nervous about co sleeping

[becknnico]

My DS is now 5 months old and began waking every 2 or 3 hours! I know this is a developmental thing and it too shall pass however, I am so tired. He sleeps in his arms reach co sleeper for the first part of the night and then if I am too tired to wait up to put him back, he will sleep the rest of the night on my chest. We are basically nose to nose and I dont worry about him rolling off or anything. He is getting heavy though and I am losing a lot of sleep now. If I could nurse him on his and my side, I feel like it would be easier but I dont feel nearly as safe this way. I have never just put him right in my bed before ( other than on my chest) and I wonder what would that sleeping arrangement look like? Would I need one of those snuggle nest things? And he still likes to be swaddled but if he slept in my bed I would rather he had his arm movement in case he rolls over since he can now (sometimes). Any advise on the best way to sleep these next couple of months til he starts his 6 hour stretches again?

I was in the same sitution - find out about Alison Scott-Wright's methods. I co-slept with DD who woke constantly throughout the night until she was 6 months, when I hired A S-W who sorted out DD's sleeping so that within a few days she was sleeping 12-15 hours a night.

I haven't done regular co-sleeping but have friends who have. Some put a (travel) bed guard on their side of the bed and the baby sleeps on the out side nearest the bed gaurd. They dress warmer on there upper half so that you don't need to have the covers up so high.
You can get fleese baby gros to put on top of usual night clothes so with the warmth from your body he wouldn't need any covers on top.
By christmas I would imagine things will be alot better. Both of mine started to sleep through as if by magic at around 9mths.

It's easy to feed lying on your side once you have got used to it. I will try and describe. (Assuming your co-sleeper is on the right side of your bed as you look at the bed - if it's on the left reverse all these directions.)

Imagine lying on your left side, facing the cot, sort of in the recovery position - with your right leg bent to a) stop you rolling over and b) stop the baby wriggling down the bed, and the left leg straight down. Your right arm cuddles the baby, and the left arm goes straight out between the baby's head and your pillow. Your body is slightly curved around the baby, their head is level with or just below your breast to enable a good latch. To feed from the bottom breast you just move it near their mouth - at 5 months, he'll probably latch on without a problem. To feed from the top breast you sort of roll closer to him so that it's dangling in his face (sorry for horrible description!) and again he should latch on.

I wouldn't swaddle if he is in with you and you may want to avoid duvets completely. I had one but only up to my legs - I did have it on DS' legs as well but by that point I was used to co-sleeping. If you have a cotton or cellular blanket for him, you can share it between him, and your tummy to keep you warm and just have the duvet at your back so that it feels snuggly. You could perhaps wear a dressing gown in bed too? I used to just wear it on my top arm so it wasn't lumpy to lie on.

I should think it's probably safer to lie like this, TBH - it's the instinctive position to lie down with your baby, I expect if you just lay down and tried latching him on you'd find yourself in this position automatically.

Thank you for all the advise, this is definitely helpful!!

Bertiebotts- Do you ever worry about her rolling a little and snuggling her face too deep into the bed, down below your breast while you sleep?

I can't really remember TBH - DS is 23 months now so well past any suffocation risks. But generally I was aware of his movements (even when asleep) and babies have their big, squashed noses precisely for this purpose - so that they don't suffocate whilst feeding. I'm pretty sure I wasn't worried about him smooshing himself against my skin. I was a bit paranoid about things like the fabric of my pyjamas (!) and used to try and reduce the amount of fabric near his head to the absolute minimum.

I remember DS used to come off the breast and move his head from side to side as if to clear his airway/find a snuggly spot and snuggle down using my boob as a pillow! So he was always on top of it, never underneath. I think that they do tend to move their faces to where it's more comfortable to breathe even from the earliest age - DS did this from newborn.

If he's 5 months I definitely wouldn't worry about this, it's safe to sleep them on their fronts once they can roll over, so I am sure that they would be able to move their heads so that they can breathe comfortably. You don't wake up with your head under the pillow, do you? :)

No, I sure don't :)! Well, i will let ya know how it goes! Thanks a bunch!!