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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Falling asleep while BF...what did you do to keep yourself awake?!

65 replies

Lilypad7 · 15/10/2013 09:30

First time poster, long time lurker...
DD is 5 weeks old, EBF, and I can't stop falling asleep while feeding during the night. I must just close my eyes for 30 seconds and I'm gone and It worries me I'll squish her while asleep!

What do you all do to keep yourself awake/ occupied at night?

OP posts:

princessx · 16/10/2013 11:10

Another co-sleeping enthusiast here! Ds2 co-slept from day 1 and I felt so well rested for his first 6 months compared to my experience with dd1.

He's a rolling crawling maniac but hasn't fallen out of bed yet. Think I'll buy those bed guards though just to be extra safe.

RigglinJigglin · 16/10/2013 12:02

Anothet vote for cosleeping.

OP I was genuinely terrified of bed sharing having read all the negative information, and due to the fact I am completely risk adverse IRL.

After 3weeks of virtually no sleeping I started to read the safe co sleeping research and brill info on here.

We've been happily cosleeping for 5months now. I truly don't think I could've survived the 4m sleep regression otherwise. It's not for everyone but its worked for us.

Now getting DD to fall asleep without a boob near in her mouth is the challenge.

Creamtea1 · 16/10/2013 15:01

Can someone explain co sleeping? Does it just mean that you sleep in the same bed or do you mean sleeping in a specific position? I put dd in the bed next to me anytime after 6am but all we do us share the bed, she is not attached to me or I am not holding her sort of thing. I have never been able to feed lying down and even if I could I would be paranoid of falling asleep and suffocating her with a boob!

FoxMulder · 16/10/2013 16:50

The thing I don't understand about cosleeping, is aren't you freezing and uncomfortable with no duvet or pillows? I guess you could wear warm clothes but I don't think that would work for me (I sleep in the nude! If I do manage to fall asleep with clothes on I take them off in my sleep!)

ReturnPlacenta · 16/10/2013 20:40

Me too, I can't imagine being able to sleep without a duvet and pillow, and I'd worry that even if I'd pushed the duvet down to my legs I'd pull it up again in my sleep.

RigglinJigglin · 16/10/2013 20:56

I have a top sheet and some very good flannel type pyjamas - admittedly I am sometimes cold in the night but tbh I'm just glad I'm not up with a screaming baby.

I sleep on my side, bottom arm underneath my head other arm holding LO legs. Her head is usually somewhere near my boob / arm pit.

Some good info here: www.isisonline.org.uk/where_babies_sleep/parents_bed/

sheeplikessleep · 17/10/2013 08:00

I wear vest which I hoik up and a cardigan, pj bottoms and thick socks. I tend to put the duvet over my feet.

I never really am properly awake, so drop off again quite easily. The times I have got up to change ds3 and then fed feeding upright, I find it harder to get back to sleep. In contrast to lying asleep, getting woken by ds3, latch him on and I'm back to sleep quickly. Dh says I'm snoring within a minute or two

I lie on my side and switch sides as and when I think about it. So lie on my left side for example, left arm outstretched over ds3s head, left leg out straight and right leg bent up underneath ds3. Having my left arm above him and right leg bent up should mean I don't roll over onto him. I always wake in that position. He hardly cries in the night, as he gets fed straightaway.

BUT, I do worry that he is getting used to being fed to sleep, but we can cross that bridge when we need to.

TheABC · 17/10/2013 09:35

We do planned cosleeping when DS is particularly fussy or upset as DH goes to sleep in another room (DH is terrified of squishing the baby as he is a restless sleeper and its a queen sized bed). When that happens, I pull out a light velvet blanket to cover us both, plus a grobag for the baby and a fleece dressing gown for myself. Little one sleeps next to my boobs, with one arm above his head, the other across his legs and my legs curled around his body. So basically, I am wrapped around him, like a shell. I do keep one memory foam pillow for myself, to prevent neck crick-not ideal, but as it's firm and kept away from him, I consider the risk of suffocation to be negligible. It makes feeding so easy; he fusses, I dunk a nipple in mouth, neither of us really wakes up.

I don't do it full time, as I do want to sleep next to DH for cuddles/sex/duvet fights. DS goes into a cot next to the bed and I just lift him across for feeds on regular nights (thankfully only every 3 hours, usually) .

MistressofPemberley · 17/10/2013 16:34

I think as long as any bedding is away from the baby's head, it's ok. I still use a pillow and a duvet but they don't cover DD. Literally as fresh as a daisy 9 weeks in; with DS, and before cosleeping, I was on my knees by now.

hettienne · 17/10/2013 16:40

It would have killed me to try to stay awake during night feeds, but I am a big sleeper

I kept a pillow and duvet, just had the pillow at my head height away from the baby and the duvet tucked in under the bottom of the mattress so it came up to my waist. Baby in a sleeping bag was between my waist/bent leg and arm so protected from duvet/pillow, and I never rolled or moved in my sleep.

Quite often I would wake up wondering if DS had slept through as I didn't remember feeding him, but empty breasts suggested otherwise!

williaminajetfighter · 17/10/2013 16:42

Well put Starball...

