How to put baby to bed when cosleeping

[MissObsessed]

Hi there,

DS is 7 months old and is going through it a bit with his teeth, bottoms ones are just through and top two are just breaking the gum. He also has a cold on top of this so is feeling a bit sorry for himself.

This means that I've been cosleeping with him for the past week. He used to go in his cot and stay there until about 4-5am then come into bed with me but this week he has been so cranky that for my own sanity I've just started off the night with him in my bed. Might not be for everyone but it has meant we have got much more sleep!

The problem is that he goes down about 7.30pm and sleeps until around 11pm. I've been keeping him downstairs with me until about 8.30pm and then going to bed with him but I don't want to spend my evenings for the next who knows how many weeks laid in the dark with DS

Would it be safe to put him on our bed with pillows either side and a monitor on? Or does anyone have any other genius ways of doing it? Btw he can roll both ways and loves sleeping on his tummy now.

There's always going to be thr risk of him rolling and falling out. You can try to avoid that, but the risk is there.

Having said that, my DD fell from the bed while cosleeping at about 3 or 4 months old, she was ok. But obviously, it better he doesn't roll off. So

• pool noodles either side of baby (under the bottom sheet) make low, solid barrier to stop rolling.
• cushions either side are a SIDS risk (there shouldn't be any pillows or loose covers best baby. But if you are happy with the risk then they make a barrier.
• cushions on the floor might be an idea, especially if baby is crawlling so can move around the bed.

Ideally though, just stay until baby is asleep, go to him quickly if he wakes and hope he doesn't move around too much!

The safest possible way to bed share with a mobile baby is to ditch the bed base and put the mattress directly on the floor.

Do you have a video monitor so that you can be downstairs but have a close eye on him?

We use foam wedge bed guards under the sheet (same idea as Fate's swimming noodle), put the video monitor on and make sure the bed is clear. My DD very rarely moved once she was asleep so we didn't bother with cushions on the floor. DS might be another story though!

Thanks guys! Fate I didn't think of making a small barrier under the sheet so that's ab idea. We don't have any pillows or duvets when we cosleep, the pillows would just be until I went up to bed but then I guess that's still a risk.

DS has a dropside cot against our bed but unfortunately about 2 inches of the side still remains once it's dropped. Ideal if I just need to put my hand in the cot but not if I want to get in there with DS. DH is currently digging out the instructions for removing the side completely. We can then butt the mattress level with ours and plug the gap the other side. I can then attempt to put DS down in his cot, lay with him in there and then extract myself once he is asleep and leave him in his cot

We don't have a monitor at all at the moment because DS still naps in his pram (extending naps is starting to work!) and then he just stayed downstairs until we were ready to go to bed. But now he is sleeping a bigger chunk in the evening that doesn't really work. Any recommendations?

Sorry tea didn't see your post before I replied. I think another thing that is annoying DS is not being able to move around as much in his sleepyhead and ideally I'd like to take it out of his cot. I suppose the inside of that would work under the sheet like you're suggesting

Our monitor is a mid-range BT video one. Does the job fine! I don't know much about them but DH was insistent he didn't want one that could connect to the wifi (hackers, burglary, something like that!)

Might be worth buying a monitor now. Especially if naps are starting to extend and an early evening bedtime is starting. I still use the monitor with my 2y7m old, so its a good investment to make, you will get the use out of a monitor.

If you have a drop side cot, removing the side completely will be doable. But.... (!) Once baby is crawlling you might end up needing to put the side back on. So it might not be off for very long.

I think ours is a Motorola baby monitor. Just basic digital sound, no video or Wi-Fi. It has a temp sensor, and a night light.

We have a mesh lindam bedguard for cosleeping nights but check the comptibility with the bed. Would also lie with him until he is asleep then creep out to reduce the risk of rolling

Thanks for advice and recommendations, we have a monitor coming today, love prime now

We have a cot by the side of our bed with the side off. We have the mattress on the lowest setting, which is about 1.5 inches lower than our mattress. We've found it works well having the slight height difference. It's close enough in height you can feed them to sleep and sneak away but having it slightly lower stops them rolling out.