Exclusive breastfeeders past & present...a little poll for you.

[vlc]

A dear friend of mine is expecting her first baby soon. She is very committed to exclusive breastfeeding. She (as I did) bought a cot, moses basket, carrycot etc in the very reasonable expectation that the baby will sleep peacefully in one of them.

My own experience is that after only a few days of concerted effort trying and failing to persuade dd to sleep in her amby hammock, I gave in and co-slept out of desperation, and never looked back. I personally would not have succeeded in excl bf for 6 months if I has persevered in seperate sleeping arrangements. For me, the one enabled the other.

I was just wondering, though, what the MN experience has been. If you successfully bf exclusively, did you co-sleep occasionally, regularly, or never?

Just curious, really!

[BabiesEverywhere]

DD Currently 27 months still nursing. Occasionaly Co-sleeping.

DS Currently 3 months still nursing. Regularly Co-sleeping.

Only occassionally with DD as the layout in the bedroom meant the cot was several steps away from our bed and I was a nervous first time mum. Now our bedroom allows a bedside 3 sided cot on my side of the bed and we co-sleep most nights.

[Anglepoise]

Not sure what counts as co-sleeping ... DD has a cot next to our bed, where she usually sleeps. I have always done night feeds in bed. In the first few weeks, I would quite often fall asleep mid-feed and wake up an hour or so later to find her still on my chest, then put her down - so accidental co-sleeping. She also quite often comes into our bed for an hour or so in the morning.

The only other people whose sleeping and feeding arrangements I know about are my mum and my cousin, who both exclusively bf and both had their babies in a different room (for their first babies at any rate, not sure about the rest. Pretty sure my mum didn't co-sleep with any of us as babies though).

[ilovemydog]

The term co sleeping infers that it's a planned thing, whereas my experience is that it's haphazzard.

DD slept with me off and on until she was about a year, and then moved into her own cot.

DS (9 months) starts in his crib, and ends up in bed with me. He does nap in his own crib though

[WhatSheSaid]

Dd 12 mo, still bfing, bf exclusively for 6 months. Never co-slept. Just sure dh or I would squish her! They put her in my bed one night in hospital and I barely slept, I was so aware of her there.

Was just lucky she slept in moses basket (till 7 wks) then cot and seemed happy to go to sleep in there.

[sophiaverloren]

We have co slept once in my DS's life of 3.4 years. Bf until 14months. He was in Moses basket at the side of my bed until 8 weeks until he got too big, then went into cot in own room (all doors open between us and whole upstairs was the size of some people's bedrooms - but still felt bad that he was not in our room).
We were v lucky in that he was a really good eater during the day and rarely woke for a feed during the night after about 3 months. Oh, until 5 month hell of teething and growth spurt, which was the one night we co slept and then introduced dream feed which kept us going through that patch.
I think the time of year helped - when I was getting up in the night on a regular basis it was September/October and I didn't get too cold getting up and got back to sleep v easily. In the colder months, I can see the attraction of not getting out of bed!

[psychomum5]

I did both co-cleeping and them in their crib next to me, and I exBF the three girls for 6mths.

the boys were mixed fed from 2mths, exBF before then, and they also co-slept/slept in crib.

I think for me it depended on how I was feeling and how the older children were as they all climbed (still climb in the case of DS2) into our bed in the middle of the night if they were/are ill.

DD2 co-slept the most tho.......I always remember her being 6wks and DH berating me one morning for falling asleep while feeding her....."I could have squashed her don;t you know!" (in a very stern and shocked voice).

His face when I told him that she had slept with us from the first night home as she fed all night long and it was my only way of being able to sleep and keep sane.....!!

[Piffle]

with ds1 I co slept
But not with the next 2.
Their choice not mine!
I had comfy chair in their room after 6-7 mths
But fed sitting up in bed using bedside crib and cot

[pooka]

With dd, we co-slept occasionally but I did try and put her in her cot after feeds. Tried a moses basket but she hated it.

With ds, after dd's mnths of non-sleeping, bought a bedside crib which was bloody fantastic. So semi-co-slept in that the crib added extra area to the bed, and he was right there next to me.

When he grew out of the crib, he slept in his cot. He certainly co=slept in the sense of with me for the first 2 weeks. After 2 weeks dh moved back into our room and that was when the crib was used.

He slept brilliantly. But is odd, because he cannot sleep with us now - if he is ill or whatever, he just writhes and wriggles in our bed (is 3). Whereas dd (5) is quite a regular visitor in the middle of the night. Comes up to our bedroom saying that she has had a dreadful dream, while carrying her teddy, her drinks and whatever else paraphernalia she fancies. Have huge bed now so no matter. I rather like it!

