Co-sleeping, feeding, baby onto back

[TheCuriousSofa]

Newborn is primarily in bed with me, as I can't get her friends boob to sidecar cot without protest. I also can't get her from boob to mattress without protest, so we're working on feeding lying down.

But how do you get a sleepy baby who's just come off the boob onto their back without them waking? Am I doing it wrong by having her rolled onto her side for feeding? She kind of needs to be on her side to feed, or she has to twist her neck - but then she falls asleep on her side and I need to get her onto her back to sleep safely - which I can't seem to do without waking her.

How do people maneuver this?

*from, not friends - am typing this while struggling with all the above!

Secondarily, if anyone has any advice on how to deal with CONSTANT feeding at night that would be welcome. I'm dying here!

Wait until her arm goes floppy, about 5 minutes, then roll her.

Try using a dummy, the mam ones are good.

Hmm. I've tried waiting up to fifteen minutes, but the slightest movement and she starts squiggling. I haven't been looking for floppy arms though, so maybe if I hang on for that it'll work better.

Certainly considering dummy, but I don't want to resort to it yet as we've had some feeding issues and I want to get well-established before introducing anything new on that department. Will give it a go though if we're in the same position in a few weeks!

You have to let her wriggle and whinge. Bothmy babies have been the same (have a 13 week old now). Both will whinge when first moved and might cry when I put them back in their side cot, but they do stop. I faffed around with my DD1 far too much and never gave her the chance to just settle herself. My new boy is far better and settling in his Moses because I just give him time! It's the safest thing you can do and also the best way to save yourself from exhaustion

When I co-slept I put DS on his back, I laid on my side sort of leaning forward and maneuvered my nipple into his mouth. Then when he fell asleep I settled onto my side properly. I don't know how to describe it really so I hope that makes sense! The constant night feeding is a right slog! Rest assured it does improve. My son never took a dummy or bottle - only wanted boob! - so I just had to persevere. Things improved around the 10 week mark quite significantly although he remained a frequent night waker for a while. 3 weeks was the worst time for cluster feeding for me. Good luck!

I used to lay my hand on DD's front for a bit then when she was in a deeper sleep I'd slowly lift it off.

This only worked some of the time. As they get older it gets easier. Take it as easy as you can during the day

I'm just going to put this here but prepared to be criticised:
My baby (now 1yo) has never been able to sleep on her back. She has always slept on her side (now mostly her tummy). Of course there are risks involved, and I kept a close eye on her, but it worked for us.
If you're cosleeping could you Cradle her while rolling her onto her back, so your arm is still under her head and neck and then after a little while, gradually withdraw? It might be a matter of doing each stage slowly. (Though you've probably tried all these things).
If you're finding she falls asleep a lot while nursing the Pantley books suggest withdrawing the breast just as the feeding slows right down with lots of pauses, and I found that gently pulling away meant she had to put more effort into 'holding on' which is difficult while sleepy and she withdrew herself. If she fusses put her back on and try again.