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Sleep

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Original poster

Co sleeping questions - how does it actually work?

17 replies

tentative123 · 15/12/2011 21:46

hiya

Lots of people talk about co-sleeping and I understand what it is and the advantages and risks but I dont actually get the practicalities. Should the baby be in the middle of you and OH or on the side by the way out. If the latter then how do they not fall out? If the former how do you deal with the fear that OH might roll on to them? Or your instinct doesn't stop you from rolling on to them, or keep you awake all night worrying about this?

Also how do you have the duvet/pillow? We like to be sealed nice and warm in, but short of putting the babys head on the pillow he/she would then be suffocated surely?

finally - is there really room for 3 in a double bed?

Are these daft questions? Is it a good thing I have my moses ready? I do also know about the side sleepers, my question is about actual sleeping in the bed.

Thanks in advance...

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sunnyweather · 15/12/2011 22:03

Hiya, in our house baby is on my side of the bed and we have a mesh bed rail to stop him rolling out. He sleeps down about waist height in his grobag . I wear cosy pjs and a vest cos the duvet is really only half on me to keep it away from him. The cot is right next to us and the aim is to get him in there but he is so much happier next to mum it never really happens. When he was tiny dh moved out of the bed for a while cos we were too scared of squashing ds- I slept with him in the middle of the bed and me curled around him. I also didn't use a duvet just wore my dressing gown and had a light blanket. Check out the Kellymom website for more info.

Original poster

tentative123 · 15/12/2011 22:16

Oh how extremely helpful! Thanks so much I'm really starting to think things through now it's not long to go. It all sounds a bit chilly tbh I can imagine getting any sleep with that and the worry about where the lo was! We will see what happens I guess!

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NotJustForClassic · 15/12/2011 22:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sunnyweather · 15/12/2011 22:25

Chilly and a bit uncomfy to be honest....but the only way I got sleep early days so felt like bliss! Are you pregnant?? How long to go? You are much better organised than me .. I thought babies slept in cots before ds arrived

Original poster

tentative123 · 15/12/2011 22:31

10 weeks to go and I seem to have upped my thinking a level tonight! I've realised I need sheets for the upper bit of the Moses to go between baby and blanket and now I've realised I don't know how co sleeping would actually work. There is plenty more on the list too to figure out - not just get hold of the items! It's like make believe in my head here! Thanks for kind words :)

OP posts:

sunnyweather · 15/12/2011 22:57

Exciting times! Make sure you come back and tell us how you are getting on when lo arrives

MyThumbsHaveGoneWeird · 16/12/2011 19:07

We did DH me DS when he was small so that DH wouldn't squash him. As soon as he started rolling (about 5 or 6 months I think) we changed to DH DS me. Up until about 9 months he had his own baby blankets and we kept him well away from duvet, having one each when he was in the middle. Now he is one he just comes under our duvet with pillows kept away, although he often scoots himself up out of the duvet.

mrsravelstein · 16/12/2011 19:10

ds1 used to go to bed in his own cot, but then once he'd woken up in the night he'd sleep in my bed, and co-slept that way from birth til he was 6.

when he was very tiny i made him a little nest in the middle of the bed on top of the covers which worked fine (did much the same for dc2&3 but they weren't ever very keen on sleeping in with me), then he had a grobag and would tend to sleep with my arm around him and his head kind of on my shoulder.

3 in a bed is a good read.

SootySweepandSue · 16/12/2011 19:17

I have never slept well in a bed with DD. It is a duvet nightmare (you need two) and I was constantly worried about squashing or her rolling under the duvet. I had a cot which was the exact height of our bed and put her in that. She was about 15cm away from me but safe in her own cot. She was a real wriggler so was in a grobag very early. All babies are different but mine was by far the best sleeper on the block, although I obviously don't know if our sleeping arrangements helped or if it is her temperament. If I have another I'll get one of these cots that fits on to the bed so there is no barrier. That would be the ideal for me.

hardboiledpossum · 17/12/2011 16:12

I've only started co-sleeping in the last few months, he's 10 months old now. He sleeps in the middle under the duvet. He's 25lb so I don't worry about him being squashed, plus he sleeps curled up against me so our noses are basically touching.

CuppaTeaJanice · 17/12/2011 16:19

We have a bedside (one sided) cot, and DD sometimes sleeps between me and this. I lie on my back with the duvet over me, then lay her, in her sleeping bag, next to me, on top of the duvet and with her head on my shoulder and my arm around her.

ThreeNine · 17/12/2011 17:40

My LO sleeps on my side in the crook of my arm so she can't fall out as my a is round her. I wouldn't have her in the middle because my husband is definitely not s

ThreeNine · 17/12/2011 17:44

Oops.

-someone who is aware in his sleep! I wear pyjamas and have the duvet up to my waist, my LO wears a 2.5 tog grow bag. Her legs are over the top of the duvet so there's no way she can get under it.

Debs75 · 17/12/2011 17:56

I cop-sleep with dd3, and sometimes dd2. I started with dd3 almost immediately. when she was big enough she had a gro-bag but she soon went off that. She slept at my side of the bed with her cot butted up to ther side. Her head was level with my boobs for easy feeding and my quilt was tucked around me. It was cold in winter but you get over that. She started sleeping under our quilt when she was 8m old, it was almost summer and was a light one. She sleeps under my 10tog one now and is always wriggling around and never gets too hot.
With newborns make sure they can't get squished against the pillows and can't get under the quilt. If you can do sheets and blamkets that is better as you can layer hers better and still be warm for you.

Oh and 3 does fit in a double, 4 is a push especially if you are a wriggler.

Debs75 · 17/12/2011 17:56

Sorry co-sleep

PenguinArmy · 17/12/2011 21:31

I have DS in just his babygro, just being next to you is like having a blanket (get a room thermometer first stick in the room and in the space where your baby will go). I run hot so sleep naked with the duvet at waist.

DH is sleeping on sofa but that's so he gets uninterrupted sleep.

People who wear pajama's how does that work with feeding. One of the beauties of being naked is that I don't even really wake to feed him, just flop over a little bit.

ThreeNine · 18/12/2011 09:29

My pajamas have buttons down the front to a few inches below my boobs which I leave open. I couldn't sleep without my shoulders covered, I'd freeze.

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