BF and Co-sleeping - baby on side?

[harrietm87]

My baby is 4 weeks old and I'm breastfeeding him. Have a lovely co-sleeper cot but he has refused it from day 1 and only sleeps in bed with me. I'm a bit nervous of bed sharing but I'm following the guidelines, baby is happy and I'm getting plenty of sleep.

Only thing is that when I feed him lying down he is on his side. I try to move him to his back when he's finished but sometimes he wakes up and cries and sometimes I fall asleep before he's done - is this a serious issue? Is it possible to bf lying down with him on his back?

Also, I feed him lying down on my side of the bed but sit up and hold him when switching to the other side so he's not lying between me and DH - is this what most people do or is there another solution?

It’s not the guidelines but I leave mine on their side. And let the sleep between DH and I.

I’m comfortable with that.

My first always slept facing me (2nd miraculously prefers to sleep on his back in the cot and not physically attached to me all night, which is weird). Realistically, it’s how babies have always slept and societies with high rates of bedsharing also have low rates of SIDS (e.g. Japan). As long as your sleeping space is safe in general, it’s very likely fine.

As for feeding, yes, first time around I sat up for the other side so as not to put baby in the middle. This time we sleep in separate beds (me in double and dh in single), so I have extra space and can go on either side and there is no risk of suffocation under shared bedding. If you have the space and plan to bed share long term, I highly recommend it. We ended up having a family bed for 2 years with our older one and it made it so much more comfortable!