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WWYD? Co-sleeping toddler and 33 weeks pregnant

2 replies

ScotFree · 08/01/2012 18:44

We've been doing partial co-sleeping with our DS (now 21 months) for over a year. He goes to sleep in his cot, in our room, then when he wakes (as he invariably does once - or occasionally more often - in the night) at around 1 or 2 am, we move him into our very large bed between us and he goes back to sleep until the morning. This is an arrangement that everyone is happy with, but I'm worried about what will happen when the new baby arrives.

(The grand plan, previously, was to move him gradually into his own room during my pregnancy (early enough so that he wouldn't associate it with his new sister), but we're doing building work, which has been delayed and delayed (grrr), and now his room is not going to be ready until after the birth.)

So, he has to be in our room anyway, at least for the first few weeks of his sister's life. Would it be easier if he stayed in his cot? Does anyone have any experience of breastfeeding a newborn with a toddler in the bed? I'm not intending to co-sleep with the new baby at the very beginning, as I'm a bit frightened when they are so teeny, so she will be in her moses basket pushed right up against my side of the bed, but of course I'll want to bring her in to feed her.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
discrete · 08/01/2012 18:46

I co-slept with ds1 and ds2 when ds2 was a newborn. I had ds1 between me and dh, and ds2 in a side-car type arrangement on my side of the bed.

It worked for a bit, then dh and ds1 decided to move to the spare room to get some sleep!

skewiff · 09/01/2012 21:47

DS was just 4 when DD was born. I was still co-sleeping with him. I also meant to move him out before, but never got round to it/couldn't bare it ...

We carried on all sleeping together for about 4 months. It worked really well - although DS is a really light sleeper (unusually so) and got woken up and disturbed if I had a disturbed night with the baby/DD.

I eventually moved him into his new room into a top bunkbed. This was so exciting for him that he didn't mind that he was leaving his old bed with me and baby.

I would have liked us all to carry on sleeping together, but DS was starting school and I needed to be sure that he was going to sleep really well every night.

I think, if it works and you're happy you could all just carry on sleeping in the same bed - or just try and get a really exciting bed so that your DS wants to sleep in it.

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