Co-sleepers, I need your assistance!

[Ughnotagain]

When co-sleeping: what the heck do you do with your arms?

We just have a standard double so not masses of room but I have been thinking about starting to co-sleep with DD. I just can't figure it out without elbowing her in the head

Bump - anyone?

I lie on my side kind of curled around him with the bottom arm out straight. This is the safest way as your outstretched arm stops you accidently rolling onto your front and squishing them! You do get uncomfortable and what I call 'cosleepers shoulder' but it works.

I used to wear layers on my top half so I could feed/stay warm and had no pillow, so I slept on my arms with baby at boob level. I also had a bed side guard so baby was on the outside edge and had his own covers. I think it's hard if you're trying to sleep with your heads level together.

Yes he's at 'feeding height' and in a sleeping bag, my quilt is tucked round my waist and not on him. I also have a troll bedside cot which is fantastic as gives you lots of extra space and you can kind of settle him in it which is a safe area. I think you could just take the side off a normal cot and it might work just as well....

Midwife showed me lie on side, lets say right side. Tuck right arm under the pillow with your head on and put your left arm/hand in between your legs, virtually impossible to roll over.... Cons = bloody pins and needles from time to time

Yeah, my difficulty is that DD has outgrown (pretty much) her Babybay bedside crib (she's 6mo now). We desperately need to get her a cot but we're having a lot of decorating room done so the house is in a complete mess, our room's full of stuff and I don't know where to put one!

I occasionally scoot her across into our bed anyway so I don't know if it might be best for now for her to share with us, just with a bed guard maybe.

Baby lies face-to-boob height. Bottom arm tucked under pillow or above baby's head in a 'C' shape, top arm resting on baby or my hip. Duvet tucked below my hip height. Our bedside cot acts as an expensive bed guard for much of the night so i would just keep using it for that purpose!

Once she starts rolling it will get much easier (no, really!) My DD is one and we still co-sleep on occasion: belly down next to each other with one arm flung loosely round the other, and the spare arm flung out to the other side

DS is 15 months now and won't sleep in his cot after midnight!!

I either lay facing him with my arm under my pillow, or face away. But I don't sleep well facing away as I'm aware I could turn on him whilst asleep.

Do love having him there like a squishy little teddy though

What bed guards do you use to keep them safe? At the moment I have a firm pillow up against a radiator on the wall side and I sleep in between baby and edge of bed, but wanting DH to return to our bed, so thinking baby best to be on outside, but how do you ensure they don't roll? No room for a cot and she has outgrown her bedside crib

We put him in the middle of us - we have a huge bed so he had a lot of space.. I'm not sure id do it with a standard double. We had him in a sleeping bag, at our head height, with our pillows pulled right to the edges of the bed. He had about 80-90 cm of clear space.?

My lower arm hasn't been a problem.. I just lie on my side with him next to me. A few times I've fallen asleep with him in the crook of my arm.

I'm still not sure how I feel about co sleeping. It was reassuring in the first weeks but I found feeding lying down increasingly painful, both on my breasts and back. We've just put nine week old ds in his cot and he's slept very well last night. I've enjoyed having my space back and being able to sleep more deeply and move around.
I was dead against it before ds arrived (ahhh... The certainty of the non parent) but it was useful in the early weeks. I was surprised how lightly I slept and how little I moved when he was next to me - that 'curl up and protect' instinct is very strong.

Dd often always ends up in bed with us after her very early morning feed. We put her in between us with me laying in a "C" shape around her-so on my right side with my right arm folded up around my pillow (only have 1), baby at boob height, left hand across baby. As "skiptonlass* say the curl up and protect instinct is very strong and it's inconceivable to me that one of us would squish her. That said I wouldn't want to co-sleep all night as it's by no means as comfy as dd not being there. Dp and I are currently arguing about having dd in our bed. He thinks we're making a rod for our own back. I think she might be my last baby and he's welcome to spend an hour getting her to settle in her cot at 4.30am!!

I get a sore wrist from laying my arm over baby but not wanting the weight of my arm in her. So I took a small cellular blanket, folded in half, rolled into a sausage shape, held together with a hair band on each end. Perfect size to support baby's back when she feeds on her side, and I can rest my arm on it without squashing her or awkwardly leaning on my hand.