Shall I start co-sleeping at 8 months????

[serendipity81]

Help! My dd, nearly 8 months, has never been a good sleeper. And never consistent in how many times she wakes. However, she has always been able to be settled back to sleep whether she needed a feed or just a PU-shush pat-PD.
Now however she goes down ok at 630/7(asleep) in her cot but when she wakes, usually for a feed at 10ish but often before, she will not return to the cot. She can be totally asleep on a shoulder and the minute she is put down she wakes up screaming. For the past couple of weeks this has got increasingly worse and I've gone from battling to settle her for an hr or 2 each waking(sometimes only 20mins later or so) to giving up and taking her into bed with me and my dh.
I've never co-slept before and as I've ended up doing it as a 'last resort' after I'm too exhausted to continue with the battle, it's often uncomfortable and I worry about pillows/duvets etc. However, I am actually getting some sleep and dd actually slept 5 hrs straight last night after coming into our bed.
Everyone seems to have an opinion about co-sleeping! I'm not sure I know what I think

The question is really I guess should we start co-sleeping now? Or persist with cot? We could try and move furniture around to sidecar cot. Dh is great and is happy to do whatever I decide. I just need to decide now what the best thing to do is. I just dread the start of any night as it's just a waiting game so I'm always on edge :(
Anyone had any experience of starting co-sleeping later in the game like this? Or is this just a clingy phase and I should stick it out with the cot?
PS I def cant do cc - I'm chicken!

I couldn't do CC either. Seems cruel to me no matter what you call it (but thats just my opinion).

Why don't you just try co-sleeping for a few nights and see if it works for you? We co-slept from the beginning and I quite liked the concept of being a relatively un-exhausted new mum because I actually got sleep.

We started co-sleeping regularly with DD when she was 10mo. We did some pick-up put-down and it wasnt for us, the result being that none of us were happy.
It was the only way that we could all get some sleep.

We didnt do it totally. DD would (still does) start the night in her own bed and she used to come in when she woke. She grew out of it for a while, and we were all happy and getting some sleep!

We started at 11 months (I was paranoid about duvets and pillows and things before then), but like PP we had her start off each night in her cot. If she woke up, she came straight in with us, and would settle and sleep straight away. She gradually grew out of it. She is 2.9 now and hardly ever needs to come in (maybe once in the past 4 months).
I would give it a try, it was great for us and meant we all got enough sleep.

Thanks for quick replies!
Sounds good smellyfeet. Just out of interest how old is your dd now? Thinking long term - Do you think she is more or less settled at night because of co-sleeping? How do you then go on to move them out of your bed?
Anyone doing the sidecar thing out there?

Tabitha you've given me hope!!!!
You mean there is actually an end to this!

Did the same as Tabitha from about 6 months with DD (she started waking more once I went back to work as she wasn't taking milk in the day so needed to BF more at night).

It worked for us - she started off in her cot, then came in with us after the first waking for a feed. It meant we all got more sleep. Gradually, she went longer and longer in her cot and by about a year was spending most nights without coming in. She's now 3 and great at sleeping - maybe once a week she comes in for a cuddle and a snooze at about 5.

Have co-slept with 7-month-old DS pretty much from birth (with some time in the moses basket / cot) and I love it.

So maybe give it a try? Nothing is permanent, so if it doesn't work out you could try something else.

We started co sleeping when our DS was 6 months as he never liked to go in his cot after his moses basket and we've never regretted the decision...although at 2 years old (just) we are starting to consider moving him into his own bed.

DD is now 2.5.
She did grow out of it gradually, and stopped waking and coming in with us from about 13mo. But she but started waking again about 2 months ago (moved rooms at nursery, I went away for the weekend and she has yet more teeth coming).

The bars are off the cot, so at least we don't need to get out of bed to get her!

Like TT said, give it a go and see what happens.

From the practical pov, DD was still in her sleeping bag. She would lie in the middle on top of the duvet and we had no pillows.

I was very much against co-sleeping but when DD got major separation anxiety around 9mo and I was spending several hours a night ssssh patting her only for her to wake up and scream the house down as soon as I inched away from the cot, we ended up co-sleeping on an ad hoc basis. She always started the night off in her own cot and if/when she woke up, I'd try sshh patting for 5 mins or so and, if that didn't work, she'd come in with us where she'd drop off within minutes. We only do it when I feel we have to and if I happen to wake up once she's well asleep, then I often transfer her back to the cot.

So yes, we did start it later on and it meant we all got more sleep. Its not for me long term though so we're trying to establish DD back in her cot all night, every night. If that doesn't work, she'll end up back with us again. We'll see what happens!

Good luck!

I co slept with DS2 who was never a very good sleeper. I worked full time from him being 4 months so I just couldn't cope with the exhaustion if he kept me up all night.

Only thing is now he still gets into bed with us (aged 6!!!). We have had 'serious' talks about it and how he really must sleep in his own bed however he has then taken to getting in bed with DS1 instead!!! he just thinks it's more 'warm and cuddly' if someone else is in bed with him!!

Thank you everyone. Think we'll give the co sleeping after the first wake up a go and see how it goes. I'm already feeling more optimistic about tackling tonight :)

Hi all, last night wasn't actually too bad. We had one waking at about 830pm, from which she settled back down in her cot after a little while. Then she woke for a good feed at around 1030pm...I actually thought she might have gone down after settling at 830 but no! However rather than let it stress me out I just took her into bed. She was quite restless in the night and fed a couple more times but it was far more manageable than all the up and downs I had been doing.
I have awful back ache tho this morning after sleeping in a funny position on my side and not wanting to turn my back on dd incase she rolls behind me and I squash her!
Any practical co-sleeping ideas would be appreciated!

Hi, I started a short thread yesterday asking for co-sleeping advice and the few replies I recieved contained excellent ideas, it was called "calling all co-sleepers".

My dd is 8mo and I am starting to cs again in early mornings after stopping for a few months - she seems to go in phases of liking it and then not for a while. My only problem is that she really snores!

Thanks jinglesticks, I've had a read. Not sure about kicking out my dh but lots of other good ideas!