Co-Sleep Question!

TheHauntedHauswife · January 2016

This might be kind of a silly one but i never saw it exactly addressed. The "guidelines" always seem to say sleeping with out blankets and pillows, worded in various ways, for safety. However i'm a little confused on that. I couldn't possibly sleep with out a pillow, maybe with out a blanket if we could get the climate in the room a little more comfortable, but our steam heat doesn't exactly regulate too nicely. So does that mean, literally nothing, just a mattress, or does that mean not an excess? Would a pillow per parent and 1 blanket be too much and potentially unsafe? or is that basically what most of you do?

wintersong · January 2016

I actually got used to no pillow. I did start using a sheet when my sub was about 4 months. I really just bundle myself up the same amount I would bundle my baby. I figure if I'm comfortable, he probably is, too.

I was very leery at first because out seemed so easy to me for me to pull down the edge of a pillow in my sleep and cover my sons face. Now that he is11 months I am much less careful...I use a pillow and pull a blanket up over both of us.

TheHauntedHauswife · January 2016

I guess i will just have to see what works for us. I pretty much don't move at all when i sleep, other than flipping to the other side, but i only do that if i actually wake up. Otherwise my pillows and blankets dont move, and neither does much of my body. If i get cold, i will wake up and make the conscious decision to adjust them. But for whatever reason my sleep self doesn't adjust much of anything. DH However is a blanket puller in his sleep, but generally sleeps in only underwear, so hopefully he will get on board with just wearing more clothing to keep warm.

I have pretty severe fibromyalgia and thats why im concerned about the pillow, because as it is i have to sleep with a special pillow. A night without a pillow would lead to many days of pain so im not sure how useful of a mother i would be if I couldn't move. Even if I sleep on a normal pillow, it messes me up so much. Normally i mange that with medication, but i would not feel comfortable being on that medication while breast feeding, so i do need to weigh my options for sure.

I registered for a ''co-sleeper'' that sort of attaches to the bed kind of, i would think i would start with her in there and see what happens. But i really do forsee us ending up having her in the bed.

dufferoo · January 2016

I'll be honest, I used a pillow and blanket for myself when I co-slept with my daughter, and she survived. That was years ago and I honestly never thought twice about it. You end up sleeping pretty lightly when you are co-sleeping, which eliminates a lot of the fear that others will try to instill in you. Now, if you are taking medication while you sleep, that's another story, and I might worry more, but if a pillow allows you to sleep without, I can't imagine not using one,

TheHauntedHauswife · January 2016

Yeah i mean it is pretty much the difference you just said. Sleeping without a pillow would not only require me to need medication to sleep, but then likely need to be on more medication during the days following, which if it was every night would mean indefinitely. I've been off my meds for almost this entire pregnancy despite being ''allowed'' to be on them. So i'm hoping i will be able to stick with that but i do think it would be 1 pilllow + no meds. I could easily layer some breast-feeding-friendly clothes and go with out blankets if needed. But again, i sleep lightly now, im sure ill sleep even more lightly then, and I really dont move or move things unless i totally wake up. We have steam heat in the house which makes some crazy noises and i still wake up almost every time it kicks on downstairs, and I've lived here for years. I have to keep a TV on for white noise, just so i don't wake up more often than i already do, and i still wake up all the time to noises so i really dont forsee myself sleeping so soundly that i wont wake up in a necessary moment.

wintersong · January 2016

It sounds like a pillow is definitely the way to go, then @TheHauntedHauswife - especially if baby is starting out on a separate space when so tiny. Since your husband is a mover, you probably want to keep lo on your side of the bed.

My husband was also a mover. I slept on my side with my body sorry of curled around my son, so if my h pulled up the blanket or adjusted his pillow I was there too intercept.

I agree with the pp, you start to sleep so lightly when you bedshare.

ETA I definitely used a light blanket after ds turned 4 months or so, pulled up to my waist. Just not a big comforter until much more recently about 9 mos.

SLGILL1978 · January 2016

I used a light receiving blanket for the first few months. I just mentioned in another post, that my daughter preferred no blankets. I started using a small flat pillow, when my daughter was around two months. She was sick and I used it to incline her head to breathe better. My pedi recommended it. After that she always just used the pillow. I used a blanket and pillow for myself.

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