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!

Exclusively bf DD until 5months with some co-sleeping. First 8 weeks getting up to feed and settling her in carrycot. She started to sleep through for a few weeks but is now hungry about 4am and as it's so cold in our room laziness dictates co-sleeping. As Noolia said, I intend to put her back in cot but fall asleep. I wish I'd seen this thread when DD first born - thought I'd be 'told off' if admitted co-sleeping!! But hey, laziness wins everytime with me

exclusively bfed too, didn't cosleep with nr 1, coslept with nr 2 for 3 months- and i still do sometimes. you sleep wherever you can get some sleep, and usually that keeps changing at times goes by...

Exclusively breastfeeding DS (4 months). Never really co-slept, except in the very early days when I fell asleep feeding him and he fell asleep once he'd finished . He was in a moses basket in our room until about 10 weeks, and then in a cot in his room once he grew out of that - no space in our room for his cot.

However, I have been really lucky in that he's been sleeping through since about 6 weeks, which made it much easier, and meant I felt more comfortable not sleeping with him. I suspect that if he hadn't, then I probably would have moved to co-sleeping, as I was finding it very tiring just getting up to pick him up out of his moses basket, and I think we both would have had more sleep if I'd been co-sleeping.

I breastfed for 9 and again for 12 mths (i was feeding2 at once for 2 months) and I never coslept. Im lucky in that I can fall asleep anywhere so Id get up feed then go back to my bed quite happily. good luck x

Exclusively bf for 6 months - never co-slept.

I would've liked to but the midwives puts the fear of God into me saying that they'd seen the statistics and it wasn't worth it. My Mum wanted to kill them for scaring me so.

Excl BF until 6mo - co-slept for about 4 weeks, then he went into his cot at the side of the bed. Didn't move him into his own room until about 5 months.

Exclusively bf dd1, but she was a great sleeper and really placid baby from the start, and only ever woke for 2 or 3 feeds max during the night, so put her back in her moses basket then cot from the get go. plus i was paranoid about smothering her! dd2 - whoa, a whole different story. almost from birth she latched on really well (unlike dd1), but boy did she latch on - i was crying with pain after a few days of constant feeding. and it stayed like that for months, colicky crying too. so, bringing her into bed was the ONLY way to get any sleep pretty much at all. got her into her cot after about 6mths, but then after a month or 2, regressed as she was waking all every couple of hours or so, and settled best lying beside me. but, by about 11 months, she wouldn't settle beside me either, and kept us awake most nights. so, i weaned her off, and gave her bottles during night, but now out of desperation (she was 1 a couple of weeks ago), we leave her in her cot even if grumbling, trying to break the habit. and i never thought i would do that, ever, but sleep must prevail...

DS exclusively BF til 13 mo, then on cows milk in a sippy cup, never took to a bottle which looking back was a good thing as of course I didn't have to wean him off it later or steralise meanwhile. Slept in cot in our room for 8 weeks then in his room. First night on his own he slept through 10 hours (although my boobs woke up wondering where the baby was!) and did so every night for the next 2 months, then he wanted one feed in the night for the following two months (growing and hungry I put it down to).

DD exclusively BF til 23 mo (no that's not a typo) - now nearly 4 and still won't drink cows milk except on cereal. Never had a bottle. First two weeks slept in cot in spare room with me in spare bed - although I spent most of it sleeping (ish) in the rocking chair with her on my lap (VERY securely I might add!). After two weeks of little sleep and a increasingly complaining back thanks to sleeping in the chair I moved back into our room and only went in to her to feed (usually twice) during the night - she slept better and so did I. I guess this was the opposite approach to trying co-sleeping! She slept through (10 hours) at 7 weeks.

Never co-slept with either of them - too terrified by stories of babies getting squashed, even though I know in many cultures its common practice and works well for a lot of families. Also it's been another thing not to have to wean them off!

Best of luck to your friend - hope she too can have a good experience whatever she decides

My son is nearly 7 months old and up to the time we started solids was exclusively breastfed (he is still getting only breastmilk)
I have never co-slept with him: he has slept in a crib in our room since the day he came home. I have a comfy chair to feed him in our bedroom. I've never felt any need to have him in our bed, so we'll never have the problem of training him out of it.

breastfed 6 exclusively for between 3 months and a year

never co slept

DD was exclusively BF until weaning at 6 months, stopped BF at 17 months. Never co-slept - not enough space in our bed for me to feel comfortable initially and when we tried a bit later out of desperation she wouldn't sleep as she thought it was all a game. She was also in her own room pretty early as she wouldn't settle in the moses basket, so I just got some very warm slippers and a very warm dressing gown. DH bless him would move over to my side of the bed to keep it warm for me while I was up and then go back over to his own cold side when I came back to bed .

