What method of co-sleeping do you use?

Noreen - posted on 05/11/2010

I co-sleep with my daugher in my arms in the "spooning" position or on my chest sometimes. I get a lot of the same coments from what seems like EVERYONE, but I don't care! I have 2 older children who also co-slept the same way who are now 5 and 4. They both sleep perfectly in their own beds throughout the night and have been since they were both about a yr to a yr and a half. They are always welcomed in our bed and if they have a bad dream, they usually come sleep with me unless their daddy is home. If Daddy is home, they come get me, I walk them back to their bed and reinforce them with lots of hugs and kisses.

Raven - posted on 05/02/2010

thats exactly how i ended up sleeping next to my baby, I didnt see the point of trying the crib after both of us sleeping so well!

Courtney - posted on 04/30/2010

my little girl snuggles up next to me, she has never slept in her crib, (i think the crib was a waste of money) i tried the bassinet when she was born and she would not sleep in it so i finally gave in and held her while i was in bed and i woke up the next morning and i didnt move from the position i fell asleep in! i was quite shocked and i realised that my daughter slept through the night at age 3 days! i said why would i put her through all that screaming and balling again when we could both get a good nights sleep if we just cuddle up together? she has slept next to me ever since and has woken up in the middle of the night only a handful amount of times, she is now 5 days off of nine months.

Raven - posted on 04/27/2010

I have mine lil girl in my arms,we sleep facing eachother laying on our sides, the only place she will sleep is with me in a recliner which isnt the funnest right now but shes happy and I get a full nights sleep

Vicki - posted on 04/25/2010

We've got a cot sidecarred to the bed. At the moment our pattern is - I feed him to sleep on our bed, then stay up for a few hours. When I come to bed I move him over into the cot so I can have a bit of time sleeping without baby. Between 10 minutes and 3 hours later, he rolls back over to join me and we cuddle up for the rest of the night. The cot is still handy as a bed extension, for my arm, or I sometimes end up half in it if baby is between us.

Vanessa - posted on 04/25/2010

My instinct also tells me to keep my baby close in bed. All 3 of my kids co-slept with us. That being said, I do worry about safety. We had some close calls with our second child when she started wiggling around in her sleep. Now with my third baby I will transfer her to a crib in our room if she starts wiggling around too.

Bradi - posted on 04/19/2010

My son has always slept in between my husband and I (he's 1). We are planning on moving across the country in a few months and once we do we plan on room sharing, mostly because I can't fathom him being across the house in his own room.

Rebecca - posted on 04/15/2010

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I know that following my instinct is the right thing, but having no one around me who really supports my beliefs about co-sleeping or AP can make me second guess myself alot! : )

Paikike - posted on 04/15/2010

My baby slept in a cosleeper next to me, he was close yet safe.
Then I put his crib next to my side of the bed, and now he has
a big mattress on the floor next to our bed. I love him next to me, he loves being close to us. My sister and my mom think im nuts, but i really dont care, I love it.

Fiona - posted on 04/15/2010

*I have just cut and pasted the first paragraph of this from my post on the co-sleeping debate on another forum, because it is a good description of what I do and I didn't want to write it all out again*



We have done a little bit of everything. When my son was newborn, he slept in our bed with us, we bed-shared following all recommendations for how to do so safely. When he was 4 weeks old he went into a moses basket beside our bed at night and napped in a snuggle bed on the couch (or in a room near me) during the day. During the night I would bring him into bed to breastfeed and in the morning I would bring him into bed to feed and cuddle. Sometimes I would get up and sit in a chair to feed him and walk around rocking him. It depended on the night and what worked best that particular night. When he was 6 months old he started sleeping in his cot (in our room) for naps and for the first part of the night. When he woke up for a feed, again sometimes I would bring him into bed or sometimes I would feed him then lay him back in his cot depending on how the night was going. Now at 9 months old he sleeps in his cot in a room just off our room, still where I can see and hear him. When/if he wakes up during the night I bring him into bed with us or if he sleeps longer, when he wakes up in the early morning I bring him into bed for a cuddle.



