for moms who co-sleep with infants..

How do you do it?
Is Dc in bed with you or do you use a co-sleeper or something else in the bed? What about your blanket? Is she in between you and DH?

I have DD in a bassinette in my room, and this morning she woke up crying. It was too early for her to be hungry and I was exhausted. I picked her up and she stopped crying. I put her in bed next to me and she was content.
I was so comfy with her, but was afraid to go back to sleep - afraid that I'd roll over on her, afraid that even though I moved the blanket away from her, she'd somehow get under it and smothered.
Just curious how you do it. TIA!

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

I know its wrong to do that but my DS is almost 5 months and when he cries all night i know what makes him stop when i pick him up and have him sleep in my chest and we both fall asleep .. But he can Sleep Comfy for hours that way ..

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

hey shari -

em sleeps in between dave & i - typically i put my arm out and she sleeps with her head on my arm.

as long as you are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol - your body is 'hardwired' to NOT harm your child. i have read a book on the topic - so that i was adequately armed for the arguments with my mom and mother in law.

apparently - it's in our dna to protect our children.. and the book i read did mention that should something happen with dave & i and we divorce & dave is still active in emma's life as her father - then i CANNOT co-sleep with emma and my new husband. if dave is completely out of her life and my new husband has taken over fathering for emma - then we can co-sleep. it's something about protection, etc.... i found it a very interesting read!!!

eta: with regards to the blanket - the blanket covers dave & me...and is WAY above her body - since dave and i are 'higher' than she is - does that make sense??? so she gets the warmth from our bodies and the blanket, but it's far from on top of her!

Message edited 1/20/2010 3:08:12 PM.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

With DS#1, we didn't co-sleep at all, but with DS#2 I was afraid he'd wake up DS#1 so we co-sleep.

When he first came home from the hospital, we had a small bassinette directly next to our bed and I would nurse him and INTENDED to put him back in the bassinette, but I was always so tired and he never seemed to want to be in the bassinnete in the beginning.

Within a week or so, he was sleeping mostly in the bassinet and I only pulled him into our bed to nurse, then I put him right back in the bassinet.

Now that he's 2 mos old, he's outgrown his bassinet, so he's in a pack and play further away from our bed now, but still in our MBR.

I never put him under the covers with me, but when nursing, I always brace myself up with my elbow above his head if I'm lying on my side....I'm also afraid that I'll roll over on him so I try very hard to not be too drowsy when nursing him.

Good luck!

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

Message edited 1/20/2010 3:15:04 PM.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

Message edited 1/20/2010 4:11:46 PM.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

dd just sleeps in bed with us. nothing special. i usually wake up before she does and as previous posters mention we're hardwired to be that in sync with our children. unless you're on drugs (prescription, illegal, whatever) or drunk, there shouldn't be a problem. even my husband who is the world's deepest sleeper (doesn't wake up for ANYTHING) is fine with her in the bed.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

I used the arms reach co-sleeper. The one end is opened on my side. I loved it. I was so sad the day we moved her to her crib, but she transitioned perfectly fine!

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

DS#1 in our bed in between us.

DC#2 bought a cosleeper because DS#1 still comes in our room every now and then and I would hate for him to sleep on new DC.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

Good questions. I didn't start off wanting to cosleep but DD doesn't sleep anywhere else. I put her next to me with her head on my arm. I sleep on my side and with my back turned to DH. He is a heavy sleeper so I was afraid he would roll on her if she slept in between us. I tuck the blanket under me to make sure it doesn't cover her face. It makes BF so easy. Alot of times I fall asleep while shes nursing. I wake up anytime she moves but she sleeps very cozy.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

When DD was really little we put a sleep positioner in the bed between us - the sides have velcro so it was easy for me to remove them in the middle of the night to breast feed her.

After about a month, I stopped using the sleep postioner and just place DD next to me. I sleep on my side facing her, and she faces me and sleeps in the crook of my body, if that makes sense. I am so aware of her in this position that I never worry about rolling on her.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

we cosleep, she would just lay on my arm and I would put the blanket under my arms so it couldn't go over her head

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

I used to co-sleep with DS, I did it like other said, he'd sleep on my arm and I'd lie on my side facing him.
I don't really do it anymore - maybe for a nap every once in awhile. He started to move around and kick me and I just couldn't get any sleep.

Re: for moms who co-sleep with infants..

Thank you everyone :)