Where will your new babe sleep?

[Free Thinker]

I was curious as to what the rest of the mamas here were planning on sleep arrangements! I'm still trying to figure it out :LOL For DD, I slept w/ her in a twin bed the first 2 months or so, then started putting her in teh crib so DH and I could have some alone time. She would wake about midnight, and then we would sleep together in the twin bed the rest of the night. She went thru a phase of going to sleep in our bed, then one night decided that she did't like that anymore, and now she is rocked to sleep in the recliner, put in the crib, and comes to our bed about 5:00 in the morning for a snack and a few more hours sleep. She likes her space :LOL We finally got a King size bed this spring, and I cannot tell you how nice it is!!!

For this baby I am considering several things:

Snuggle nest, put in my corner of the bed for the first few months
bassinet/playpen thingy pulled up to our bed (think co-sleeper type thingy), or just put this in spare room for naps? I'm not sure?
We do have the crib, but I think DD would wake baby up and vice versa if they were sleeping in the same room (they will be sharing), or will wake baby at naptime if I put him/her in the crib for naps.

Oh, and I know alot of you never use a crib. I understand and I like co-sleeping too, but this is what works best for our family.

[wtchyhlr]

We're planning on cosleeping from the start... probably with a sidecar arrangment.

[HydeParkB]

I considered a sidecar, but I think that will be problematic for us. I'm planning on have a bassinet a few feet from the bed.

Our complication is the multiple cats that have been allowed in the bed for these many years, and my need to sleep with lots of blankets. I think it will be easier to keep the cats out of the baby's sleeping area if it's not the bed. (Last time we tried to keep them out of the bedroom, they threw themselves against the door all night.)

[wtchyhlr]

That would do the trick. OMG. We have a puppy, but have him trained to sleep in a crate at night by the side of the bed. He loves his little den, so I'm not too worried.

[LianneM]

We bought a king bed when we moved here, so we'd have room for baby.

[TwinMom]

The baby will be in the bed with dh, myself, and Alec (he will be 3.5 when the babe is born). I'm not sure how we'll arrange everyone, but at least it's a king size bed so there will hopefully be enough room. I'd like to get Alec on a twin mattress on the floor, but dh is having nothing to do with that. He loves co-sleeping and doesn't want Alec to feel like he's put out of his bed.

[Destinye]

I do some co-sleeping some not because of dh, we got am amby hammock mobile bed its great and my dd loves it (or would not use it) www.ambybed.com

Good Luck

[kater07]

We will probably side car a crib this time. I loved having DS snuggled close to me, but he refuses to sleep on the crib matress now that it's a toddler bed. Sigh... it's gotta be that matress.

I just don't know.

[Boobs]

I would like to get a sidecar thing. Our cats sleep with us now, but they are going to have to get used to the laundry room once the baby comes. Not fair for them, but they'll be fine. We don't have a room for a nursery or anything, so we'll have to co-sleep in some form or fashion until we get another house.

[shannon0218]

We'll do a sidecar, dh has a habit of throwing his elbows around in the middle of the night--I've had a couple black eyes

[Lisashepp]

Well dd (3.5-- will be 4 when baby is born) currently co-sleeps. I bought a maternity air bed that I will probably need by August/September (or whenever I can't lay on my tummy comfortably anymore), and I am going to set that up in dd's bedroom and get her into her own bed with me in her room on the air bed. After the baby is born I might have dh sleep in dd's room with her (if she still needs one of us) and the baby will co-sleep full time with me from day one!

[*Amy*]

We'll be cosleeping as well, with the baby in the bed with us for the most part, but we'll have a bassinet next to the bed as well. I can't wait. It was fun explaining to DH's step-mom about the arrangement; she had a crib that she wanted to give us, and we had to politely decline and explain that baby will be with us. "OH!" she said. "Wow. I've never heard of that before. Aren't you afraid of rolling over on the baby?" Uh...no. People are funny.

[mama2m&m]

with my dd we started with a bassinette, moved to side car and when we felt comfortable just coslept in the queen.

i'm thinking this one we'll just go straight for the side car.if we had a bigger bed i might go straight to cosleeping but my dh ahs issues periodically lol. plus a queen doesn't seem to be much room, especially when dd crawls in with us

[heveasoul]

We have a King bed, and plan to have the baby in it with us, but are also considering a side cart, to keep our options open. For example, sometimes if dh stays up later than I do (ie watching tv), he just goes directly to our guest bed, so as not to wake me up (we both always read a bit before lights out). So if I were alone with babe in the bed, wouldn't we need him on the other side? Once the baby is fairly mobile, I mean...Also, I'm not sure about what to do for naps once the baby is over 23-30 lbs (limit for the arms reach). Maybe I'm missing something...I should start hanging out on the co-sleeping threads...

I guess for nights away - at my mom's, etc, we'd have the baby in the bed with us - or if we were to buy the mini-arms reach, it apparently folds up for travel...I know both sets of grandparents have cribs at their places, but I doubt we'd use them...we'll have to see, I suppose...

[Parker'smommy]

We have a King sized bed, but since we also have a very wild sleeping toddler in our bed too, I'm gonna buy a co-sleeper to attach to my side of the bed for the baby. I like that I can nurse the baby down and feel comfortable leaving the baby there while I have some alone time or hang out with dh in the family room before we go to bed for the night. It's probably the only thing I will buy for this baby except maybe a few slings and some new diapers!!!!

