A lot of people are nervous of co-sleeping when they first hear of it, but there’s nothing to be nervous about if you’re planning to co-sleep and you do so safely.
I was worried about co-sleeping with my first born, but having a breastfed baby who woke up many times throughout the night, it was easier to have him in bed with me and feed him whenever he woke. It worked really well for us.
To begin with I simply slept with O next to me, away from the pillows and covers and my arm over him the entire night. As he got older and learnt to roll we put a bed guard at the edge of the bed on my side. Fortunately O has always been quite a still sleeping child so it was easy to sleep next to him in bed. I never worried about rolling on him as I would always be aware of him and if he moved then I would wake slightly and make sure he was safe. At 10 months old we bought a single mattress for the floor of his room (as the cot wasn’t really used anyway!) and he went to sleep on that each night, he woke frequently so I would often be found sleeping beside him in his room!
We moved house when he was 14 months old and bought an actual bed, where he’s slept (with us until around 3 years old) ever since. We would often sleep in his bed with him when he woke.
With baby number 2 I decided early on that we needed a bit more room for co-sleeping and decided to take up a Groupon voucher deal and bought a kingsize bed. Then we screwed the 3 sides of O’s all cot to our bed and bought a made to measure mattress for the cot to make sure there was a tight fit between our bed and A’s cot.
A has slept in this set-up since he was born with no problems. He’s clearly happy sleeping beside me, having milk when he wakes and in the morning the first thing he does is to give us cuddles and kisses, which of course I love as it’s very sweet!
Of course the other bonus is that we get more sleep co-sleeping. Neither of my boys have slept well at night, so it would have been awful to keep getting up to go to another room all the time. We all get more sleep when we’re co-sleeping!
The important things to remember when co-sleeping safely are these:
* Keep covers and pillows away from baby.
* Baby is safer sleeping beside their breastfeeding mother.
* Don’t bed share if you smoke, take drugs or you’ve had alcohol.
* Don’t allow older siblings to bed share with babies under a year.
* Premature or low birth weight babies should not bed share until they are bigger, but can co-sleep on another surface in the room (a separate cot for example).
* Do not swaddle baby if bed sharing as they may overheat
* Ensure there are no gaps between mattresses or walls where baby can fall down or get stuck.
* Never, ever fall asleep on a sofa, chair or futon as your baby can slip down the crevice or become wedged at the back of the sofa/chair etc.
There is nothing wrong with sleeping with your baby, it’s a wonderful thing to wake up with your baby smiling at you and get lots of sleep together. Definitely something I would recommend to new mums to consider.
Do/did you co-sleep?
J x
Nia says
Great, straightforward post on co-sleeping!!
I didn’t start cosleeping with my twins until they were 7 months when I could take the sleep deprivation of waking up to go into one of them every hour no longer!! At 15 months we now still happily co – sleep and all get a WAY better night sleep, even if it can be uncomfy for me sometimes. Much happier babies & mum since we started cosleeping!
Charlene says
When I was breastfeeding I did co sleep but when we stopped, I moved him to his own room and he seems to like his own space!
Mummuddlingthrough says
I never co slept, not because I was anti it, but because it freaked me out that I might squish my baby. As a result, if she ever was in my bed I never slept a wink! both girls were right beside me in their crib in my room until 6 months, but, for us, safely segregated by the crib bars so I knew she was safe. I do think it’s a lovely concept though, a great guide for anyone considering it. X MMT #picknmix
Kirsten Toyne says
Lovely straightforward post on co sleeping. Thanks for sharing.
Su says
Great tips! I co-sleep with my babies and feel that I get more sleep than not. #PicknMix
Merlinda Little (@pixiedusk) says
My son is 5 now and we still co-sleep. I am actually planning on making him sleep on his own bed still on our room (we actually only have 1) and we will start soon and hopefully he will be sleeping on his own before school starts.
I love co-sleeping. Its a real bonding for us.
#PicknMix
Lisa says
I didn’t co sleep with Holly. I really wish I had!
Great post
Lx
http://workingmumy.blogspot.com
#PicknMix
Claire says
We are all about the co-sleeping here! All 5 have been in our bed so there have been very few nights without at least 1 child in our room in nearly 13 years!! #picknmix
Jen @ 4,128 miles says
Great, straightforward tips on co-sleeping. It’s not something we’ve done, but I know countless friends who it’s worked a treat for! #picknmix
A Cornish Mum says
I was very lucky in that my boys both inherited the heavy sleeper gene from me and slept through very early on and even had lie ins as babies, so this was something I never had to worry about. Well done you though for letting people know how to do it safely!
Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
Stevie x
(Mostly) Yummy Mummy says
I never planned to co-sleep but it just felt like the most natural thing in the world when the time came. I think you have to do what is right for you but I definitely agree that when done safely it can be a wonderful thing!
Alex says
Really great article!! It’s so important co-sleeping is done safely. I did it with #1, but not #2.
Jenny Eaves says
Thank you! 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
Yes, me too! I never planned with O, but it just happened and felt right. Glad to hear your positive experience too. 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
Jealous of your heavy sleepers, would love to sleep properly again one day! 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
Thanks Jen! Good to hear! 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
That’s a long time of bedtime cuddles! Must be nice for them all to have had that comfort. 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
Thank you, Daytime cuddles are great too. 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
That’s lovely that he’s still sleeping with you, it must be so comforting for him knowing he’s safe with you! I’m sure his own bed will be easy enough if he’s still in your room. Good luck! 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
I find that too, thank you! 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
Thank you! 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
Thank you! I know it’s not for everyone, but great that you still had them in your room for so long. 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
That’s good he was fine with the move! O was always fine, and when A moves he will go into to the same room with his brother, so they’ll not be alone. 🙂 x
Jenny Eaves says
That’s great that you found better sleep co-sleeping! It’s the only way I could have got sleep with either of mine too, although certain nights I’ve woken up with a dead arm or achey side! X
Min says
I co-sleep with my son. Like you I breastfeed and he wakes up multiple times during the night. As I’m a single parent there’s plenty of room in the bed. The only issue (which isn’t really an issue) is that I can’t get the little one to go to sleep before I do, and I do find I am slightly jealous of those mums who have time to themselves to chill out in the evenings after the baby goes to bed.
Jenny Eaves says
I think that just depends on the child, I have several friends whose children won’t go to sleep earlier, but then they get a lie-in in the morning. We have the opposite problem, in bed early (they fall asleep on the sofa otherwise) and then awake early in the morning at 6am.:) x