Does co sleeping help ?

[Hann376]

Has anyone co slept with babies / toddlers and found it helped everyone get better sleep?

did you have to breastfeed lying down? And what did baby wear when co sleeping ?

im now feeling guilty for not co sleeping with my 5 month old and I spent months getting her to sleep in her cot at night. I would be willing to co sleep now if it makes her feel secure but I’m not sure if it’s gonna make a difference to how many times she wakes in the night and would still have to wait for her to be in a deep sleep after a feed before attempting to put her down on the bed next to me.

I could never breastfeed lying down but i did the feed and dh did winding, changing and resettling. I had the better deal.

we co-slept with ds for a long time as he just couldnt sleep alone. It was the only way to get him to sleep through the night. I dont sleep well when my dh is away so i get it.

If she sleeps in her cot, that’s fine and don’t feel guilty about not cosleeping, she’s not missing anything! I coslept with my baby a lot at that age as the alternative was not sleeping, but I preferred him in his own bed! I did BF lying down yes. Baby wore sleep suit and sleeping bag same as in his cot. He’d start in there then come in to bed to feed and often I’d fall asleep while feeding so made sure I did so safely.

I'm lazy and wanted all the sleep I could get, so we bed shared from day 1 and I fed lying down throughout the night. Baby stayed in the middle of the bed and about halfway through the night I swapped to the other side to feed off that boob instead. Bed was a double mattress in the middle of the room so no worries if baby rolled out. It worked the best for us as mine were crap sleepers.

If she sleeps well in her cot and you see to her when she needs you then there's nothing to feel guilty about.
But to answer the practical questions, I breastfeed lying down and DD wears baby grow and baby sleeping bag as I don't put the covers over her at all and I do try to put her in the crib for some of the night. I don't get great sleep with co-sleeping but I do at least get to doze if she is having a particularly restless night.

BF lying down and did a mixture of co-sleeping/cot until 12 months.

We both genuinely did enjoy sleeping together as a family, sweet little morning smiles, how cuddly she got as she got older. And we did all sleep well, she found it very easy to go back to sleep when we were together.

However - I think at times it was confusing for her about when we wanted her to be in the cot, and it made starting nursery and napping there more upsetting for her. She also was quite reliant on BF to sleep and my presence. Making it hard for me to travel/socialise.

Overall - very glad I did it, pros hugely outweighed cons, but there were some.

Yes, we had about a week of faffing and getting no sleep until I decided to read up on safe co-sleeping and get on with it.

My baby then slept most of the night waking for 1 or 2 feeds (BF lay down in bed). And I didn't feel tired at all in the day as a result.

It makes me so sad that more mums don't do it, they struggle on and on with little to no sleep which completely ruins the first weeks/months, exacerbates PND, bonding. Awful business.

My baby is now 4 months and he's happily sleeping in the next to me crib.

How did you manage the change from co-sleeping to sleeping in the next to me crib @wickerlady? We have tried everything but to no avail!