Bed sharing

99frontier

K has been a terrible sleeper all along. I tried the No Cry Sleep Solution a while back. Last week I started the Sleep Lady Shuffle...no go. K cried for an hour and a half and ended up passing out on my cheek when I leaned in to hug him. Broke my heart!! The next few nights weren't much better. Now, DH and I discussed CIO but still aren't comfortable with it. So we are going to look into bed sharing. So my questions...
What is a good resource for bed sharing info?
How do you bed share safely with a crawler and baby that can pull to standing? [he is 9 months]
Do I need bed rails and any recommendations?
Anything else I need to consider?
TIA!!

drbethc

We bed share and this is the only way I get fully rested...we have a king size bed and I purchased bed rails..he's in bed only when I'm in bed because I don't want him falling and getting hurt..

CountryMile

drbethc:

We bed share and this is the only way I get fully rested...we have a king size bed and I purchased bed rails..he's in bed only when I'm in bed because I don't want him falling and getting hurt..

All of this.  Except we have a queen bed.  We've been bedsharing since DS was a newborn.  The bedrails work great!

hollowstar

At around 9 months (once my son could pull up and outgrew the co-sleeper bassinet), we ditched our bed frame and put our box spring + queen mattress on the floor, with a twin mattress on the floor up against our bed. (So, our bed was still slightly higher than the twin. Later on we had them flush, and now that he's 2 we have our bed frame back.)

If you just do your big bed, the best bet is probably to have the bed against a wall. Just make sure there is no way arms or legs can get stuck between the bed and the wall. I sometimes worried my son would crawl off the end of the bed before I woke up, but he would always just sit up and coo/babble and wake me up.

Basically: Baby proof the rest of the room just in case he crawls off the bed at some point. Keep blankets and pillows to a minimum, although at 9 months you're pretty safe. Keep Baby next to only you if you don't think Dad will be as responsive. (My DH literally slapped our son across the face once in his sleep.)

FWIW, my son still doesn't always sleep through the night, even bedsharing, at 2.5. It isn't foolproof. But when he does/has woken up, I can catch it before he's fully awake and help him get back to sleep faster. We also breastfeed but even when we don't nurse, often I can just spoon him back to sleep. 

JENNIFER7SUSAN

hollowstar:

At around 9 months (once my son could pull up and outgrew the co-sleeper bassinet), we ditched our bed frame and put our box spring + queen mattress on the floor, with a twin mattress on the floor up against our bed. (So, our bed was still slightly higher than the twin. Later on we had them flush, and now that he's 2 we have our bed frame back.)

If you just do your big bed, the best bet is probably to have the bed against a wall. Just make sure there is no way arms or legs can get stuck between the bed and the wall. I sometimes worried my son would crawl off the end of the bed before I woke up, but he would always just sit up and coo/babble and wake me up.

Basically: Baby proof the rest of the room just in case he crawls off the bed at some point. Keep blankets and pillows to a minimum, although at 9 months you're pretty safe. Keep Baby next to only you if you don't think Dad will be as responsive. (My DH literally slapped our son across the face once in his sleep.)

FWIW, my son still doesn't always sleep through the night, even bedsharing, at 2.5. It isn't foolproof. But when he does/has woken up, I can catch it before he's fully awake and help him get back to sleep faster. We also breastfeed but even when we don't nurse, often I can just spoon him back to sleep. 

glad to get your method. i'll use your tips sure:)