Co sleeping safely

[Lindah1]

Hi, my baby us almost 7 months and we co sleep more often than not, she is turning over now and i just wondered what other people do to stop their babies falling out of bed? At the mo we have a borrowed co sleeper forming a barrier, but that needs to be returned shortly. I don't really want to put the mattress on the floor if I can help it. I gather that bed barriers are not safe at this age

My Ds is only 12 weeks and we had a bed guard until recently. Just make sure it’s a mesh bed guard and it’s tied so securely to your bed that it doesn’t budge.

Assuming you're sharing a bed with someone else why not put the baby in the middle?

Do you have enough space to put a bedside cot with a collapsible side next to your bed? I really recommend it. My DC slept like this until they were 3, so cosy and close. If you can adjust the bottom of the cot to be level with the height of your mattress it's even better.

Some people use pool noodles under the sheet? You can also buy foam bed guards that can be cut to the size of the bed and put under sheets (try amazon)

We just put the mattress on the floor

It's not recommended to have the baby in the middle they need to be on the outside side of mum.

Mesh bed guard and some rolled up towels shoved down the side so they can't get wedged down the side of the mattress! We started doing this at 8 months - DD was pretty big at this stage so I was happy with the bed guard as a solution. I wouldn't have used one for a much younger/smaller baby.

I coslept with all 3 of my babies.

Put the mattress on the floor.

Thirtyrock - hadn't heard that, why is that? We did it both ways at different times with ours. No issues (apart from disturbed sleep for us!).

There's research that mums are much more responsive and light sleepers than dads so less likely to roll onto the baby and also if the baby is in the middle they'll be under the duvet / on pillows which are unsafe. Also being in between the adults risk of overheating

30, thanks. Does the research actually imply causality on men sleeping more heavily therefore more likely to squash a baby?

In at least 1000 nights of co-sleeping I haven't rolled over and squashed a baby in the night. It is easier with a cosleeping crib though (or a bigger bed!).

Same as @GeeKayChesterton. Mum in the middle, baby on outside, DH on other side of mum.