Chest sleeping at night?

[Supergoogler]

Probably been asked on mumsnet 1000 times before but I will ask again!

Has anyone slept with their LO on their chest in bed? I have done twice - I'm propped up with pillows, no loose clothing, he's on my chest and I have a dream genii pillow wrapped around so my arms are propped up and he can't slip down....

This way, he sleeps from 11pm to 6am only waking for a feed once! In his babybay, he wakes every 1 1/2 hours!!

Question is....is it safe? Surely I will wake if he gets into trouble? What sort of trouble could he get into? I'm torn between getting some sleep and risking anything that might go wrong?

Anyone experiences please?

Tia x

how old is lo?

yes I have - we've gone through phases where it's the only way he appears to be able to sleep - but we had a bit of reflux. when he's ill now (11 months) I pile the pillows up and we sleep like that but I too felt worried when he was smaller. my dh and I did it in shifts, staying awake. it's a tricky one as safe cosleeping rules would say otherwise however some babies literally only sleep while on their parents! (and probably all did in days goneby.)

are you bf? mum's who bf are generally very in tune with their baby at night. could you tuck lo into a night shirt that opens around his waist? I did that when my lo had a terrible temp and I had to do a night of permanent boob and skin to skin so he was firmly on me and I could doze. he was 10 months though. would he sleep better while lying down if you held his hand?

cosleeping/ skin to skin does help a baby regulate its breathing, blood pressure, heart rate etc hence why babies sleep better on mummy and daddy! it's where evolution meets health n safety..... and they disagree

I've probably not really helped your quandary sorry!

I wonder if he wants to be a tummy sleeper?

Yes - both of mine had silent reflux. Have you tried him on his left hand side (better for reflux babies) next to you?

I did have a scare once - almost dropped dd on the floor and woke up and grabbed her by the leg to stop her. So I guess I woke up but was quite scary!

It's not safe but I have had to do it most nights. My DD cannot be soothed back to sleep any other way, and she wakes up a lot through the night.

I used to stay awake but as she's got older I do nod off too. She's amazing at staying put when she's sleeping on me and I only ever have that light, baby-aware bf sleep when we're in the same bed.

I have found it's kinder on my back if I lie down completely flat. We share a double bed and I lie right in the middle with one small pillow folded under my head and all bedding pulled down to below my waist. This means she's less likely to drop out of bed or suffocate on the bedding.

Tbh I would never tell my HV (or anyone in rl) that we do this. It's one thing making a rod for your own back, quite another being a human mattress! But my baby needs sleep to be healthy and grow and when she's poorly or overtired it's the only way to help her get enough.

We're exactly the same: my lo is four months, and has never slept anywhere else at night than on me - I'm propped up with pillows, and sleep lightly enough to wake when she shifts or wriggles. I bf and she feeds a lot at night. This arrangement is a rationalised response to the fact that she was very little when born and gained weight slowly due to illness (a series of infections); she also has quite bad reflux, exacerbated by medications. She yells when put down anywhere, so this, though less than ideal, is the only way either of us gets any sleep. (My husband is banished to the spare room.)

I'm glad to find this thread - no one else seems to admit to this kind of sleeping, and I'm desperate for advice about how to move towards something more independent!

I did it for 4/5 months with ds and set up a cot with blocks under the head end of the legs and started to put him down on his left hand side with rolled up towels in front of him to stop him rolling. On his left as best for reflux. Then from 6 months I ditched the towel and he started rolling onto his tummy - from then he slept much better. With dd I did similar but put her onto her tummy from 5 months. Again she slept much better.

I did this for 2-3 months with DD from when she was about 5 weeks old. I would sleep on 2 pillows with the quilt/blanket only up to my knees, and a cardi on if it was cold. I also had pillows next to me to stop DD rolling off the bed. I did sleep by the way - but light enough to register her movements (I also regularly woke up to check that her breathing wasn't obscured in any way).

At about 4+ months she started rolling off me and so I began putting her to sleep next to me - on her tummy. She's now 7+ months and sleeps mostly in her cot (on her tummy) though I did have her on my chest again a couple of times when she was ill recently.

Personally I think you have to find sleep however you can; you just have to make sure your environment is safe for you and your LO.

I also wouldn't worry about rods and backs, I did worry for a bit about sleeping with DD on my chest forever but worked out that it was far more important for us to get some sleep than worry about how we were sleeping!