Any tips on sleeping with a cot that’s been side-car’d?

[ValerieValentine]

Apologies for the terrible grammar/punctuation in the title!

I have set the cot up according to the safety guidelines and I understand the principle of how it works. But I am a little confused as to what position I should sleep in, while baby is in the cot section? Can I lie on my back?

As for feeding, would I pull the baby over from the cot to the main bed to BF? Or sort of squish myself in the cot to BF then roll myself away?

All tips appreciated, thank you!

You can sleep however you want…

I would bring baby in with me to feed then place them back into cot after. Had to put a folded blanket in the wee gap between bed and cot to begin with and put a sheet over the join- was quite handy as that sheet often got milk or spit-up on it- so got changed rather than the bed sheets themselves.

As baby got older it was possible to sort of feed them lying down without getting them out the cot- or DS in particular would feed in the bed and then pop off the boob dramatically and roll over into his own space to sleep.

It was often a handy space for my glasses, books, spare nappies and wipes and snacks- when baby slept in my bed with me 😆

My HV suggested taking a hot water bottle to bed every night so that while you're feeding, you put it in baby's bed, and remove when they're ready to go back in so that the bed is nice and warm for them. She said it takes ages for them to warm it up again otherwise.

Thought this might help so that when you're ready to move baby back, bed will be warm and baby won't notice you've moved him/her away

I used to try and keep baby in the side cot bit and feed til asleep or full and then I didn't have to move him (which would have woken him back up). I'd do this by putting my head and upper body quite a bit into the top bit of the cot. Downside of this is you use one boob way more than the other!

Thank you, I’ll try these tips tonight!

I’m finding this quite a struggle. DS is so used to sleeping really nestled into me in the C-curl that he’s having difficulty sleeping without being curled into me. I’m trying holding his hands or my hand on his belly and shushing him but he’s just crying and not sleeping! Only the boob works, but as soon as I pull away he’s wide awake and disgruntled again!

How old is your baby OP, newborn? Sounds totally normal I'm afraid, you might have to feed them on the other side. And if still not conked out, just pick him up and rock him back to sleep again a lot. Assuming you have a partner Id leave that to them to sort.

My first born never did manage a full night in the next to me, number two is so much better and will happily transfer back after a feed, keep persevering!

He’s five months old 😅

He has never slept in the Next to me so we have co-slept since birth. Which was great but also made me quite sore and long term I knew it wasn’t an option. Hence we have side-carred a cot which everyone raves about, but I’m not sure…

Oh haha, my mistake.

Personally I was never a fan. We tried them with DC1 and DC2 and both times ended up moving them to the foot of the bed after a few weeks. It was just in the way and it didn't improve their sleep. Didn't even bother with my third baby, they've just gone straight in the cotbed from birth. So if it's awkward for you then maybe just sack it off .