Questions for co-sleepers

[marsup]

Does your co-sleeping mean baby is asleep next to you on the bed but not touching, in your arms, or on your chest? or all of the above at different times? I have heard of a 'co-sleeper' that one can buy to make sure baby is safe - does anyone know what it is? and for b/f mothers; how do you stop baby smelling you and asking for food constantly during the night? and finally, if baby gets used to co-sleeping at night, how do you break the habit in the daytime?

All of what you said depending what works but I prefer most of the time for dd to sleep a little distance away in her bag so no danger of my bedding going on her.
Neither of my two fed constantly, just what they needed and then back to sleep with no getting up. I dont even know how often dd feeds as I never wake up fully to feed her.
Breastfeeding mums adopt a natural protective sleeping position which bottlefeeding mums dont so making cosleeping safer for bf babies. I'll try to find the link.

DD co-slept on and off until 20 months (3 months ago). When she was tiny, she slept in my arms facing me. From 6 weeks she slept in a bedside cot but still wanted to touch me and hold my hands, and would wriggle across int he night to be closer. As she got older, and was only coming in to our bed from the early hours she tended to sleep in the middle on her own, sometimes choosing to cuddle with either me or DH and sometimes now. All three of us slept really well co-sleeping until just before Christmas when things started to 'not work' anymore.

Since Christmas she has slept in own bed all night, and know if she wakes early and comes in with us she just can't settle at all

Although DD is getting much better sleep now and alll of us are getting more hours of uninterrupted sleep, I still miss my close contact and cuddles some nights.

Ds sleeps in her moses basket daytime.

"Breastfeeding mums adopt a natural protective sleeping position which bottlefeeding mums dont so making cosleeping safer for bf babies"

I remember this piece of information from last time but I know many people who would disagee with it. This isn't always the case. I ALWAYS slept like this with DD when she was little and too young to be under the duvet. However I only bf at night time for 2 weeks.

During the daytime, when DD was tiny she used to sleep in her baby seat, fully reclined.

Never heard of a 'co-sleeper' I'm afraid, but to answer the other questions.

1. I either sleep with them in my arms (if I fall asleep BFing) or they sleep in the gap between mine and DHs pillows. We pull our pillows as far apart as feasible ( gap of about 1.5ft?) then baby sleep with their head right up near the head board, so we are unlikely to roll on them and our quilt doesn't cover them. I have asthma, so having a baby on my chest means I can't breathe!

2. I've never had a problem with them demanding food constantly during the night.

3. We've never co-slept during the day, so it's never been expected, so no habit to break I'm afraid!

Sorry it's a bit terse, but kids being annoying whilst I'm trying to type!

HTH

Oh, forgot to add - from 6 weeks DD went in a Grobag so slept on top of duvet in that, snuggled into me by the middle of the night

Mine all napped on the sofa, until they got to mobile (about 4 months). Then they slept in the middle of my bed. I always tried to follow the advice of distinguishing between daytime and nighttime by not putting them down in their cots except at night.

I think I've done a bit of everything when cosleeping. Daytimes, usually a nap in my arms, with a lying down breast feed after lunch sometimes.

one link

I'll look for others

{www.healthvisiting.info/pdf/sharingbedleaflet.pdf\here}

wshen ds was tiny he slept next to us in bed - sort of under the duvet as too sleep befuddled to sort out anything else. Later he would sleep in the afternoon if I went up with him and lay under a blanket holding him very tightly like a rugby ball - like swaddling. He did want feeding and holding all night whether we co-slept or not. He refused to feed if I was lying down, and always needed his nappy changing several times a night. Aaaargh. I cannot tell you how much I envy people who say things like, "My ds/dd woke to feed, fed for five minutes lying down and then went back to sleep" That's unimaginable to me! Our experience was more of co-waking and, indeed,

Just to echo other's comments, ds (I co-slept with him from birth whereas only from a few months with dd) started sleeping right next to me and has gradually moved further away, 6 months now. He has been waking every 1 - 1 1/2 hours but he's had a nasty cold and bunged up nose, ususally he just waked for feeds and goes back off to sleep, as did dd. I sleep with my head on a small pillow and he lis next to me.

Both dd and ds had/have daytime naps by themselves, either in a carry cot or bed but I do stay with ds as he falls asleep or rock him to sleep and sometimes hold him for the duration of his nap, just depending on circumstances. dd no longer has day time naps, went straight to a bed at 18 months and now sleeps by herself for some/all/most of the night, depending on what happens.

It really depends on the child. My ds slept on top of me and fed every two hours for the first 6 months. We then put him in his own bed and did controlled crying. He now (3.5) only sleeps with us if he has a nightmare or is ill. My dd wasn't great with co-sleeping. My dh's snoring would wake her up and then she would wriggle and cry for ages. She wasn't interested in feeding for comfort and didn't really want to cuddle either. In the end we moved her into a cot at 4 months. And even now (1.5) we only bring her into our bed long enough to comfort her and then immediately put her back into her bed as she just isn't comfortable with the co-sleeping. We sleep with a duvet, so with both children, I was very careful to sleep far enough out of the covers, so that their head wouldn't get covered and they wouldn't get overheated.

Also for two

No easy answer to these questions. My son is finally sleeping the night (8 till 6) in his cot but only after weaning completely from breast! He's now 14 months and I weaned about a month ago. When he was in the bed with me (or me and dh) he would "snack" all night and it drove me crazy. Well, wouldn't you do the same if your favourite restaurant was open 24 hours?!