[pooka]

Oh and exclusively fed dd until 4 months when introduced solids, but still breastfed her until she was about 14 months.

With ds, exclusively breast fed till 6 months and then breastfed until about 12months (his choice).

[Notanexcitingname]

Exclusively bf for 6 months (bf to over 2 years in the end) and never co-slept. Not DS's thing it would seem. He just won't settle and is generally far to busy tweaking my nose. Maybe different is we'd started early on, but he slept fine in his moses basket so we didn't consider it.

[trixymalixy]

I exclusively bf to 6 months and ocassionally co-slept because I fell asleep in bed while feeding!!

[potoroo]

DS - had no intention of co-sleeping, but often ended up doing so (because I fell asleep).

DD - knew what was coming, so booted DH to spare room and co-slept (DD spent about half the night in Moses basket/cot, half in our bed!)

DD still comes in for a morning feed (14 months) and a sleep

[Bramshott]

Exclusively bf both DDs.

With DD1 I was paranoid about co-sleeping (she was prem) and tried not to, but would fall asleep while feeding and then wake up in a panic feeling about for her .

With DD2 I was much more relaxed, and although I didn't deliberately set out to co-sleep, I did always night feed lying down, and of course there were times when we ended up co-sleeping. The moses basket was by the bed though, and if I was awake enough I would pop her in it and hold her hand over the side (DD2 always settled better in the moses basket than DD1). By 4-ish months she had stopped night feeds and went into her own room in her cot.

So I'd say that exclusive bf is certainly possible without co-sleeping, but that you get more sleep if you can master feeding lying down and take a reasonably relaxed attitude to falling asleep. Because I had read about co-sleeping I knew what to do in terms of lying on side, duvet pushed right down, blanket over me and DD, and so I wasn't so worried about it. For me one of the HUGE benefits of bf over ff is that you can do it in your sleep !

[AnarchyAunt]

Exclusively bf DD.

Intended to co-sleep and did til she was 18mths.

[mistlethrush]

Ds was exclusively bf until weaning and didn't co-sleep - dh very heavy sleeper and I get squashed sometimes - wouldn't have been able to sleep with both in bed for the worry.

We had moses basket by the bed replaced by cot with the side off when he grew out of basket. He moved into cot in his own room at 5.5mo.

Continued feeding to 22 months...

From reading this thread, its whatever works for you. Not co-sleeping doesn't mean that you won't be able to exclusively bf, but it can make it easier if it is convenient/possible.

[S1ur]

Exclusive bf two, always coslept with both.

Co-sleeping does make things enormously easier - especially in the early weeks/months but it depends on priorities - if sleeping alone matters more to her than sleeping more then getting up and feeding is perfectly doable. just more tiring.

[bluebread]

Bf DS and DD1 for a year, and have exclusively bf DD2 for 6 months and intend to carry on until at least 12 months, and have never had any of them in my bed.

I just couldn't sleep with a baby in the bed - much too scared about rolling on them/them overheating. I would rather sleep well when they're asleep and have the hassle of having to get up to feed them. I know I'm in the minority, but all of mine have slept happily in moses baskets/cots.

[puppydavies]

co-slept w/dd1 some of the time. when i actually needed to sleep we'd put her in her car seat (yeah yeah i know) so dp could rock her back to sleep when she woke every 45 mins. she'd sleep slightly longer chunks when co-sleeping but i often wouldn't.

dd2 slept in an amby-alike hammock. for hours at a time

[witchandchips]

never co-slept, moses basket next to bed and then cot. was in the main a good sleeper (at nights) though as would wake up to feed a couple of times and then always go straight back down.

Aitch if you are still there, I just want to say that 12 weeks with a premmie is real good going. x

[Haylstones]

I have Exc bf 2 babies and both started off in their cot but ended up in bed with me. Dd did this until 11 months when she started sleeping through and ds still does it most nights at 9 months.

[Fennel]

I exclusively fed 3 dds. All were mostly cosleeping with us, but we intended that from the start.

One of them was a far more restless sleeper and she was in a separate cot more, and younger, because we all slept better that way. It didn't affect the breastfeeding. So we coslept more with the two good sleepers and less with the poor sleeper.

[JulesJules]

Ex bf both dds. The cot was pushed up next to our bed, but in practise we usually co-slept for most, if not all of the night. We co-slept with both right through until they stopped bf - dd1 at 2y and dd2 at 3y6m. This meant a long period of 4 in a bed! I also think that the two go together, co-sleeping certainly enables ex bf in my view.

( Did someone say that co-sleeping is going to be banned?? How, exactly? Don't the gvt look at the research before they come out with these moronic pronouncements?
Oh, that's right, they don't. )