Co sleeping with a new born when other Dc come into bed

[NancyDrewHasaClue]

I have two DC who both fairly regularly end up in my bed.

DD is 6 and appears to be going through a phase of nightmares and once or twice a week will come and climb into bed with me.

DS is 4 and has never been a great sleeper and 2-3 times a week will sneak into bed with me.

DS is overseas at the moment so not often in my bed at all.

DC4 is due in a few weeks and I wanted to cosleep (I am essentially fairly lazy - hence not being bothered to do anything about my other occassional co sleepers!) but I am worried about the safety aspect with the other two clambering in and out.

I don't want to ban the older two from my bed as DS particularly is feeling a bit vulnerable re the new arrival but equally I don't want to put the safety of DC at risk.

Anyone any thoughts/experience?

I co sleep with my three month old and DS1 who is four often gets into bed. I keep the baby on the side near the wall and DS gets in the other side. DH has already given up and sleeps in the sitting room

When my toddler appears I put the baby in his Amby Nest if he is settled/not feeding. If he is feeding then DH is sent to the toddlers room to co-sleep on the sofa in there. The toddler and the baby in bed together is far too exciting for toddler to ever get back to sleep.

We used a bed-side cot (or rather a cheap cot with one side taken off, a bit of wood to shore it up, tied to the bed, rolled up towels on the far side to make sure the mattress was right up against ours) and the newborn went in that (and sometimes part of me too!) when the toddler came into bed with us. We took the cot down a few months ago, I still miss it when we end up with a bed full of children - but the newborn is now almost 3 so not quite so delicate..

Seeing how DD and DS will climb over each other to get to me I can see how it would be difficult with a newborn. We had newborn (in the bedside cot), then me, then DD (the toddler), then DH. DD had her own pillow so we each had our own space. Having the bedside cot meant it was much more comfortable to sleep right on the edge of our bed as I couldn't fall off and did indeed often end up half in the cot (especially for feeding).

DD also had a bed in her room, if she slept in there DH and I got jiggy had lots of room to stretch out!

We had dd2 against the wall,mattress on the floor,and dd1 slept the other side of me.I always acted as the buffer between them.

Thanks everyone.

Due to the layout of the room it is not possible to have the side of the bed against the wall although I am not uncomfortable with the idea of the baby sleeping on the outside edge of the bed for the first couple of weeks (we are moving then and I'll be able to set the new bedroom up differently)

I just worry that the DC can be a bit terrotorial with each other if they both end up in bed at the same time. At the moment I don't always wake up when they get into bed - I guess this will change though with the newborn.

Maybe time for some rule changes!

I have this and I bought a bedrail/bedguard to prevent accidents.
Keep newborn ds2 on outside of bed so DS1 can still hog duvet cuddle me .