Talk to me about co-sleeping and BF

DahliaFlower · January 2014

Ladies,

I have not been totally comfortable with co-sleeping for safety reasons, fears about SIDS and suffocation hazards. I know that many others do not share my concerns and are happily enjoying co-sleeping. In spite of my concerns, on a regular basis, I end up nursing LO side-lying in bed and allow him to fall asleep and stay asleep w/ us in bed. I frequently wake up nervous and feel guilty for allowing LO (and myself) to fall asleep this way. The truth is, I do believe this is a natural way to sleep but I don't feel totally comfortable doing it myself.

Can anyone tell me of your experience, and any measures you take to be sure LO is safe?

TIA

vvvvvfee · January 2014

Check out the safe cosleeping and FAQs section on this page: https://cosleeping.nd.edu I would not worry if you are breastfeeding and taking basic safety precautions. I am still breastfeeing and bedshare with my 17 month old DS. We started out with an arm's reach cosleeper, but he just would not sleep in it, so he ended up in our bed at about 6 weeks old. DS always slept between me and the cosleeper so if he inched away from me he'd land in the cosleeper(this never happened). I slept with DS cuddled next to me with his head on my arm/shoulder so there was no way he could end up face down on the mattress. We kept blankets at waist level. I was always very aware of where DS was in relation to me and would wake if he stirred. I didn't let him sleep between me and my DH until DS was old enough to roll over. Now he often sleeps with DH. Babies are biologically be with their parents. The way we do things in the western world (infants sleeping in another room) is not the norm! Nor is it the easiest method, IMO.

DahliaFlower · January 2014

Thanks Ladies for all the feedback.

@theresat858 Yes, you are right, I am speaking of bed-sharing. We have already been co-sleeping in the same room, and I'm not totally familiar with the lingo b/c I never expected to be bed-sharing.

Anyway, just to be clear, we always do take safety precautions. I pull all the blankets away whenever he is in the bed, no pillows anywhere near him, etc. The only thing that had made me nervous was him leaning his face into my side. Fortunately, he is large for 3.5 months and has very good strength, so I don't think he would have a lot of difficulty re-positioning if needed, but of course so much about SIDS is unknown.

I am happy to say I found a "napper" chair on the market which would suit our purposes I think. We could have it in the bed between us, but LO would be a bit elevated and protected. It keeps him positioned on his back and has vented sides. It's was very reasonably priced and so far LO seems to LOVE it. https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=19348706&mr:keyword=&mr:trackingCode=27FEEA66-7315-E311-A497-90E2BA285E75&mr:match=&mr:adType=pla&mr:filter=38524419286&cagpspn=plab_15201876&mr:referralID=NA&mr:ad=35201295886&mr:device=c&camp=PLAPPC-_-PID15201876&KPID=15201876

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