What is co sleeping and how do YOU do it?

Hotmad · 2013-12-29T17:55:58+00:00

Here all sorts that co sleeping is good/bad, people do it with side cot attached etc. Pls tell me what /how you do it

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

BeeMyBaby · 29/12/2013 18:13

I used a side cot until dd2 was about 8 months old or so, then just gave up and had her in the bed with dh and I. I co sleep as it meant I didn't have to get up to bf and made it alot easier for me, I also think it has made it easier to avoid a flat head as she has always had to switch sides when sleeping to feed.

YouLoveItDoreen · 29/12/2013 18:21

We have been co-sleeping since DS was a few days old, I had wanted to do it from birth but heard all the horror stories, he wasn't sleeping well in his crib and honestly, I don't blame him, it was drafty, and as close as we brought it to our bed it wasn't the same as sharing. We have a very close bond, and so it made sense to bring him in with us. I am disabled too so it made waking up to feed so much easier, we could have been safer in the early days by using bed rails, blankets instead of a duvet etc but if I have more children in the future I'd be co-sleeping again, DS is still co-sleeping now with a single bed next to mine, on cold nights he climbs in or if he wants to nurse and he is 3.2 yo.

ZebraZeebra · 29/12/2013 19:09

We planned on co sleeping from the start and read Three In A Bed for practical tips and safety information. We got a cheap side car cot from Ikea - the Gulliver has two heights and one side comes off. We used a rolled towel on the other side of the cot mattress to shove the two mattresses together. We were like this until he was pulling himself to standing, so we dropped the cot base and removed our bed frame so it was just the mattress on the floor.

When we have DC2 we plan on buying a king or queen size mattress for us three, with DC2 doing what newborn DS1 did originally - in the sidecar cot in a sleeping bag, next to me. In the early days I wore a cardi to bed and kept our duvet around my waist but the additional space in the side car cot and the fact that DS1 was in a bag kept things very safe.

There's some downsides to co sleeping - creeping in of an evening to go to bed (though you have to do that anyway if you follow SIDS guidelines of having them in the same room for up to six months) and sometimes I think I wake DS up. But I don't really know who wakes who up and the middle of the night feeds have been awesome. Literally roll over, latch him on, fall back asleep. I've no idea how people physically get up out of bed to do night feeds.

We have a regular routine - dinner, massage, cuddle, story, BF and then mobile in side car cot, then down to sleep for the evening. Then I join him around 11. The positives far outweigh any inconveniences for us. DS is now 14 months and rolls into me, literally demanding to be spooned. It's lush

marushka82 · 29/12/2013 22:22

We have been co-sleeping for two months now as it was really hard to get DD to sleep in her cot (dropside cot which is still by our bed and hardly used now). We have a king sized bed, I sleep on top of a duvet under a blanket and have DD either on the edge of the bed (she won't roll off though because the cot is right next to the bed) or in the middle between DH (who sleeps under his portion of a duvet) and me. It works ok, mainly because I don't have to get out of bed several times a night to feed DD, once she wakes I just roll her towards me, stick a boob in and she's usually back to sleep in minutes unless she's squirming with trapped wind

marushka82 · 29/12/2013 22:23

We have been co-sleeping for two months now as it was really hard to get DD to sleep in her cot (dropside cot which is still by our bed and hardly used now). We have a king sized bed, I sleep on top of a duvet under a blanket and have DD either on the edge of the bed (she won't roll off though because the cot is right next to the bed) or in the middle between DH (who sleeps under his portion of a duvet) and me. It works ok, mainly because I don't have to get out of bed several times a night to feed DD, once she wakes I just roll her towards me, stick a boob in and she's usually back to sleep in minutes unless she's squirming with trapped wind

lilyaldrin · 29/12/2013 22:32

I had a co-sleeper cot. DS would start in the cot but after the 1st or 2nd night feed he would usually stay in with me. I only slept with DS on my side, never in the middle between me and DP, and I kept pillows and duvets away from him. He moved (in the same cot) into his own room at about 5 months.