Dogs in bed?

[mrsswelsh]

Hi all,
Due to have first baby in 2 weeks and just wanted some advice about sleeping arrangements with dogs and babies!! So we have a beautiful, calm and loving 4 year old cockapoo (doesn't shed hair) who sleeps in bed with us and has done for the entire 4 years we have had him. He usually sleeps at the foot of the bed, or under the bed whatever takes his fancy and on a morning will come to the top of the bed for cuddles. We have bought a co sleeper (next2me) for the baby which we intend to keep strapped to the side of the bed.
I really REALLY don't want to banish him from the bedroom- I love sleeping in bed with him and he's not done anything to deserve being banished to the kitchen on his own for the first time ever. I have put a bed in our room for him to go try but he's just not interested in it and gets back on to our bed in the middle of the night once we are asleep, probably confused as to why we even tried to kick him out of what he knows as his bed!! Has anyone got any positive experiences of the Dog staying successfully in the bedroom with the baby? Or is there a huge reason I'm missing that they shouldn't be in there??

Yes the dog might lie on or next to your baby and suffocate them.

We had a next to me and the dog still slept in our bed. It's not a problem. PP has no clue.

This is exactly why my co sleeper isn't attached to the bed. Leaving a gap prevents the dog getting in (not that I think she would anyway but best to be safe). She'd also have to climb over me as I sleep right next to the crib, which would wake me up. It isn't ideal to not attach the co sleeper to the bed but it's better than the alternative of banishing the poor dog. I can still see/hear my baby in the co sleeper and sit up in bed to lift him out without having to get up.