LurcioLovesFrankie · 17/10/2013 16:57

Only wish I'd known about safe co-sleeping. After a few incidents where I fell asleep flopped forwards over DS I took to feeding him sitting upright in a kitchen chair because it was the only way I could make myself sufficiently uncomfortable to stay awake. There were a whole host of reasons why BF didn't work out for me, but I don't think this can have helped. (Eventually discovered co-sleeping when he was about 8 months old - he didn't go into his own room till he was over 2!)

duchesse · 17/10/2013 17:29

Oh dear Lurcio- I should have foisted some uninvited advice on you... Sorry.

SquidgersMummy · 17/10/2013 20:27

I was paranoid re SIDS so was on my phone, dug finger nails in, pulled hairs on back of my neck, drank tea from travel mug.....at 5mths I swooped to SAFE co-sleeping as everyone describes. No pillow or quilt (in Winter I had a sleeping bag to my waist, a onesie and a shrug), baby in grobag, bedrail so baby next to me and not DH.

Whilst your baby is little can you attach a cot?? We had ikea cot assembled minus side and attached so I leant over, fed. Does give you a bit more space and made me less worried re squishing.

THIS IS A MUST: during the day sleep when baby sleeps or curl up on middle of bed for naps together.

Hugs and congrats xxxx

AndIFeedEmGunpowder · 17/10/2013 20:28

YY to cosleeping. I don't think I would have survived first six months without it.

I wore an attractive M&S onesie that could be unbuttoned to the waist and an ancient cashmere cardigan to stay warm. Once she could creep and roll I had the duvet up to my waist (not on her).

I think loads of people do it but lie. I didn't tell the HV because I knew she'd tell me off.

catellington · 17/10/2013 22:52

I often thought about onesies being good for co sleeping, could be funny, me and dd would be matching! I think I will try it. gruber thanks! I will have a look at bed rails. Someone offered an arms reach bedside cot for £30 at a net sale I went to, I think dd is nearly too big for it but might get it anyway for next time. Although that brings me to another question maybe someone can answer (sorry if derailing thread a tad) - if you have a bedside cot etc, do you have to get rid of bedside table? Where does your cup of tea go? ( and more importantly where do the green and blacks go?)

catellington · 17/10/2013 22:52

Nct sale not net sale

fl0b0t · 17/10/2013 23:02

I've found this really interesting. I'm struggling with my 5 week old who I feed lying down at night. Been trying not to sleep but have fallen asleep a couple of times. The last few nights is Been hard to transfer him into his moses basket because he wakes up windy whereas if I leave him asleep next to me he is fine. Think we might also be reaching 6wk growth spurt as he's not happy unless feeding. With the nhs so dead set against Co sleeping its hard to decide whether it is risky or not ...

HootShoot · 17/10/2013 23:10

I co-slept with dd from about 2 months I think. I would sleep in the middle of the bed with dh in front of me and a bed guard and dh behind me. I slept in pjs and a cardie, no bedding. I think it saved my sanity!

This time I'm planning on co-sleeping from day one. A question though - is it worth getting an armsreach crib or will it be a waste of money as baby will most likely end up staying in bed with us? Also how long does the period last where you change your baby's nappy every feed or did you not do that with a second child?

AndIFeedEmGunpowder · 17/10/2013 23:26

Cat we started off with the gateway bednest co-sleeper cot before we just switched to hard line co-sleeping. I put the bedside table flush against the wall and then the crib slightly lower down the bed so DD's head was level with my boob. Worked quite well but had to get out of bed quite far down IYSWIM. And yes, lovely to be matching.

fl0b0t could co-sleeper crib be a good compromise for you?

Beesandbutterflies · 17/10/2013 23:32

I didn't, cosleeping saved our sanity

workingtitle · 17/10/2013 23:38

I'd love to cosleep with DS but he was premature and now only just over 5lb so been advised not to. Finding the nights tough but I get up to change him, grab a fresh glass of water, mess about online...

rosiedays · 17/10/2013 23:54

Great thread, I co-sleeped great at first but have recently not been able to sleep well so I got a bed side cot! Love it. Dd is 3 months. the cot gives you the option to move baby into their own space without getting up if you want to. i also get top half in the cot sometimes and feed her in her space. (Then snuggle back up to dh under quilt)
It really has made a big difference and i would recommend it if you have room.

Sunnysummer · 18/10/2013 00:36

The guidelines here are good and include a useful illustration!

We sleep with blankets and sheet pulled up just above the waist, baby on top of sheets in own sleeping bag (we've found that he needs a lighter outfit underneath when he cosleeps, as I warm him up). When he was very small and I was being extra conscientious I slit an old turtle neck up the middle and wore it over a feeding tank so that I could be warm without my shoulders covered

One thing we've been told is to be very careful of bed rails or bumpers - babies do not tend to be harmed in the (rare) instances of falling off beds, as their skeletons are very soft, but babies have smothered in gaps between beds and rails or mattress and headboard. Any gap over 2.5cm needs to be filled with something firm and secure like rolled up towels.

At 6 months DS now mostly sleeps in his sidecar cot (cheap ikea one with height adjusted to the level of my bed and one side left off) and I do miss some of the snuggles!

fl0b0t · 18/10/2013 02:58

In terms of bed Nest or side cots.... what happens the 50% of the time they're feeding from the other Boob? Sorry if that's a stupid question!

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