Can you bf lying down with a baby inside a bedside crib?

[Reastie]

Just that really.

I keep falling asleep feeding Ds in bed and am looking for a solution safer than cosleeping (and this way I get more sleep than making myself get up and wake up for feeds).

Looking at various options online it looks like they have a lip over the open edge so I’m not sure if it’s logically possible to bf lying down with the baby inside the cot. Can anyone help?

We have a snuzpod and I'd have to contort myself into an odd position to feed with DD still inside it, it wouldn't be the lip that would be a problem more that my head would need to be in the space that is occupied by the top edge of the snuzpod. What your suggesting maybe more likely with a full size cot with one side taken off as you basically need to fit your upper body in unless you have spectacularly large breasts that allow you to have your body on the edge of your bed but your breast extending into the crib.
I did consider what your thinking of but gave up and we often co sleep from about 3/4am onwards as I can't be bothered to shuffle her back across into her snuz and after an initial decent stretch of sleep she wakes more frequently from 3/4am until 7am and settles better snuggled next to my boobs.

That’s annoying, maybe other side sleepers are better. We have a cot bed but it only has 3 specific heights which don’t correspond to our bed :(

We have a troll bedside cot set up beside me.

We bought risers for our bed to make it slightly higher so that the heights match.

It’s easy - I pull him over to me, feed him, then he rolls back over into his cot. If he sprawls over into my side too much then I just wait till he’s settled and gently push him back in.

It’s a very common solution for people who are breastfeeding but don’t want to just share a normal bed. Plus it gives you a bit more room as they get bigger and take up more of your space.

Yeah you need a cot bed. You take one side off, you raise it up on hardback books, and you lash it to your bed frame with ratchet straps or similar.

You can BF half in and half out of it basically. It's a lifesaver as if you fall asleep, baby is in their correct position in the cot. You wake up cold, but then you can slide back to your own pillow, blankets up to your ears!

Oh I forgot, you have to make sure the mattresses are flush. So once you get the height right, you have to shove their mattress to meet yours, and put lots of rolled towels in the far gap in the cotbed you have just created.

Our bed is antique and low and a weird height so I’m not sure will work. We have a toddler bed/cot bed thing that one side can come off but can’t seem to align the heights. If this worked this would be a great solution!

@ElspethFlashman not sure what you mean about the rolled up towels?

You can put rolled up towels to bridge the gap between the mattresses. If height is the only issue, can you use books or a plank to prop up the cot? Extra mattress in the cot?

It's hard to visualise. Basically cot bed mattresses only come out to the frame. Not beyond, obvs as there is a side rail. But once you take the side off, there will be a gap between your two mattresses : frame + frame. So you have to shove their mattress over to join yours, right over the cotbed frame edge.

But then you will find youve a gap at the far side. To stop the baby falling into the gap you have to use rolled up towels.

You may try propping up your own bed on paving slabs or something?

So what then happens for day naps once they cal roll around or crawl out via your bed? It’s fine for now but seems a bit dangerous then.

Neither of mine either fell off the bed, they did crawl around a bit but didn’t fall.
If your bed is fairly low anyway I’d maybe just put extra cushions down around the bed for daytime naps and reckon that if they do fall they won’t really get hurt but then I’m fairly gung ho. You could also use a video baby monitor and keep half an eye on them to make sure they’re not moving too much.