cosleeping 12 month old needs to sleep later than me - how?

[mckittre]

My cosleeping 12 month old would like to sleep from 9PM to 9AM or so (he wakes to nurse a few times, but it's no big deal). However, I do not want to sleep from 9 to 9. At night, I can nurse to sleep and leave him in the bed for a couple hours. He sometimes squeaks and needs me to come back and nurse him back down, but it's usually manageable.
In the morning, I cannot get up before him, no matter how carefully I try to sneak away. He always wakes up immediately, or within 5 minutes. So unless I sleep in, he's underslept. And I work at home and really need to get some work done before he wakes up. How can I fix this?

[texmati]

I would also like to know this. My 5 month old wakes up almost as soon as my feet hit the floor.

I'd love to be able to get up before him and get dressed, ect.

[hakeber]

Body Pillow? I used to slip out of bed and line pillows up where I had been in the bed and that would usually get ds to sleep an extra hour or two longer than me.

[SeekingJoy]

We never could figure this out, so instead we switched to an earlier (and earlier) bedtime so that we woud all wake up together. Not a perfect solution, but worked for us.

ETA: DD now sleeps from 6:30 to 6ish. DS sleeps from 7:30 to 6ish.

[sundaya]

My dd is 14 months, and this just started happening for us. I just kept trying, and a couple of weeks ago, she stayed asleep after I got up. What I've always done is to put a pillow where I was in the bed. She usually stirs when I extricate myself, and I pat her and say "shhhh" and when she goes back to sleep, then it's safe for me to leave, and she'll sleep for sometimes another hour. Up until a couple of weeks ago, she would only sleep for 10-15 minutes after I left the bed.

[crunchy_mommy]

I WAH too & love when I can get DS to sleep past 9 or 10am... which is also his "ideal" wake-up time. What I do is keep my laptop right outside the bedroom (could also keep it in the bedroom but ours is small) and when it's time for me to work, I sneak out really quickly to grab the laptop & then sneak right back in beside him. USUALLY he'll stay asleep but sometimes he'll stir & I have to nurse him back down on the boppy or deal with him waking early. I don't know what kind of work you do though, is it something you can bring into the bedroom with you? I also keep all the lights off & blinds closed, even though I hate dim rooms, and I don't take a shower or anything until he's awake.

ETA: I also do the pillow thing the other posters do -- that USUALLY keeps him from waking while I sneak out for a minute.

[calebsmommy25]

Ds is almost 2 and we struggle with this too. If dp is still in bed, then *sometimes* he'll sleep longer. I also try to put the pillow where I was laying, close to his body. I keep on trying...hope you can find something that works.

[Maluhia]

I just don't know if it works - I, as an adult, can't go back to sleep after DH leaves the bed. In your situation I'd work on figuring out how to get more done at night or a back-carry sleep position for the little one in the a.m.

[lindsayjean]

Do you have a DH still sleeping your LO could snuggle with? I had to work at 5am when my DD was that age and she slept with us... my hubby always took my place as the snuggler.

[rzberrymom]

I've become a night owl for this reason--my baby sleeps more soundly in the evening, so I generally go to bed at midnight so that I wake up with her at 8 or so.

You could also try waking him up 15-30 minutes earlier each day, and he'll adjust by falling asleep a bit earlier each night--just like dealing with jetlag.

[Shanny2032]

If you nurse him just before you get out of bed might that help him be more "out" at that time?

[calebsmommy25]

Originally Posted by Shanny2032

If you nurse him just before you get out of bed might that help him be more "out" at that time?

The 'I'll just nurse him a bit, and then he'll go back to sleep so I can get up' almost NEVER works here. It sucks. It seems like such a good idea, right? Man, if ds gets a hold of the milkies bright and early I'll never be able to leave! Seriously, for some reason it will turn into a marathon nursing session, no idea why?

rzberrymom--I end up staying up late too, in order to preserve some mommy, alone time...It is nice, but I do really enjoy getting up before everyone else better. Getting up, turning on the heat, enjoying an espresso (or 3) and catching up on my computing....ahhh, doesn't that sound marvelous? But, usually just as I get settled I hear the little pitter patter of my little ds, he comes over and says hi, mornin and I melt. I give into his cuteness...