Babies: 0 - 3 Months

Falling asleep while nursing - anyone else?

Almost every night while nursing LO in the middle of the night I catch myself falling asleep with him in my arms. I make myself so nervous whenever I do because I want him to sleep alone and on his back, but I can't help it sometimes. I have been sleeping on the couch with him in his Moses basket because I feel much better with him in my arms on the couch than in bed, and I'm able to make sure we are all snuggled in and I can't roll on him. Does anyone else do this? I think I am going to get a rocker soon and go back to sleeping in bed so that I can force myself to get up and rock him while nursing. Maybe this will help me stay awake. I feel like I'm constantly so worried about him sleeping on me, but sometimes it's the only way he will sleep. Such a snuggle bug!

Re: Falling asleep while nursing - anyone else?

  • Yes!! I have a rocker and I get up from bed to feed and find myself dozing off sitting up in the rocker. I have been trying to use my phone to keep me awake but it's not helping!
    Married DH 08.28.10
    Pregnancy #1: BFP 04.10.11 EDD 12.23.11 DD1 Born 12.4.11
     Pregnancy #2: BFP 5.12.14 MC 5.20.14 @ 5wk4d
    Pregnancy #3: BFP 11.1.14 EDD 7.5.15 MC 11.13.14 @ 6wk4d
    Pregnancy #4: BFP 1.31.15 EDD 10.5.15 DD2 Born 9.23.15
     
  • I set an alarm on my phone in case I fall asleep (which is pretty often). I put the volume down and put the phone on my pillow, it's never woken the baby but it does wake me up. Plus she is usually fast asleep at this point and rarely wakes when I transfer her to the bassinet. I was nervous about falling asleep with her in the bed at first (2 months old), but you gotta do what you gotta do for the both of you to get some sleep. Additionally, I find that I never move when I know she's there.
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  • I co-sleep/feed if my husband brings him in from the crib in the early morning when he's getting ready for work and hears the baby. Side-lying feeding is awesome. I leave the blankets around my waist and make sure no other pillows are around. We both fall asleep and baby sleeps so much sounder because he's warm and pressed up against me. But we didn't start this until he was about 7 weeks old. I found that my body is pretty in tune with baby. I used to wake up before he did when it came time to feeding. I didn't feel too worried about rolling on him or anything else happening.
  • Oh man I've fallen asleep many a time while nursing a baby. Once they're old enough the side lying position was my favorite. With kids 1-3 I would wake up with baby just finishing and falling off dead asleep.

    In the beginning weeks I do try to stay awake and usually play solitaire on my phone and troll social media sites.
    Stasa 01.15.09 * Lexi 03.24.11 * Tommy 04.27.13 * Merklet #4 due 10.10.15

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  • I often doze off nursing at night too, but I bring the baby from his bassinet to our bed and feed side lying, making sure the blankets are nowhere near his face. I put a barrier (a hard memory foam pillow) on his other side so he can't roll off the bed although like others have said my body is super in tune with him and I wake up the second he starts moving. This way if we do fall asleep together it's in a safe setting. I've heard that co sleeping on the couch is the most dangerous place to be, so maybe try to switch to feeding him in bed instead?

    I found this helpful for safe co sleeping: https://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/sleep-safety/cosleeping-safely
  • i fall asleep often while nursing as well but i sit away from the edges of our bed and make sure i have the baby positioned so that if my arms were to fall limp, he wont fall or roll.

    we co-sleep because the baby is not amendable to sleeping by himself. i literally have him in my arms every night or i lay him flat on his back on my bed and i sleep right next to him face-to-face.

    before we delivered i made a promise to myself that i wouldnt let the baby sleep in our bed but when push came to shove and baby arrived, there wasn't any other option other than to allow him in our bed if i wanted to catch a quick 45 minute snooze here and there.

    per our pediatrician, co sleeping is only safe if you dont have any sleep disorders, on medications, drugs or intoxicated.
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