on my side of the bed and ds starts on that side.

I have never got the hang of feeding from the "top" side so when I want to swap sides I move ds into the middle of the bed between dh and myself.

He often also sleeps on top of me, sort of draped over the side with me on my back.

I never got the hang of it myself but midwife advised me not to put the baby in the middle to make sure they're kept away from duvets / pillows / rolling DPs.

Instead she said put the baby on the outside, with a rolled up towel down the other side to create a little nest for them, with their own blanket over them. I always wondered how to feed with the other side but there are some good ideas on this thread - I never would have thought of turning myself round to put my head at the foot end!!

At 3 weeks I should think the risk of them rolling is pretty small anyway.