Moms who co-sleep...

micaela421

...any tips,techniques or knowledge  to make cosleeping safe. I found out that DD likes it and she sleeps better. The sad part of it is, DH can't sleep with us. 

NicB

we co slept for 15 months and it was wonderful. I loved it, and i miss it.  granted molly didn't sleep through the night until she moved to her crib, but whatever, i miss my baby snuggles!

Molly slept in between the two of us, she never liked having covers over her so our duvet was pushed down.  we have a king bed.  she usually slept on me, in my arms, or flat without a pillow (we did have a pillow at the head of the bed so she didnt bonk her head.  When she would nap by herself or sleep in the begiginning of the night we would just have pillows around her, molly doesnjt move around too much.

tra_la_la

We bedshared for a while. We didn't do it all the time. She went down in the pack and play and when she woke up she could come in our bed. I will warn you it was a B trying to get her to sleep in her own bed around 16 months when she just got too big.

For us it was easiest to out her on my side with the pack and play right next to me. If she happened to roll she would only have about a 5 inch drop in the pack and play. It never happened. After a while she moved between the 2 of us. She never liked blankets so we would lay her on top of them. After a while it worked better for both of us to have individual blankets so G wasn't pulling them. We used a pillow but it was pretty flat and I used a standard pillow case on a king size pillow so it was snug and there wasn't excess fabric.

swinsto3

We still co-sleep, though DH sleeps in the guest room a lot now since he gets home so late. For us, Ash has always been in between us. When she was little I slept on my left side, with my left arm extended and she slept in the "box" a made with my body. I recommend using 2 light blankets, one for each of you, and keep them low on your body. Ash loves sleeping in our bed, and we both sleep better for it, but she still doesn't STTN and wakes up to nurse probably 3 times a night on average. I love having her close and snuggly.

smilelari

We bed share every night.  DD starts off in the bassinet and then when she wakes I nurse side lying and we both drift off.  I keep the covers pushed down and don't wear drawstrings to bed.  We make sure she's closest to me and that there aren't any gaps to roll in to.  At this point she doesn't move much, so I don't worry much

d.f

we co-slept/bed shared for the first 6 months.  DH slept in the office spare room since he wasn't comfortable sleeping in bed with the baby.  He would start out the night in his carseat then when he woke the first time I would grab him and nurse him while we both dosed.  If I woke when he pulled off I would move away a few inches so I had a little more room.  I kept the blankets at or below my waist and the pillow high up and away from him. He slept in a sleeper with a Halo sleep sack over it.  Honestly, it was the only way I got any sleep since he woke up every 45min-1.5 hours for many months. 

WonderRed

We were backwards in our house.   N slept in his own bed all the time until he was big enough to climb out of the crib and I switched him to a toddler bed. Then he started getting up every night and getting into my bed with me.  He's still there and I don't mind, so long as he doesn't turn perpendicular and kick me.  But I can't offer safety advice since that's not an issue any more.

ckolak

There are a number of other ways to do it, but what we do is that I essentially hold DD all night. She is laying on her side, facing me, so she can nurse as desired, and my arm is under her head/neck and around her back. We've never had a problem where DH would have been a danger to her. I wish that she would sleep as well in her crib as she does with me, but I value sleep more than I value her staying in her crib all night and me having to get up to feed her (at least three times a night still).

schoolsoutbride

I'd just review the guidelines about doing it safely regarding blankets, pillows, etc. 

With O we had a rail on the side of the bed and he slept like ckolak described.  Only on my side when he was small and on both sides as he got older.

We never did it full time, but it was nice when he was sick or fussy.

It hasn't worked out with the twins except for occasionally doing one at at time.  I couldn't make my boobs stretch long enough to feed both.

ColoRxGirl

NicB:

we co slept for 15 months and it was wonderful. I loved it, and i miss it.  granted molly didn't sleep through the night until she moved to her crib, but whatever, i miss my baby snuggles!

Molly slept in between the two of us, she never liked having covers over her so our duvet was pushed down.  we have a king bed.  she usually slept on me, in my arms, or flat without a pillow (we did have a pillow at the head of the bed so she didnt bonk her head.  When she would nap by herself or sleep in the begiginning of the night we would just have pillows around her, molly doesnjt move around too much.

This exactly for first 8 months, then we moved to his crib. He still joins us when he's sick or upset and for a little each morning to snuggle.  

btrflypoet

We co-slept with L for the first 6 months and then she decided she didn't want to sleep with us anymore (and broke my heart!!!).  I slept with her similar to how Tena described it.  I wasn't good at nursing her on both bewbies from one side so I'd switch her back and forth.  We had an Arms Reach Co-sleeper (that I borrowed from Robin!) on the open side.  P's an extremely light sleeper so I never worried about her being in between us.  Typically she slept on her side facing me -- I would pull her feet in towards my body in sort of a C shape.  I slept with my arm up under my head and the other around her body.  We had covers up to our waists maybe but not on her.  She didn't nap alone in our room but would start out the night there alone.  We'd surround her with pillows and keep the monitor turned up.  She wasn't moving too much at 6 months so that wasn't a huge concern.  Not sure what we would have done if she'd been willing to go longer.  That being said at almost 18 months I just night weaned her -- so I was still getting up to nurse at first twice a night and then I got her down to once but she did not want to give that up!  xoxo