Sleeping on my chest?

dubs3

I have a pediatrician appt tomorrow and will be asking him about this, but I thought I'd see what your guys' opinion was:

 Tonight will be our second night home from the hospital, and of course, my LO is fantastic at sleeping in her bassinet during the day, but at night, has a rough time with it...in the early hours of the morning, I've been sleeping with her face down on my chest (her face is actually turned to the side)...I prop myself up so I'm not laying flat, so I don't fear that I'll roll over on her or smother her, but still it makes me wonder how safe it is...WDYT?

lauranicole91

I can't tell you it's the safest thing to do, but sometimes that is the only place my LO will sleep. So DH and I do the same thing if we expect to get any sleep at night. We will usually have her fall asleep on our chest and then dose off. If we wake up and she is in a deep sleep we will transfer her to her RnP. If not, that's just how we sleep for those couple hours.

I think if parents take the right procausions, co-sleeping isn't that horrible. If you are a light sleeper and don't roll all over the place, trust your gut feeling and do it if you feel safe doing it. 

RichInLove

I'm sure your pedi won't advise it, since it's not safe. But I bet every mom has done it at one point or another. DS#1 slept like that with me many nights when he was a newborn. Just trust your instincts!

alisonmsmith

We've been doing the same at night. I've also put him on a pillow next to me and propped myself up as well. 

This isn't my first choice, since we bought the co-sleeper, but sometimes I think they just need the skin to skin contact.  

TucktheTurtle

Getting a newborn to sleep is all about survival. You just do whatever works. We bedshare full time, and Sadie has slept on my chest at least twice.

WildcatPrincess

Your pedi will definitely say don't do it, but we did DD's whole first month when she wouldn't sleep any other way. Eventually she got used to the bassinet and it was fine. DH and I took turns staying awake with her at night so in theory we weren't sleeping with her, but sometimes during my shifts I'd snooze with her on my chest on the couch.

mommy~to~mj

I do it. I try to get her to sleep in her bassinet as much as possible but if she doesn't she's on my chest. DD1 did the same thing. 

Cheerio B

DS naps like this a lot. He sleeps great in the PNP at night but for naps he usually has to be touching me. I occasionally doze off like this but try really hard not to because it makes me nervous he'll slide down and end up face down. With a newborn though, you do what you ahve to do so every one gets some rest.

dubs3

I definitely agree- newborn sleep is all about survival! I really do think she just gets lonesome and needs to feel close to me, and would not be able to sleep any other way...it makes me feel a little better that she's actually on me, because even when she's in the bassinet and sound asleep- I'm the paranoid one waking up to make sure she's still ok and breathing!

SKWCM80

Dd slept like that for a while when she was born. She seemed to hate her bassinet, and it was the only way she would sleep for more than an hour at a time.

schmood

I was at the pedi yesterday and she asked about whether we were doing this.  Not very often, but it does happen occasionally.  She said she understands that it is a necessity sometimes, so she said if we do have him sleep on our chest, try to put him into a carrier...  I told her we have a sling and she said that would be fine.  At least you aren't running the risk of them sliding off you.