DS was exc bf until almost 9 months, he had a moses basket then crib next to our bed until he was 8 months old.
We would have put him in his room at around 7 months but it wasn't ready ! Often had him fall asleep on me in the newborn days and he slept in our bed a lot because we were rubbish about putting him back!
It took a fortnight or so for him to get used to being in his cot in his room, was no biggie.

I have BF DD for nearly 27m now. The only time I co-sleep is if she is poorly, first time was nearly 1 year, DH was away for work and she got a tummy bug and I was too scared to leave her alone.

She slept in a moses basket in our room until 12 weeks then in a cot in the room next door. We worked out she was disturbed by us both snoring

Exc BF DS1, never occurred to me to co-sleep, I got the impression it was a Dangerous Thing. Bloody wish I had though, things may have been so different.

Decided to co-sleep with DS2, and am SO glad we have, it couldn't be more different, and have never had any of that up all night business that we had last time.

Will do it with any others that come along too.

Excl bf both til 6 months. with dc1 never co-slept. she was in her own room from day 2 she was a good sleeper apart form one really bad phase.

#2 was a bit more relaxed. I had a bed right mext to cot in his room and would pat hism to sleep (when he was a bit older).

With both tho I would feed them in the night lying down and then get them into their cot (so don;t know if this counts as not co-sleeping) I did this because it was EASY!!

DS now nearly 3 and still bf (not that i want to) has all of a sudden started waking in the night (after being ill) and I REALLY cannot be bothered and co-sleep with him (but don't bf and he knows he won;t get any) This has gone on for about 3-4 months but he was regularly sleeping through til 6am since about 18 months. All I would say is ....don't get confortable in any routine....as it will change!'

Exc BF #1 but did not cosleep - to scared by NHS propoganda advice. Baby was low birthweight so it was a consideration, to be fair. but she slept through from early on.

#2 - had read lots of seditious material about bf and cosleeping, ignored otherwise great midwife in that regard. If we had not coslept I would have been institutionalised by now . #2 has no intention of sleeping through and I have no intention of stopping her night feeds since I barely wake anyway. I don't seethe with resentment at being woken at night, nor am I a martyr to it.

I don't believe you have to cosleep but it makes life a lot easier and warmer. We use a bedside cot with one side permanently removed to make up for the fact we only have a double bed. Wish I could persuade DH that we need a superking.

Still Exc BF my 10 month old. He was in our room in a crib til he was 6 months and then in his cot in his own room. He has slept through about 10 times in total. I feed him before I go to bed and usually once in the night. He wakes between 6 and 7. I guess he will sleep through consistently at some point but in the meantime once a night is manageable for me. I have co slept with him a few times when he was younger but since he has been very mobile I think he is safer in his cot where I know he can't fling himself out !

DD1, could and would sleep anywhere. I rarely fed lying down, and never co-slept, but she always went straight back to sleep in moses basket.

DD2 was totally different, but I wasn't comfortable with cosleeping, and had a method of sliding her from my bed to her cot while on her own sheet in an attempt to give us both some space to sleep.
If I had my time with her again, I would definitely co-sleep in early weeks/months.

DS mixed sleeping. He always started in his cot, and finished the night in our bed.

More of the same, i'm afraid. DD now 7 months, excl bf till weaning at 6 months- still only takes breastmilk.

Haphazard sleeping arrangements depending on everyone's mood each night - but usually in her own cot in her room (which I think she prefers). Heating broke down so one night with us this week!!!

Hope your friend has got some good ideas - i.e. do your own thing and whatever suits you!

I have BF all of mine until 5, 18 and 21 (so far - he is still BF) respectively

Co-slept with them all as it is sooo much easier

Slightly spooked by last poster being called "Griselda" - waves!!)

Months that is, not years, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We co sleep in the main with dd (dc2) although shes supposed to sleep in her crib. Ds1 has a bed that sometimes he manages to stay in all night but often comes in with us at some erratic point of the night.

Breastfed ds for 9 months so far, exclusive save exactly 3 bottles of formula. Never co-slept as it's usually meant, but did sometimes have him in bed with us for last couple of hours of the 'night'. He was in a moses basket for first 5 months, then in a small cot by the bed until 7 months, now in a cotbed in his own room. I think in order to co-sleep effectively (ie. we all have some sleep) I'd need a kingsize, some bedguards, and some solution to the duvet problem!

ds now almost 8 mths and exclusivley BF. Started of in moses basket until 6 months next to our bed and then after in cot at end of our bed.

In early days hated his basket, probably because there was so much space in it so he co- slept with us which meant we all got sleep rather than him crying all night. Used to get out of bed to bf but so tired some nights decided to stay in bed and just latched him on. wonderful and then if I fell asleep no problem we all slept till morning otherwise would get up and put back into his bed no problem.

Still co-sleeps occasionally all night such as when he has a cold, or having a bad teething night, co sleep early morning as he is up around 6am for his morning feed, need my extra 1 hr or 2 of sleep, and ds can then go back to sleep after. So glad I decided to co-sleep. I do take heed of all the saftey precautions though.