I feel like we are not so much truly co-sleeping at the moment as my son is sleeping in his own cot so much more and a little bit of me is sad about that. But, he is still in my bed every night at some point and every morning I roll over to see his beautiful little smile as he slaps his daddy on the chest or face to wake him up. I love sharing our bed with our son, my partner loves sharing our bed with our son, our son loves sharing our bed, so we are all happy. Especially on those mornings when the dog jumps up for a cuddle as well and our whole family unit is snug as a bug in a rug! I don't care if he wants to jump into bed with us for years to come, our son will always be welcome to sleep in our bed if that is what makes him happy and content, just as he will always be welcome to sleep on his own if that is where he is most comfortable.

Autumn - posted on 04/14/2010

I have her sleep in bed with me and we sleep in the breastfeeding side lying position. It's the perfect way to take care of her needs and she sleeps much more soundly at night than when I tried a crib. I have a body pillow that wraps around her back so that she can't roll off and so daddy can't roll either.

Minnie - posted on 04/14/2010

My four year old sleeps in a twin next to our bed and my 18 month old sleeps squashed up next to me in our bed. Sometimes she's on my chest as well...however it happens, lol.

I really really don't think there are any safety issues with your baby sleeping on your chest. It seems most natural to me.

Jenny - posted on 04/14/2010

My three month old sleeps cuddled with me in my bed and my four year old sleep on a mattress with my husband in the baby's room (was the spare room). My husband snores REALLY loudly and I can't sleep at all through it, so for now baby and I share a bed on our own. Emma hasn't been in a crib once since she's been born. During the day I put her to sleep in my bed, with pillows all around so she can't roll off. At night she cuddles right with me. She loves the skin to skin and so do I!

Jessica - posted on 04/13/2010

lulu sleeps with tomas and i in our bed :)

Anne - posted on 04/13/2010

A cot with the bars taken off pushed up against our bed but for half the night she sleeps in my arms - she comes over and insists! We would have done the same bed thing but my baby was born early and so tiny and I was terrified I might squash her even with my arm. Perhaps I was wrong. Have never had a good enough bed since then to bring her into - too many temporary house moves. But for anyone who can do the bedshare thing I think it's great.

Taralee - posted on 04/13/2010

Congratulations Geralyn on the soon arriving little lady....what a lucky girl to have you as a mommy.

Geralyn - posted on 04/12/2010

My cutie sleeps in between us, and has since day 1. We love it! We have another on the way, and we look forward to having her join us. The details need to be worked out... lol.

Mhairi - posted on 04/12/2010

Lauchie (13 months) is in the cot for day time naps and when he goes to be early in the evening, then when he wakes up for a nighttime feed he joins us in the family bed until morning. He rolls about quite a bit in his sleep which is why he's in the cot if he's by himself, and we have a bed-rail in the family bed too.

April - posted on 04/12/2010

we roomshare. his crib is in our room. wish he would bedshare or side car but i think he is too used to his crib. he likes it. would make bf so much easier...

Taralee - posted on 04/12/2010

We bed share. But we do have her crib set up as a side car co-sleeper against the bed. However, as soon as she wakes up she crawls over to us and sleeps in the bed with daddy and I for the rest of the night. Some times we don't even place her in the co-sleeper....because I love to cuddle her. I'm a cheeseball.

Marcy - posted on 04/12/2010

My son spent the first 6 months of his new life sleeping on my chest. After that we tried a co-sleeper next to the bed and that lasted all of 10 minutes. We then moved him in the middle of myself and my hubby and he slept and nursed there until he was 2 1/2. He now sleeps in his own room and comes in to our bed whenever he feels like it.

Breanne - posted on 04/12/2010

My son stays right beside me and he's 17 mo old. We co sleep and BF. You're doing great!

Sarah - posted on 04/12/2010

I am single so she has always slept on the inside with the bed firmly against the wall. Tried a bassinet when she was really young but she or I never liked it much, when I made the switch she started sleeping soundly through the night and crying much less around bed time,

I would look up more info on co-sleeping because there is proof it can actually be beneficial for mom and baby. Personally I am super-aware of her movements and it makes nursing so much easier.

I have gotten a lot of slack from some people that it is 'wrong' or that she will be traumatized somehow, but it feels like the most natural thing in the world to me!

Brenda - posted on 04/11/2010

I have a bedrail and he's always slept right beside me or on me. He's 11 months old now, and still loves to snuggle with me. I don't even own a crib anymore, don't know why i bought one to start with. My four (almost five) year old sleeps in the middle but we're trying to transition him out because he's such a pain some nights...lol.