I need some co-sleeping advice please!

[HipHopOpotomus]

DD2 is EBF and at 3.5 months all is going well. We've been co-sleeping and love it.

But what do you do once baby becomes mobile? She goes to bed before me. I really don't want to use a cot for the few hours between dd's bedtime and mine. She is a heavy and long sleeper and she doesn't cry on waking, so I wouldn't know if she woke up and started moving around/crawling once all that starts.

Can you tell me what you did? Am i missing something really obvious?

DD1 went into her cot until she woke up for the first time in the night

DD2 snoozes on a beanbag in the lounge with us.

DD1 slept for long stretches, DD2 doesn't!

We have a mattress on the floor with a cot mattress next to it, and a baby gate across the door. When on holiday LO sleeps in a cor until she wakes then joins us in bed.

I have a bedguard on one side and a V shaped cushion on the other, wedging DS in with the duvet rolled up at the bottom of the bed and curled around to stop him rolling off the end. He's 7 and a half months and a couple of days ago he pulled himself up on the bedguard so I am putting the cot up tomorrow for daytime naps.

At night I act as a bed guard.

As well as putting up guards you could get a monitor with built in camera and screen? I'm sure you could get on cheap off e-bay??

We used a cot, then the bed with a bedguard till DS started pulling up (when they're not safe), then the mattress went on the floor. I don't bother with a stairgate or anything - DS can open the bedroom door himself (he's 19 m.o. now) but it's difficult for him to move in his sleeping bag, and I have the monitor on all the time.

When on holiday he sleeps on a lilo on the floor before we go to bed.

We also used to use a video monitor - I think we got it for about £30 from Ebay second hand.

We are in Japan - we had a variety of futons on the floor, so all four of us could co-sleep.

We did that until the DC went into bunkbeds in their own room, at 4.5 and 3 yrs.

When we coslept full time (until about 10 months old) I fed her to sleep in our bed, waited until she was totally asleep and then built a wall around her with the pillows. It seemed to work. She would always signal that she was awake by little noises and moans so if she woke up before we went to bed I was always there before she had a chance to roll out of bed. By the time she was properly mobile she realised that if she crawled over the side of the bed it would hurt and she only did it a couple of times.

i feed ds to sleep downstairs. Then he has prime position in the deep corner or our L shaped sofa. I carry him up to bed when i go up. He's very quiet when he stirs and if i didn't catch it quickly he's be up for ages.

MFM, does he wake when you carry him up?

Hi angeldog. Nope. He used to sometimes need a boob to resettle him in bed but this always worked really quickly and he hasn't needed it for ages.

DS does go to sleep in his own cot now until he waskes up (usually around 11pm) and we then just bring him into bed with us. When he was younger

I would put my DS in his cot,then when I went to bed I would put him in bed with me.

we followed the advice of our pediatrician: removed the bedframe and laid the big mattress and two futons on the floor. now we have plenty of space for everyone and don't have to worry about anyone falling off anywhere (we have three dc under 2)

Buy a very rustly mattress protector and have a baby monitor with lights - you won't necessarily hear the rustling, but if the monitor is by the TV or otherwise in your eyeline you'll notice a flicker.

But yes I just blocked DS in with pillows if I ever left him alone, though I don't think I did until he was crawling anyway. Bed guard? We also had a three sided cot which I used on one side of the bed.

Ah, I guessed as much, MFM. DS always wakes if moved any distance (although I can move him from lilo on floor to the bed without waking 85% of the time as long as he remains horizontal and face down). I'm always on the look out for different ways of doing things to keep in mind for any future DC.

We had the bed in a corner and bed guards on the other sides until they got properly mobile at 9 months. They now go in cots until the first feed of the night, when they normally come into the bed.

hi - thanks for sharing everyone, there's some great ideas here. Seems you are all very inventive!! We seriously don't have room for a cot here so until we move (hopefully within 6 months) that's not an option. But DD2 is only 3.5 months so I have a little time up my sleeve yet.

angeldog fingers crossed for you!

Klkiuuhhlluyuiloop B

Thanks, MFM. :) I just neeed AF to return!

Oh I just looked on threads I'm on and seen this. That last contribution was from 14mo ds that's his thoughts on co sleeping (translates to mean it's very cosey and snug I think)