Do you cuddle with your newborn while sleeping?

[Jenine]

DD (6 weeks) is in bed with me, but I have her a small distance away while we sleep. Not nursing laying down yet. I've noticed that she is cold when I pick her up to nurse, but I'm nervous about sleeping with her cuddled close. She seems so small and fragile. Do you/did you cuddle your newborn?

[confustication]

nak

My two month old slept on me for about 4 weeks, now he just snuggles against me. If he isn't in contact with my skin, sleep doesn't happen for him.

[Shanny2032]

I slept semi sitting for the first 8 weeks because of DD's reflux. She is about to turn 1 and very rarely lets me hold her close at night unless she is passed out cold and I snuggle up to her. On the rare occasion when she does it brings me to tears. I say snuggle away and try to relax, I have always been aware of where we are regardless of my sleep. Enjoy it while you can it will be gone in the blink of an eye!

[javilu]

My son slept on my chest for his first couple months. Now he sleeps in the crook of my arm or right up next to me. It's pretty cuddly. I don't sleep deeply, and don't worry much.

[Jackies Ladybug]

i also had a reflux baby and slept semi reclined for the first 3 months.
little babies need their mommy to regulate their temperature, i would cuddle up closer if you can, you wont sleep too deep to notice where baby is if you are not taking any medication and are giving your body lots of opportunities to rest.

if you dont feel comfortable with sleeping that close though, dont feel too bad, i mean babies sleep much further from mommies all the time.

[lisarussell]

with my newborns I'd sleep on my back and baby would lay on my chest, face down, so I could feel each and every breath she took.

I imagine if my boobs were huge I couldn't do that.

Another way I'd lay is on my side next to the baby.


We have 6 girls, the youngest is 2 now. They grow so fast. Snuggling at night really helps you get in tune with them. Have fun.

[boringscreenname]

When my son was a newborn he slept on my chest for awhile. He still does even though he's 15 months old and considerably larger.

He also loved to be snuggled next to my stomach with my arm around him. He also had to fall asleep holding my necklace or some of my hair otherwise he would wake up crying and trying to cuddle and grab my hair or necklace. I think it was a big comfort for him, and holding something that was on me let him know I was still there and made him feel secure.

[buttercups.nest]

My little man is 8 weeks and the only way he'll sleep lying down is if he's beside me or on his tummy. Its a lot of work getting him to sleep on his tummy in the first place I usually just end up cuddling him!

Just make sure baby is not near the edge of the bed, don't wear a lot of heavy clothes to bed, and keep the blankets away from her face. I think I read it somewhere that when we are sleeping we know that the edge of the bed is there....same thing with babe.

Good luck!

[PlayaMama]

both of mine did. they liked to be cuddled right next to me with the boobie in front and my arm curled around behind them.

i'll tell you a story that i tell everyone that worries about this.

one night i fell asleep next to my 8 wo dd. i woke up out of a sound sleep thinking, "she's not breathing!" i listened and picked her up and it wasn't until i had her up that she took a HUGE deep breath. several of them in fact.

i have no idea if she really wasn't breathing or how i knew it in my sleep but i sincerely believe that had she been away from me she very well may have been a sids case. i do think that my days of heavy sleeping are completely ruined now that i'm a mom, i just am more aware in my sleep than i ever was before.

[fawnanddoe]

I took me a little while to snuggle with DS while we were both sleeping, I had to get used to the co-sleeping thing and realizing that we could sleep close and it would be ok!

Now I snuggle him all night! I am so in love with it, and I think we both sleep better. I can also feel him breathing and that comforts me.

[Bellabaz]

Absolutey! It goes by so fast, I take it al in while I can. Soon enough lo will be pushing away or sleeping on their own.

[lilylumos]

My DD slept on my chest for the first couple of weeks, then in the crook of my arm for a few months. Then she slept belly to belly with me until she was around 9 months old when she started wiggling away from me and rolling around in her sleep. Around 10 months we started waking each other up (not for nursing) each time we moved around. So she moved to a little bed on the floor next to ours, she still crawls in the big bed with us at some point in the night or I sleep down there with her, but we get longer periods of sleep. Cuddle while you can!!

[pixiekisses]

Oh yes, on my chest in the start, or very close, as snuggled as it could be. It goes so fast, have to get a lot of snuggle time when you can.

[Asparagus78]

My 3-week-old newborn sleeps either on my chest, or right next to me (we usually both fall asleep while he's nursing). Like a few PPs have said, I sleep so lightly that I wake up if he moves even the slightest, or burps, or breathes differently. Just make sure to avoid having anything close by that could smother your child, and if you have large breasts, keep that in mind too if you nurse side-lying.

Enjoy!

[Aletheia]

I side-nursed both of my newborns until we were both asleep more often than any other way of sleeping. Once your shoulders and hips get used to it, that snuggle time is simply irreplaceable.

To do it safely and warmly, I would dress heavily on the top (nursing tank, turtleneck, fleece shirt) and baby more heavily on top too (a sweatshirt over a long-sleeved shirt) and then keep the blankets around my waist and up around my back-- but not over the top of baby.

Now that my youngest is 15 months, I don't worry about the blankets so much. He nurses back to sleep and when he gets hot or upset about blankets in his face, he just rolls away. There is something so sweet about that, too-- a baby who has gotten what he needs and isn't afraid to go to his own space to sleep.

[crunchy_mommy]

I nurse my DS to sleep and then scoot down a bit so my head is even with his. I can snuggle close & wrap my arm around him but I don't have to worry about rolling over/smothering him because his whole body is up near my head. When he was a newborn I also had him in a sleep sack... and sometimes we slept in the recliner instead, with him wedged into the crook of my arm and pillows propped around us.

[prothyraia]

Yes- mine (after my first nervous few weeks with my first) slept right next to me, with me on my side, my lower arm curled around the top of their head so it's sort of in the crook of my elbow, and my upper arm draped over their legs.

[Qbear'smama]

Mine was cuddly from the start and went from lying on to lying beside me, but always loved the physical closeness. Now she starts out in her own bed (started this on her own a few months ago) but always finds her way back to our bed and the cuddles. This morning she crawled into our bed, snuggled close to me and said, "Let's hold hands" and fell back asleep holding my hand. So yes, it goes fast, but mine is still a cuddler and it is lovely! (except when she kicks in her sleep )

[ThoughtFullMama]

When I did research on co-sleeping, I found an article that said that when a babe is snuggled up next to Mom, they match their breathing and heart rhythm to their Mama's. Which is good, because then they are less likely to stop breathing in their sleep. Baby's heart and lungs sometimes are not fully developed when they are born, so sleeping with them right next to you is the safest way to go, in terms of breathing/heartbeat patterns.

Now, if you're a super heavy sleeper, that's another subject entirely.

I LOVE co-sleeping, and have done it with DD since she was 8 hours old


OT: Aletheia, I love your siggy! Whatever happened to using sticks for swords, anyway?

[Down2Earth]

We co-slept but didn't really cuddle all the time. Regarding baby getting cold at night, we never had that problem. DD was usually in a nightgown and then swaddled and then depending on how cold the room was I might also put a little bit of my quilt over her. We didn't use our down comforter last year because a simple quilt seemed so much safer and it didn't creep up to the baby's face.