Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

I was adamant on NOT co-sleeping when I had my daughter. At 5 weeks PP my husband came home from work one day and I was in the corner of the house still in my pajamas, tears streaming down my face and rocking Alexa who was SCREAMING and rocking back and forth and saying, we are gonna die, I can't do this anymore. I had not slept more than maybe 45 min - 1 hour clips since she was born. I was in labor for 3 days and Alexa had some medical issues when she was born from severe torticolis that didn't allow her to open her mouth to take the breast or a bottle, I had to feed her with a 1 cc syringe for the first 3 weeks. Just so you know it takes 30 One cc syringes to equal an ounce. It was round the clock. She had one of the worst cases of acid reflux the specialist at yale had ever seen and severe colic. She went from 80% at birth to falling completely off the growth curve at 2 weeks.

My husband immediately grabbed the baby and called my midwife, he thought I had gone crazy ( I don't remember any of this BTW). I was sooo sooo sleep deprived that I had a form of post partum psychosis. My midwife asked me why I was NOT co-sleeping, that Alexa missed my warmth and body and that I should bring her into bed with me. I told her I was scared that it was dangerous. She sent me a link to THIS SITE and told me to read. So I read, and read, and read some more. And it made sense to me. That we prepared our bed to co-sleep and I put Alexa in bed with me. She slept 6 hours straight and I woke up crying I was so happy. I never he saw her sleep so deep or peacefully as she did when she was with me in bed. We co-slept until 18 weeks until she decided she needed more room and transitioned to her crib. I missed her but knew it was for teh best.


I'm not saying co-sleeping is for everyone but I will say that I find that countries that do co-sleep have lower risks of SIDS. If you know anything about the physiology about breathing you know that high levels of Carbon Dioxide in chemoreceptors of the brain signal to the brain to take a breath in. If there is no Carbon Dioxide to breathe in the brain doesn't signal to the lungs to breathe in. THIS is what happens with Carbon Monoxide poisoning, basically the body doesn't sense Carbon dioxide to trigger teh lungs to breathe and you just stop breathing.

When a baby sleeps with his mother you are constantly exhaling carbon dioxide onto the baby that the baby takes in and keeps signalling to the brain to breathe....

One theory on SIDS is that some babies aren't born with enough of these Chemoreseptors in the brain that read carbon dioxide levels properly and they stop signaling to the lungs to breathe.

THIS makes scientific sense to me. THIS combines with tons of other information on the articles above is why I felt safe and will continue to promote SAFE co-sleeping to people who fall into the guidlines.

This isn't meant to start a debate but I wanted to share information with other mothers so THEY can make the best educated decision on what is best for THEM and their baby!





More great reading: Click Here

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

I co-slept with Frankie (still do) and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

I think the above story makes it perfectly clear that you can not and should not judge a situation before you know all about it.

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

Thank you so much for sharing!!! That makes so much sense. I would try to tilt my head up so DS wasn't breathing my air because I didn't want to poison him with my carbon dioxide.

IMO, co-sleeping is natural. Everyone should do what they are comfortable with, but I am not comfortable with my baby sleeping in another room (until he's no longer a baby or young toddler ). Someone told me when I made the decision to bring DS in bed with me, that the only reason people co-sleep in other countries was because they can't afford beds and they don't have separate bedrooms No, they do it because it's NATURAL.

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

we co-slept and still are... she wont be sleeping me forever.
and plus when she holds my face and says mama i loooodddd you and hugs me when she falls asleep
(Love you) I loooooooooove it
& i dont care what anyone says.

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

Wow that is some story!
And I thought I had it rough in the newborn stage.. . Hats of to you for having to deal with such horrible issues in those first weeks.

My theory on ALL things baby related is- WHATEVER works.
That's it.
Whatever WORKS FOR YOU.

I went into parenthood with all these preconceived notions. I WILL do this, I will NOT do that. Etc, etc

Then she came screaming into our lives...and everything went out the window. I would have sold my SOUL to the devil for a few hours of sleep or to get her to be quiet.

I probably created some bad habits in the process (binky etc) but hey, at the time, it was pure SURVIVAL.
We did what we had to , to survive.

Every baby is different and you truly don't know this until you are in the midst of it. (I know I certainly didn't!)

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

Thank you for sharing!

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

Great article...I am not a co sleeper....and not that I am against it at all...but its not for me. I agree with PP...whatever works...your baby..your choice...but thanks for sharing

Re: Should we co-sleep? - Some information to share

I didn't co-sleep in the newborn stage but my 14 month old has made his way into my bed nowadays. Sometimes you just gotta sleep! I think a good/safer option for newborns is the arm's reach cosleeper. It's a mini pack n play type bassinet that has one side that comes down and you can attach it to your bed. This way the baby is still close by in its own safe place.