Co-sleepers - don’t you have to get up to change baby anyway?

[Member475802]

First-time mum-to-be-alert! My husband and i really loved the idea of the Snuzpod, but have been put off by our parents saying ‘but you have to get up to change them anyway, so what’s the point?’...good question. The idea that you can just reach over in the night to feed them (without disturbing husband) really appealed, but is that just being naive? I’d love to hear people’s thoughts/experience/opinions on this, as these babies are an expensive business as it is, I don’t want to make an unnecessary purchase. Oh, also, how easy is it for the mother to get in/out of bed with the cot attached to the bed??
Thanks :)

Exactly, littleducks. You only need to change poos at night.

Meant to say I always zip up the sides if he is in his Snuzpod whist it is not fastened to our bed... I'm not that bad a mother (I hope) ;) Hx

Yy to only changing poos. I kept everything I needed by the side of the bed and used the torch on my phone for light. Both my babies stopped pooing regularly at night within a few weeks.

Mine pooed every feed to start with and then most nights until about 5 months, so yes I did have to change nappies most nights.
Also, I couldn't get the hang of feeding lying down until baby was a bit bigger and had more head control (somewhere around 4 months). I couldn't have fed sitting up in bed as got a lot of backache and had to make sure I was sitting up properly in a chair with pillows supporting baby. So until we managed to feed lying down I had to get out of bed to feed anyway.
Having said that, once we did get the hang of feeding lying down it made the night feeds a lot more relaxing. But it just didn't seem to work at first.

We used a normal cot, made it with only 3 sides.

Put it next to my side of the bed, tied the base of the cot to the base of our bed. Slid the cot mattress over a couple of inches (there will be this small gap because of the width of the bed frame. Then we stuffed the gap at the far side of the cot mattress with a rolled up towel. Voila! A large, strong bedside cot for NO EXTRA MONEY.

Wow, thanks fellow Mumsnetters! You are bountiful in your wisdom and experience; many thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I shall worry not a jot about night-time changes, but will keep a stash of nappies beside me along with a miner's torch-style helmut (just in case)...and co-sleeping is back on my priority list. Hurrah! My husband has now vowed to buy a cheaper cot and 'customise' it to suit our co-sleeping requirements! He has such vision!!! :) Thanks again!

I would say keep an open mind. I wanted to co-sleep but just couldn't. I found it extremely unrestful! As in palpatations and stuff. Hated feeding lying down as well. My baby is really small though might be easier/more pleasant with a bigger more robust baby.

I do use a sidecar crib but with a sleepyhead in it. I feed in bed just by sitting up and reaching over then putting him back. Seems to work ok for us for now.

I have this as well - gro.co.uk/grolight - great for night feeds/ changes.

Just wanted to give my 2p worth - we have a bednest and I had a natural birth with episiotomy so a few stitches, nothing too bad. But I found it uncomfortable getting out of bed for the first week or so/ the act of scooting down the bed seemed to pull at my stitches a bit. Nothing too bad and no harm done but I was glad when it got more comfy. It did make me wonder how mums do it after a c section, since the bedside cots are always touted as fab after a section. I've also not really bothered feeding lying down as I don't like the idea of pulling 2m old DD across the bridge between cot and bed, it's too hard. So I sit up and do it. It is amazing waking up to a little face smiling right at you though!

OP, the Ikea Gulliver cot works well for customisation. We had that one, the side comes off and we bought two mattresses to raise it up to the level of our mattress. Then we bungeed it to our bed (you could look into bolting or using very strong cable ties - it has to have no chance of moving so that there's a gap between the cot and bed). I stuffed a rolled-up towel along the far side of the cot mattress because I'd shoved the mattress towards our own one.

DS2 spent almost all his co-sleeping time in our bed, however. He wanted to be snuggled up next to me and that's where he stayed. Eventually we put the side back on the cot and left it attached to the side of our bed, and he went down into the cot at his bedtime and came out into ours (using the side of the cot as a bed guard) whenever he woke up.