[Periwinkle]

Originally Posted by heveasoul

For example, sometimes if dh stays up later than I do (ie watching tv), he just goes directly to our guest bed, so as not to wake me up (we both always read a bit before lights out). So if I were alone with babe in the bed, wouldn't we need him on the other side? Once the baby is fairly mobile, I mean...Also, I'm not sure about what to do for naps once the baby is over 23-30 lbs (limit for the arms reach). Maybe I'm missing something...I should start hanging out on the co-sleeping threads...

OMG sorry Heve but I am LOL at this - I'm in the same boat with all the questions. I need to start hanging on the cosleeping forums too b/c I am totally clueless.

We didn't cosleep with dd and ds because they were born early and came home from hospital on apnea monitors (a precaution required when babies are released before 36 weeks equivalent) - cords everywhere would tug loose unless placed perfectly and BEEEP so loudly your ears would burn. Plus there were two of them, and our bedroom only fits a queen bed. So they went in side-by-side to the same crib, just like they'd been for most of the time in the NICU. They were in the same crib til about 6 months, and are still in the same room. Our upstairs is really teeny and they are literally 10 feet away from our bed. No CIO ever. And I nursed them both all night every night as much as they wanted - I can hear them start to stir and have always been right there any time they need me. BUUUUTTTT.....

Here are my concerns:

I'm terrified of cosleeping and ending up with a baby who doesn't sleep, a dh who sleeps in the guest room, and becoming an exhausted stressed mother because I don't get the sleep I need.

And then I'm terrified of NOT cosleeping because I want to make a terrific start at breastfeeding and be able to keep my supply up for good - my supply with dd and ds started dwindling after I stopped pumping around 7-8 months, and started supplementing with formula (til age 14 mos. when we started cow's milk) and they weaned completely by about 21-22 months and even the last 6 or so months of nursing was only occasionally for comfort, in the evenings, or whenever they were sick.

But then.... I have two really attached kids who happen to be really great sleepers! As in 10-12 hours a night from about 6 months, plus nice long reliable naps every day. Dh and I are well rested and have time to ourselves every evening after the kids go to bed at 7:30ish, and we can wake up and take showers in the morning before they wake up (usually around 7am) if we want to get a head start on our day, without having to worry about waking up our kids. I'm completely paranoid of messing with a good thing. :

So.... yeah, I'm confused, and just have 18 million logistical questions... like can you ever put the baby/toddler down for a nap and not lie down too? How do you do that safely without a crib? Will a baby/toddler ever learn to sleep for a decent stretch of time - how do you encourage this when you're right there? What do you do when you travel? E.g, my mom has a double guest bed (too small for me and dh actually and ZERO room for a baby). Is there a quality difference between bassinet in the same room vs. cosleeper vs. snuggle nest in bed vs. actual sleeping next to you skin to skin in your same bed? Dh and I love reading a little before going to bed -- how do you do this and cosleep?

OK, clearly I gotta get some books and do some more reading.

Great thread!

[milk_maker]

We're planning on cosleeping from the start, but I am purchasing a bassinet just in case because DH is very nervous that he'll roll onto the baby. I'm planning on putting the baby on my side of the bed anyways, but DH is insisting that we buy the bassinet "just in case."

[Truvie]

We'll be cosleeping with the new baby. We have an ArmsReach cosleeper that we bought for our son, but he refused to ever sleep in it -- he had to be touching me for the first few months. My son will be 2-1/2 when the new baby is born and I don't know where he'll be sleeping. Maybe we'll have moved him into his toddler bed by then. We like cosleeping with him and we all sleep well, so there's no big rush for us.

I had lots of these questions you all have asked before my son was born! Every baby is so different, it's hard to know how certain things will work out before s/he arrives. For instance, I planned to use a sidecar! It took me a couple weeks to get the hang of nursing while laying down. Once I did, life was easy, I caught up on sleep, and I never had the exhaustion many of my friends did (it also helped that my ds slept in 4 hour blocks!). My ds also never moved around in bed very much -- I know some moms get kicked in the face all night.

I had to stay with my ds for every nap (in the sling, in my lap, or in bed) until he was many months old. That was kinda hard at times. But everything since then has been a breeze -- he nightweaned at 23 months without a peep and even gets into bed at night when he's sleepy and goes to sleep by himself! So don't worry that cosleeping will create a sleep monster :-) A couple times when he was teething/sick, I had to physically get out of bed with him -- I couldn't believe how cranky and tired I was, and I couldn't believe that so many moms manage to get out of bed to feed babies every night!

When my ds could crawl, we taught him to safely get off the bed. I stayed nearby and was very watchful while he learned this. We also took our bed off the frame for a while. We put a bedrail up on one side of the bed and he sleeps either between the rail and me or between me and my dh. I've always read before going to sleep, and that's never been a problem; my kid learned to sleep through my barking dogs early on, so a nightlight doesn't bug him.

Dr Jay Gordon has a book on cosleeping, and I bet there are others out there too. I was really confused about how everything would work out, but it all did pretty easily. I remember reading in that Mothering issue on cosleeping about how one study showed that something like 95% of cosleeping mothers and babies sleep in the exact same position -- and it described exactly how I slept with my ds, down to where I put my arms, legs, etc! So I think maybe we instinctively figure some of it out.

Truvie

[jenn s]

we will co-sleep.. new baby, dd and me

[mehndi mama]

We've always co-slept, and this time will be no different. No sidecars or co-sleeper thingies, either - no room for 'em, and you can't breastfeed without waking up with those, either.