Co-Sleeping

[kayzisexpecting]

After reading a few threads on here and reading in a few books it seems to me that if you want to successfully BF you need to co-sleep.

I am determined to BF this baby but do not want to co-sleep. I don't trust myself to co-sleep as I move a lot in my sleep. Also DH doesn't trust himself either as he is a very heavy sleeper.

I now feel a bit like I am doomed already.

I know lots of people that have breastfed without co-sleeping. Don'y know anything about it from personal experience, but I don't know 1 person in RL who has co-slept and they all breastfed successfully

I successfully bf dd1 till she was 14 months and I didn't co sleep with her

It may make it a little easier but it certainly isn;t neccessary to be able to breaastfeed

Depends what you call co-sleeping - we don't do it deliberately (except sometimes for an hour in the morning once it's light, when it feels safer!) but I have sometimes fallen asleep mid-feed so DD has ended up in our bed for an hour or so. Having done a bit of internet research, I still worry about it but think it's reasonably safe, but DH still worries a lot (plus he drinks half a bottle of wine most nights, the bugger) so we try to avoid it.

Are you planning to have a cot next to your bed? It's more or less the same thing but very safe. You can take the side off and tie it to your bed so it's more or less an extension of your bed but you can't roll into it. Or you can get things like the snuggle nest.

If it helps, both my mum and my cousin exBF their PFBs (and probably subsequent children but not sure about them) with babies in a separate room, so it is possible

no way, I've bfed for 3 months so far and I'm the same - wouldn't trust myself. I tried a bedside cot and didn't like that either, found that I prefer to go downstairs for the feeds as the sofa is the comfiest place and can catch up on tv in the middle of the night
I don't get the whole co-sleeping thing at all and don't think it will affect your chances
Good luck!

We have a moses basket that is going to be next to the bed. We don't have room for the cot next to the bed.

whenever I had mine in with me (I co-slept and they went in their cribs too....depended on how I was/other kiddies were) I had the crib right up close to my side of the bed, and tucked baby inbetween me and the crib.......meaning I was between me and DH.

somehow I in my sleep always kept baby safe (they say we do subconsciously), and it was fine.

I'm still breastfeeding at 18 months and we don't co-sleep. Co-sleeping would've made it easier but we were just too scared and DD can't always settle in our bed.

I have my cot with one side removed, next to my side of the bed and bungee roped to our main bed base. I pushed the cot mattress flush with our mattress and fitted a piece of high density foam (custom cut to fit from a caravan refitter factory) between the cot matress and the far cot side. When the sheets are on it is just an extension of the bed.

I like this solution as it allows for me to snuggle with DS in the main bed and if he started to roll, he would roll across to the cot, no chance of rolling off the bed

I put DS in the cot side if I am tired or had a drink (neither are situable factors for co-sleeping) and pull across for feeds and return. Still no getting up to nurse.

I've just posted on the other thread.
Co-sleeping worked for me but it really isn't required. PLENTY of people do make breastfeeding work when they don't co-sleep. Please don't think you are doomed.

Thanks everyone. I really apreciate(sp) it. I might change my mind about it but at the moment it is terrifying to think about co-sleeping.

wasn't planning on co-sleeping but could only get A to sleep on me at first - luckily it wasn't too cold. Then he slept swaddled on the other half of my double bed from 3 weeks and still does sometimes, but then I was on painkillers at 5 weeks so put him in the moses basket on my bed.

At 9 weeks I got fed up of him being so noisy in his sleep and put the basket in the room next door - my breasts notice him waking up and wake me up!

I didn't cosleep with DS until he was 3.5 months, and breastfeeding was going fine until then. Would up cosleeping with him and then coslept with DD from birth. I have many real life friends who have breastfed successfully and I don't think any of them coslept.

That's absolutely not true. You can bf and not co-sleep, you are not doomed.

Thanks. I feel alot better about it now.