Considering co-sleeping with 5 1/2 month old

[zacksmom]

My husband and I are considering co-sleeping with our 5 1/2 month old son. I wish we did this originally but I received so much negative advice that we didn't. He was in a co-sleeper in our room until he was a little over 3 months old. He was not sleeping great - felt like he was too confined (likes to roll over) and also thought we might be keeping him awake. He does sleep for long stretches sometimes 6-7 hours, but starting at 6pm. I find that he is OK for the first half of the night then wakes a lot to eat and or be soothed. Lately he is waking a lot and will only nurse back to sleep which is fine but its tough getting up and going into his room over and over. I can tell he is looking for comfort. I think he misses us!! We do bring him into bed with us early in the am for a little extra sleep.

We want to try out sleeping with him. My husband has some sleep issues - he wakes a lot - and we need to make sure our sleep is being protected as well. I think it will be - I think the baby will sleep better. Has anyone ever made this transition at this point versus right from the beginning. Will it be confusing to the baby? Do you think the baby will sleep better if he is in our bed? When we bring him in with us in the morning he is all over the place but I think that is because he is awake and wants to play. If we could all just get some sleep waking up early wouldnt be so bad!

thoughts?

[nextcommercial]

My ex was a "violent" sleeper.  He hit me often, he had night terrors and yelled and fought four nights a week.  (it was more than annoying too)

So, if that's what you mean by sleep issues, I wouldn't do it.  But, if you both sleep still and you'll all sleep better, I think it's a wonderful idea.  It's certainly worth a try.  You can't put a price on a good night's sleep for everyone.

[zacksmom]

thanks. he isnt a violent sleeper he just doesnt sleep very well as it is. I am afraid baby noises might bother him...but since we are both up anyway it probably doesnt matter!

[GoBecGo]

Can you side car his cot?  That's what we did.  It's a normal cot (not a co-sleeper - they're so small!) which i altered with a drill, a saw and some elbow grease.  Basically i set it so it's mattress is the same height as ours and arranged the sheets to be seamless between DD and us.  She goes into her cot at about 8pm, i feed her down.  She typically wakes very briefly at about 10pm and i feed her again (usually for just a moment or two).  She has a good feed at midnight which i give her by leaning into her cot (or rather sort of lying half in it!).  Thereafter i sleep.  At some point in the night she wakes looking for a breast for either comfort or hunger (no idea which) and i drag her across into "my" bit of bed and she latches on and we both go back to sleep.

I DEFINITELY get a better sleep this way than trying to comfort her in the middle of the night WITHOUT bringing her into bed with me.  Equally i get more sleep with the cot sidecarred so she has her own "space" for at least part of the night than if she's just in with us.  Mainly because i get sore upper back from keeping my arms up "around" her (usually above her head on the mattress as she suckles) if i have to do it all night.

[beebalmmama]

If you already have a crib I would try to sidecar it like a previous poster suggested. I've been sleeping with ds since birth but I'm much more comfortable since we've pushed a twin bed next to ours. I know dh sleeps better without ds between us. Ds is in the twin next to the wall, then me, then dh.

[Learning_Mum]

We never started co-sleeping with either of our boys until they were over 9 months old. Basically we just followed their cues. They started waking frequently at night and waking when they were put back down. We would take them in after the first waking and that slowly changed to co-sleeping full time. We've never had any issues. They've always slept better with us and it makes nightwakings alot easier!

[Magali]

We started at that age with our first baby.  Around 5.5 months he started waking up a lot so my dh (who wanted to cosleep from the start anyways)  suggested that we try him in our bed.  One of the best parenting choices we have ever made!!!  He is now 3.5 years old and still sleeping with us and his 3 month old sister.  It doesn't have to be all of you in the same bed, same room...do whatever works so that all 3 of you are happy.  I can't even tell you how many different sleeping arrangement this family has had in the past 3 years.  Right now we have 2 beds pushed together to form a huge "superbed"  and it is so wonderful.  But we have slept with daddy in different room, mommy in different room (after ds weaned of course), someone in a different bed on the floor etc....ect...  whatever works at the time.  My best advice is to do whatever you need to do so that everyone has lots of room.  I like our current setup because once both kids are asleep, we can move them onto the same bed and then dh and I can get some cuddle time before our 3 month old wakes up and needs to nurse. And then when she does, it is easy for me to just roll around in the bed and find her lol.

[zacksmom]

Thanks for all the advice! A cot is definitely something to consider but our room is so small that I am not sure anything bigger than a cosleeper would work - and since he is crawling, rolls over, sits up etc I want to make sure that whatever we end up doing is safe for him.

[ShanaV]

Definitely experiment with it! If it doesn't work, try something else! I find that with the baby(ies) sleeping right next to me I can tend to them right away, so they don't even need to make much noise. Might be the same for you. As soon as the baby starts rustling around I insert a boob, and we both go back to sleep. So there may be even LESS noise to wake up your DH. 

We started out with a cosleeper, but I hardly used it because I still had to hoist the baby up and down into my bed to nurse. The side-carred crib works best for us. But if you're tight on space you could still keep the cosleeper in place, but just not put the baby in it. *shrug* I used mine mostly as a glorified night stand.

[zacksmom]

I am going to look around for cots/side cars. Our house is small and even without the monitor I can get to him as soon as he starts rolling around/fussing.but its definitely easier when he is in the same room!

I usually bring him to be with us early am - around 5 or so. Last night I brought him in at 3. He seems really comfy but did wake a bunch due to an ear ache. I think tonight I am going to let him start in his crib then bring him to bed first wakening. Does anyone do a 1/2 and 1/2 arrangement? He goes to bed so early - 6pm and I cannot go to bed or be upstairs that early. I am hesitant ot leave him alone in the bed even with pillows all around...he is a mover!!

[rubidoux]

We have a king and a twin mattress next to each other on the floor and it is so safe and everyone has plenty of room.  And I feel fine about leaving him in there for nap or in the evening before I'm ready for bed.  I think co-sleeping is one of the great joys of parenting.  And it is indispensable if you're nursing.  As previous poster said, my babies have almost never made noise at night bc it's easy to respond quickly.