co-sleeping/nursing question

[mom2noahbean]

My 11 week old is not gaining enough weight so I have decided to start co-sleeping w/ unrestricted nursing in order to get in more feedings. This may be a silly question but I am not really sure how to. I mean I get the sleeping part but how does the nursing work. I cannot seem to find any good information on the internet. Does anyone have any advice or know of any good websites or books on the subject?

[alegna]

Have you learned to nurse in a side-lying position? That's the key.

good luck!

-Angela

[Shanelovr]

i'm not sure what you mean? but, i guess the only thing i can say is, it's really not difficult to adjust to co-sleeping. it's much easier than getting up at night to nurse. you just have to get used to sleeping on your side. make sure you have a comfortable pillow is the best suggestion i have because it gets really uncomfortable if you don't have good head/neck support. just put your lo to sleep with you and offer them the breast and your lo will do the rest. some baby's need a little time to get used to lying down with you and nursing so just watch a little bit and make sure that they're doing okay(ie: airway is free, not going to choke) our ds would get a little overzealous and choked once in a while during the first month or so. other than that...

your baby will wake you when they're ready to eat and fall asleep when they're done. it's really very simple. just follow they're lead. good luck. i'm sure you'll find it's much easier at night.

[writteninkursive]

Ah, co-sleeping is the best thing that happens during newborn phase, in my opinion!

Try this to start, and adjust it as you go:

Put your baby in the middle of the bed, so that his head is level with where your breast would be. Then lay down on your side next to him, and he should turn his head toward you (talk to him if he doesn't, and he should). Open your nursing bra, or don't wear a bra, and hold your breast around the top and bottom (so that the top isn't blocking his nostrils and he can breathe). He should start eating, and it's really comfortable for you and him, so he'll sleep that way!

I don't even know when my son eats at night. I wake up with my boob out and he's happily dripping from his mouth in the morning. Lol. I <3 co-sleeping!

[texaspeach]

http://www.mother-2-mother.com/tut-layingdown.htm

[Llyra]

When I was learning to nurse side-lying, with the twins, (DD1 never would nurse lying down) I found it helpful at first to latch baby on while sitting, and then gently ease us down to a lying-down position. The first time you try it, it's nice to have somebody there with you to help you ease down. Once we'd done it like that for a few tries, then we were able to just lie down together. I'd lie close to baby, with baby at breast level, and then put an arm behind baby to bring him/her up on his/her side (baby may be able to help a bit, by 11 weeks). I found it helpful to put a bolster behind baby to help keep baby up on his/her side. A rolled up blanket secured with some duct tape or masking tape works fine, tucked behind baby's back and bum. If you have larger breasts, or very small breasts, or trouble getting comfortable in certain positions, you may have to experiment with pillows for yourself, until you find a way or arranging yourself and baby that seems comfortable.

Once you master it, you may find yourself wondering how you ever managed any other way. Side-lying remained my favorite nursing position, all the way up until toddlerhood. I find it hard to wrap my head around how I would have managed not to just drop dead from sleeplessness, if I hadn't figured this out right at the start.

I had twins, so switching sides wasn't an issue for us. I just rolled back and forth to whichever baby needed me. But with one baby, you might want to try to remember to switch once or twice a night. Just move baby over to the other side of you, or move yourself to the other side of baby.

[nicoolmama]

Side lying position is awesome! I do the same thing as writinginkursive. I leave my boob out for the milking, lol. I have big breasts (like H size breasts, no joke) and thought for the longest time I couldn't do bfing lying down. Then one night, with my 2nd son, I was so exhausted, I just had to lay down and we figured it out.

At first, like some of the other posters wrote, you have to hold your breast away from their nostril so they don't have their nostril blocked and can't breathe. However, now my little guy(3 1/2 months) has it down and can nurse without my help. I usually just aim him in the right direction and go to sleep. Occasionally he has latched on to the wrong area and given me a hickey, but trust me you will feel him doing that QUICKLY and stop it.

Even if it seems uncomfortable at first, keep trying. It will eventually become more comfortable and you will then wonder how you spent all this time sitting up at night nursing when you could have been resting.

Good luck Mama!!!

[Bluegoat]

Even if you find you want to sit up with baby, it is a lot easier to sit up and nurse in bed and then go to sleep again, rather than going to the baby.

[mom2noahbean]

thanks

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. Although there are supply issues among other problems and nursing in general has been extremely difficult, I think about giving up almost daily... but the co-sleeping is great! That is the only time nursing goes well actually, so again thank you!

[boobs4milk]

we are just now getting side-lying @ almost 3 mos! it takes some practice, but thank you texaspeach for the link!

[coraljean]

Originally Posted by mom2noahbean

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. Although there are supply issues among other problems and nursing in general has been extremely difficult, I think about giving up almost daily... but the co-sleeping is great! That is the only time nursing goes well actually, so again thank you!

Just wanted to say that if this is when nursing goes best, you could always bring your baby to bed with you during the day to nurse also. I do that a lot and it is very relaxing. When my baby was a little younger he would get too overstimulated by his surroundings a lot, and would only really nurse if I brought him to bed.

Coral Jean
Mama to Dylan 12/20/08

[HoosierDiaperinMama]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat

Even if you find you want to sit up with baby, it is a lot easier to sit up and nurse in bed and then go to sleep again, rather than going to the baby.

ITA. Even though we haven't gotten the hang of side-lying we cosleep and so we just sit up, change the diaper, nurse and go back to sleep. He doesn't really get up at night, but every once in awhile he'll wake @ 3:00 a.m.