I'm co-sleeping with my 2 weeks old dd...

[Summerfruit]

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co-sleeping is lovely. sounds like you are doing all the right things. tell the hv to bugger off (we are still co-sleeping with our almost 2 year old, & her older brother was in our bed till he was 3.5).

It's fine to co-sleep for as long as you want. Yes we also did it from day 1 - never intended to, but it was the only way ds would settle and then it just seemed "right".

The only things you need to worry about is if either of you are very overweight, smoke, drink or on medication that makes you sleepy, or if you are SO sleep deprived that you can't be easily roused. Unusual to get that tired if you are co-sleeping and breasfeeding , though

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enjoy i did and still do and shes 10m months next week

Hi I co slept with all 3 of mine for the first few weeks. I always did it so that the baby was on top of our cover as always felt it was too heavy. I Would then have my top half out like you described with baby on my arm/semi snuggled and with their own blankets. I only ever stopped co sleeping as we usually get to a point where baby settles better in their own room than with us, althoughwe still have nights were at least 1 of the 3 is in with us.

We had ds in the middle - we did move our pillows down and sleep further down than we normally would, and put him up between the pillows with his own separate covers for a while as I once woke up to find him down by my breast with all the covers over his face

have done it since day one with both.

dd is 2 and sleeps just fine in her own cot now and ds 10 months is still in with us 50% of the time

did she maybe mean that from 6 weeks she should start off in her cot til you go to bed incase she rolls?

do whatever feels most comfortable for you, i know i couldn't have coped with my babies if i hadn't co-slept

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Summerfruit I will be honest with you - the first 6 - 12 months co-sleeping are blissful and you get so much more sleep than all your peers who keep having to get up in the night

after that they get kind of mobile and still want to feed all night and to be totally frank it is exhausting - still lovely waking up with little smily face next to you though :i

oops looked like I was smoking a cigar in that last smiley

I meant

lol, i'd second what F&Z just said.

fist 6 months are lovely and you get so much sleep. then they turn into little party animals at night and want to play with your eyelids at 3am

It's the only way I've coped with three babies too, Summerfruit, getting up in the night to go to another room? That seems like madness to some one who finds it hard to get back to sleep.

Once or twice I've pulled the cover a bit high and they've jiffled a bit and I moved it back, or, moved further down the bed.

Ask your hv where her arbitrary six weeks comes from?

Loving the cigar smiley :i

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I know, there are so many things I look back on with ds1 (ten this year!) and I think why did I do that, or why did I put up with that?

Like my mother saying 'about time you stopped that bf now, he is six months'!

Of course it was sooo much easier after I bought bottles and steriliser etc

We just do our best at the time. I'd never sleep if I thought about all the stuff I wish I'd done differently.

you sound like you are doing the right thing when co-sleeping. ignore the hv. with your arm above her head like you describe makes it impossible to roll over on her.

you should find that your dh will also adopt the same sleeping position over time too! it doesn't seem as instinctive for men to adopt that position when there is a baby in bed with them.

there is lots of research out there that shows a multitude of benefits for bedsharing. the leaflet below only stresses its benefits for breastfeeding.

leaflet on bedsharing

Co sleeping is great, we should have done it more with DD1, would have gotton far more sleep that way.

If I were to have another baby, I would co sleep for the first 6 months or so , then try and get them in their own room.

Hi

I co-sleep with DS (8m) and have done since about 2 weeks I think, and it has mostly been fabulous for us. I think your HV is thinking about the whole 'rod for your own back, you'll never get her out of your bed if you don't start her in her own cot at 6 weeks' thing. Total pants.

When we started co-sleeping I did some research and found that it is recommended that the baby sleeps on the outside of the bed, next to mum, rather than in the middle. This is because mums are much more aware of the LO, especially if they are BF, than dads. It is certainly true of me and my DH, who can sleep through DS crying, let alone wriggling.

We managed the covers by having them only up to DS waist and firmly tucked in. Body heat keeps him warmer than if he was by himself so he doesn't need more than that. I just wore thicker pyjamas to keep my top half warm.

DS now starts the night at 7pm in a bedside cot of his own until we come to bed at 11pm, so it shows that they can sleep by themselves too when they are ready. DS was 6m and has never been the slightest bit upset by this.

Congratulations on DD and carry on going by your own instincts, it sounds like you are doing a grand job

hi, also did it from day one, the nurses on the ward were not happy with me, telling me every time I was caught(!) that I (really must stop doing it, I could fall asleep 'ON THE BABY' - nonsense.
I continued to do at home, was living with BF's mother and she had regular coronarys everytime she came into the room and saw dd in the bed but I knew was it ok. I was BF and not only was it convienient, it was beautiful, I loved having her in bed with us (on my side, not in the middle).

DD is 7 now, has her own room and has had since 12month - still loves to sleep in my bed when dp working nights and I love it too

Go with your gut, mother knows best

It really depends which staff you get as well.

With ds1, it probably wouldn't have occurred to me to co sleep, it was a very commanding midwife who just sort of grabbed him, tucked him in next to me, and said 'there, get some sleep now'.

With dd I had her in with me and and one said 'oh, in your bed is she?'. I replied that she didn't like their fishbowl and she laughed and said 'she'll have you believing that if you're not careful'

I was the only one on the post surgery ward that wasn't buzzing for ages waiting for them to pass me the baby.

I was terrified to co sleep in those hospital beds.

me too, Belgo, though one of them had sides

(hello btw I was carrotcake)

those side rails can be even more dangerous, falling down unexpectantly or the baby getting trapped between the rail and the mattress.

oh you were carrotcake! Hi back. How's the baby?