Co sleeping - how do you do it?

[Xansaf]

Hi all. I have an almost 13 month old. She’s been in her own room since about 7 months, no problems, but she’s been waking up screaming in the night lately due to her molars coming in. On particularly bad nights DH and I would like to co sleep with her to comfort her but I don’t know how to do it safely? She’s a front sleeper so that concerns me and I’m worried about her waking up and crawling off the bed as she can move at warp speed when she feels like it. Please can anyone advise me?

Hi! At 13m she's a lot more robust than a little baby so I don't think you need to worry or over think it too much. Just give it a go and see how you get on. With my dd, I made sure pillows and duvet were clear of her, maybe just a little blanket if I thought she might get cold but I think being between mum and dad must be quite warm. Obviously the rules on alcohol, drugs etc all still apply. Are you a heavy sleeper? I would wake up if my dd started crawling off the bed.

my 10 month old is in with us alot lately as her front teeth are on the way.
I clear a section in the bed next to me remove all pillows and duvet well away from her and shes also a tummy sleeper. I also put a rolled up towel or blanket to make a thick sasuage shape and pop it under the sheet so she doesn't fall out.

We only let our ten month old into the bed when she is teething or poorly and absolutely nothing else will work. My usual approach is for my body to lie at the edge of the bed and I curl round her, to protect her and limit her movements. In her cot she sleeps all on her front too, but I don't allow it in the bed. She's usually so happy to be cuddling me, that she doesn't mind sleeping on her back. I remove the pillow from under her and she is in her sleep bag so generally doesn't need any additional cover. Neither of us sleep deeply when we cosleep, but it definitely has been the only solution at times and I love the cuddles, even if I am tired the next day! My husband snores away next to us but I put a pillow against him to stop him rolling into my side and where my daughter is lying.

You could try a Chicco next to me cot. My baby has always slept really well in hers. They are big enough to use as they get older.

My chicco next to me is getting too small for DD at 6 months!
She's still up a good few times a night so thinking of getting a sleepyhead grand for when she grows out of the next to me and putting that in the bed

Foam wedge bed guards - won't stop them if they make a deliberate move to get down (teach them how to do this safely!) but it will stop any rolling. My 3yr old still finds hers really cosy and my 15mo has two, one on each side of his double mattress floor bed.

She had a Chicco next2me when she was born but she seemed to hate it! We moved her into her big cot at 3 weeks and she was much happier.

We don’t drink or smoke and whilst we can be heavy sleepers I’m not sure we would with her in the bed. She also sleeps in a grobag so not worried about needing a cover for her.

I’ll give it a go moving the covers and pillows away and also try that curling my body around her. I think the challenge for me will be I tend to pull the covers right up around my neck - may take some adjustment!

Do you guys have the baby in between you or between you and the side of the bed? I remember someone saying they recommended the latter because mums have some sort of instinct that dad’s don’t? I can’t remmever exactly what they said it was as we didn’t necessarily plan to co sleep at that time.

Baby is in the middle as there are no walls on either side of our bed. But really she is more on my side, and I lie on the edge. It's fine except I can't move and I get neck pain after a few nights of co-sleeping! But I feel like she is as safe as she can be when we lie like that.