she has taken over the bed

[red and lulu]

my 3 mo. old daughter has taken over the queen sized bed. come bedtime i put her on one side, and nurse her to sleep side-lying. then i'll slide over to "my side." two hours later i wake up clinging to the edge of the bed and she's either snuggled up right next to me or sprangled out like a starfish. every. single. night. she can't roll, but somehow she manages to wiggle herself quite a distance into my space. sometimes i'll get up in the middle of the night and go to the other side of her where there is more room. two hours later, i'm clinging to that edge of the bed. i'm not sleeping well and when i am it's in these horrible frozen awkward positions. my body hurts. what can i do?

[txmommy08]

Sounds familiar! My DD has been like this since she was born, and at 20 months is still a major bed hog! My strategy now is to get her snuggled up next to DH (he likes to cuddle, I don't) and hope that she will stay put. When she was a baby, I would nurse her side lying and she would sleep in the bend of my arm all night.

What about a sleep positioner? maybe that would keep her from squirming over to your side.

[jocelyndale]

It gets easier. At that age, I'd just reposition all night long. But I was so hyperaware of where he was and keeping a safe perimeter that it felt like there was no space in the bed.

Now that he's 2.5y, it's easy. We all snuggle up together and sprawl. No worries about a stray arm smothering a wee infant.

[Rubber Ducky]

I put a pillow right up against my DS. But seeing that your DD is only 3 months, perhaps you can try a firmly rolled up blanket or sheet? Have you tried a sidecar arrangement? We all sleep on mattresses on the floor. DS's mattress is slightly lower than my queen so when he was younger, he wouldn't be able to roll over the elevation