How to co-sleep comfortably??

[Runawayandsaveyourlife]

My main issue with co-sleeping is that I get so uncomfortable in one position all night long that I keep waking anway and get a dead arm and bad back!
DD is now 11 months old and still waking through the night and breastfeeding so I've decided I'm co-sleeping now that I'm back at work. I have a bed guard and she sleeps between me and the rail. The duvet up to my waist and pillows out if the way.
The main issues:
-Do I need to stay in one position all night long, facing her? If so, what is the best position to sleep in?

• Where do I put my arms?

-My DH is a heavy man and sleeps the other side of me. Does he need to stay in one position too? He fidgets and turns over a lot which seems to disturb both myself and DD. How do other families manage?

I'd love to make it work, but I'm getting up around 4am to take her back to her own room because I'm so uncomfortable and waking a lot. I then spend a good hour trying to get her into her cot again, or DH does so it seems pointless in trying to co-sleep in the first place.
What do others do?

I would also like to know. Everyone talks about enjoying the snuggles - dead arms, aching hips, baby hanging off nipple, freezing cold.. is there some trick we are missing??!

I’ve got a bad back / neck anyway and had to stop co sleeping due to this.
It’s really painful and I also don’t understand how people can do it for so lon !

The only way I've made it work is with DH in spare room... if im confident bed is secure then I can then sleep in any position and can roll as much as I like

I have my arm above baby’s head and lie on my side with my legs underneath baby. Baby has the grow bag on and I tend to wear a long sleeved top and duvet up to my waist, but husband doesn’t bed share once baby is in with me. But we have a next to me crib to put baby in for most of the night and luckily we’re getting a reasonable nights sleep currently.

If hubby fidgets he will most likely wake baby up, which is pointless as you’ve said. Mine goes into spare if baby ends up with us for too long.

I sleep with my dressing gown on so it's like a blanket so I dont get cold lucky for OH dosent move much so I move whenever I'm uncomfy mostly on my back on my side facing LO

Can you take the cot off and put it up against the side of your bed? That’s what we’ve done with DD. Gives you all a bit more room and personal space. Then it wouldn’t matter so much if you turned away from her.

I feed to sleep and the roll away (DH is in the spare room). I can doze off feeding but can't sleep that way all night. In terms of arm position I tuck the bottom arm back under my pillow. I like to sleep in a jumper with pockets and can put my top arm in that for support. I also considered a big pillow behind me to support me in a more backwards position than I would normally sleep in.

this is my embarrassed face but PFB is a shocking sleeper he also has sleep apnea which we think contributes to his poor sleeping. We have co slept since he was 4 months old and he is a very long baby who likes to sleep sideways 🤷🏻‍♀️. We have now invested in a single bed and put it next to our bed, we have a safety rail on one side so when he settles I pop him into the single and we settle into our bed he snuggles into me and I use my old pregnancy pillow to bolster on the safety rail side. We have the beds sort of tied together and bolster pillows between the mattress so it's effectively like a mega bed. The thought is if we can get him used to the single we can move that into his room and finally get our bed back ....... the question is when 😂😂😂😂.

I don’t sleep in a fixed position now that my son is 11mo. Apart from anything else my son certainly doesn’t sleep in a fixed position! I really struggled with that at the beginning, especially after months of uncomfortable sleep whilst pregnant

At that age I got rid of cot (accepted by then that it wasnt going to happen!). Then got a small double mattress and put it on the floor. I would feed my little boy to sleep and then enjoy my evening (and frees up your husband and your bed!). Then when I was ready to go to bed I would go in beside my son for the night. I never slept in the co sleeping position, I'm a tummy sleeper. Just turned round with low v neck long sleeved top and easy access. I used a quilt rather than a duvet, I dont actually like to be too warm in bed so that was fine for me plus warm pjs.
Once baby was ready for a bed (about a year and a half) I bought a low bed frame for the mattress and there wasnt really a transition as such. I personally love co sleeping, especially if he is not well. I sleep much better with my son that my snoring husband but also enjoy having my bedroom child free.