Co-sleeping - what do we need to know?

[postkalidurga]

I am due mid-December and my DH and I are planning on co-sleeping, full-time, baby in bed with us. What do I need to know in terms of safety? Does anyone have any tips for things I won't even have thought of yet? How do you co-sleep?

Any stories or suggestions are welcome!

[Sevilla]

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http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t102200.asp

[Marisa]

I highly recommend Dr. Jay Gordon's book Good Nights -- it's a quick read, very informative, very positive stuff about the family bed. :)

You may want to invest in one of those 'sleep positioner' thingies for when your baby is young -- it will give you some peace of mind that the baby is in the right spot, and there are foam barriers on either side that you or DH will hit if you do roll close to the baby. (If you follow all the safety guidelines, though, this is not something that happens too often.)

Something like this -
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000058CC4.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

-- where the foam 'bolsters' go under the baby's arms on either side, leaving you plenty of room to nurse.

[Dally]

postkalidurga--I hope you don't mind if I add a question...

Where can one find mesh guardrails--or something similar--for an adult bed. We don't co-sleep FT (I use a co-cleeper), but early in the morning I like to bring DD into bed for side-lying nursing and some more sleep. Except, I can't really relax for fear she'll roll off the bed. It wouldn't work to push our bed against the wall, so Ive been looking for some sort of guardrail...any ideas? TIA!

[Marisa]

Dally -- try www.onestepahead.com -- I know I've seen similar items there in the past.

[Dally]

Thanks, Marisa!

[postkalidurga]

Thanks for the replies, and any new questions are great!

[dana b]

i found the sleep positioner to be an absolute must. i like the one that is a flat piece with the side rolls that velcro on and off. i would just pull the side off, roll her towards me to nurse and roll her back when she was done.
our co-sleeping evolved with her age -- when she was a newborn i slept on my side and cradled her, at some point i starting using the sleep positioner and when she was about 6 mos old, she started sleeping in the middle on her own. we didn't sleep with pillows for the first year, we have really long king sized pillows that always ended up near her.
co-sleeping has been great for us, just be prepared for restless nights when your dc is teething or reaching milestones. i wasn't aware of this and always 'freaked out' when i couldn't sleep because she was moving and waking so much, it always ended up being a tooth breaking through.

[gizzyntaz]

We cosleep full time, don't own a crib. It's worked out very well for us! We have a king size bed and we really appreciate the space.

DS was a large baby so we were less concerned (psychologically) as new parents about his safety in our bed. He was born in December and my biggest concern was covers. I would invest in some very warm pj's for you and your husband so that you can keep the covers away from the baby while he/she is so small. As time goes on, you probably won't be as concerned.

We did not like our sleep positioner (but you can always get one and return it if you don't use it or ebay it). We only used it one very sleepless night because DS seemed to think it was like a crib (he wanted to be snuggled RIGHT next to me).

Our only issue is now that DS is crawling, I'm very concerned about him crawling off our bed at the end of naps (when I am not in the room - I put him on a monitor). We bought a mattress for his room and have it on the floor. I can nurse him to sleep, make my escape and if he were to wake up quietly and get crawling he is VERY close to the floor and his room is child-proofed.

I wish you lots of luck, and I hope you enjoy cosleeping as much as we have!

- Alison :)

[BTB]

A tip to share: when DD was a newborn, she had a very difficult time latching on her own. It was dark enough in the bedroom that I couldn't see well to help her - but without my contacts in I can hardly see at all so that could've been a big part of it. At any rate, I found it very helpful to have a tap light on the nightstand - it was just enough light to see by, but not so much it startled DD, hurt her eyes or mine, or woke DH.

[bluebunny]

Full-time co-sleeper here, too. We have never used a sleep positioner. I feel like I have always been acutely aware of where DS was in the bed. We have a co-sleeper (Arms Reach) attached to my side of the bed but he won't sleep in it, preferring to sleep right up next to me. :) The co-sleeper is great for peace of mind, though, because if he rolls, he won't roll off the bed into the floor. ;)

One thing that we learned is that baby really does not need to be dressed too warmly. We had a sleep sack or two that we never used because DS would overheat if he were in the bed next to us. Usually, he was warm enough in just a onesie since he was lying next to me all night. (I guess this would depend on how cold you keep your house, though.) We keep the blankets below his chest and have never had any problems.

I highly recommend co-sleeping as it has been a life-saver for us! :D

[Marisa]

BTB reminded me of a product I saw advertised in Mothering magazine recently. For $40 I'm tempted to get one for the next baby (whenever that is!) -- though I know my husband will roll his eyes at me (as usual!)

It's called a Nurse-N-Glow, it was invented by a mom, it's a wedge-shaped pillow with a battery-operated night-light inside. It provides a soft light so you can latch the baby on, it's on a timer so it shuts itself off after 30 min if you fall asleep, and it's a great barrier between baby and DH.

http://shop.nurturecenter.com/nuglnupiwini.html

http://store1.yimg.com/I/nurturecenter_1865_21792712

Is it me, or doesn't this look like a cool idea? There's even a little pocket on the back, that would've been awesome when we were still using the nipple shields all the time.

[HedgeGirl]

We co-sleep as well. Early on, we definately needed a light to see what we were doing. Also, it took us a while to get good enough to nurse in the sidelying position (so I would usually sit up in bed and nurse him). Oh, and I'd recommend waterproof pads for underneath him (and you, if you leak like I did early on)...much easier to change out a waterproof pad than all the sheets esp with a soundly sleeping DH :)

While we've never used a official sleep positioner, I have found a long narrow bolster pillow I have for yoga has been amazingly helpful (talk about a multi-tasker...I used the pillow for between my legs when I was pg, as a bolster behind DS when nursing, and across my lap when I was sitting up to nurse him).

http://www.matsmatsmats.com/images/BeanProducts/prana-lg.jpg