considering co-sleeping

[victoriag]

My son is 8 months old, weaned and sleeps in his crib.
I agree with the benefits of co-sleeping and would love to try it.
Would it be a mistake getting started so late or should I wait a few years and then let him sleep in my bed if he wants to.
Anyone have a suggestion?

[charmarty]

It is never too late. Go,pick him up out of his crib,and bring him into your bed. You will LOVE it! Give it a try.

There is TONS of info supporting co sleeping. Do a search here.


Charmarty~Co sleeping mama with my 3y.o. twins:D

[hunnybumm]

TIA
I started co-sleeping with my son when he was 2 1/2 weeks and I wish I had started from the time he was born. It was so much easier, he slept longer, I didn't have to actually get up to feed him etc. But it is so nice to have a snuggle partner that doesn't steal the blankets (DH)!

[Suzetta]

Once you get that kid in your bed, you will never get him out!

:):):)

[captain optimism]

If he is weaned, why not just bring the crib into your bedroom? Have the best of both worlds.

[GoodWillHunter]

Our DS3, Hunter, is the only child I have ever coslept with from birth, and he goes to sleep on his own now, and will also sleep in his own bed (in our room) most nights untill 6AM when it is "nursing time!!!" He has be APd from the beginning and I feel very strongly about AP because he is the most confident strong little boy I have! He still nurses, but that is my privelege as a mother and his right as my child.

Cosleeping is wonderful! Nothing beats waking up to DH and DS!

[HRC121799]

We didn't start co-sleeping with my older ds until he was 2 years old, I wish we'd done it from the beginning (had a waterbed until he was 18mos. old so that had something to do with it, we would've been too scared to co-sleep on that thing). I say Go for it and Enjoy! We've had our younger son in bed with us from day one, it's wonderful. We sleep great most nights.

[aravinda]

i think it would be a great idea and you should not hesitate to try it right away! i imagine that it will be a great source of comfort and self-esteem as he goes through all the upcoming changes in life - mobility, communication, etc.

one thought that comes to mind though, is your bed big enough - at 8 mo our daughter rolls and turns in her sleep so it is good that we were used to having her around from the beginning.

one tip - when dd wakes up and i dont think she wants to nurse, i make sure to close my eyes, because then she also goes back to sleep, whereas if she sees me looking at her, she is more likely to wake up all the way.

we are not at all concerned about when dd will leave the bed. i think we actually get more sleep this way.
in any case, there is plenty of time to worry about that later, why start now?

-aravinda

[victoriag]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get started, running into a few problems 1)ds seems to like having his own space, I'm wondering if I move him from his crib now at 8mos if he'll have trouble going to sleep.2)his bedtime is 8pm but I don't go to bed until @10pm.3)pulling his crib to our bed doesn't seem to be an option his crib would have to be taken apart constantly4)bed rails? Do they make them for adult beds, they would have to run both sides of the bed and the foot of the bed. He climbs and stands and I cant imagine bed rails would keep him in. The ones I've seen are for toddler beds and wouldn't do the trick. I read about something you can get and I can't remember what it's called but it's kind of a long pillow to keep them from rolling off the bed. Does anyone know anything about these? are they high enough and long enough to cover all sides of the bed? I don't know, maybe I'll just put our mattress on the floor for a few years. We have a queen, big enough for co-sleeping?:confused:

[pageta]

We started co-sleeping at 4 months when ds was happily sleeping in his crib. I will tell you that I am not a cuddly person, and neither is ds. He just sleeps in our bed next to me the same way he sleeps in his crib. We started co-sleeping because he was sleeping through the night - literally - and I would wake up in the morning engorged on a bed soaked with breastmilk and then have no milk for ds in the evening when he wanted to nurse to sleep. Having him next to me made it easier to sleep at night. He still has his own space and I have mine - we're just 6 inches from each other rather than in different rooms.

DS goes to sleep between 7 and 8 and we put him in his crib. Then when my husband comes to be (usually after me), he gets DS and brings him to our bed and puts him down beside me. If we have the lights turned out when we do that, DS hardly wakes. Otherwise he'll wake and nurse back to sleep.

We have the safety first bedrail from Target, and it's been good we had it more than once. Yes, they say it is for toddler beds, but it works just fine for our purposes. The nightstand is up next to the bed for the first 15 inches from the wall and then I have the rail which goes down to around where my knees are. We've never needed a barrier any larger than that. I'm also still able to get out of the bed on my side without lowering the rail so DS is okay if I get up to go to the bathroom.

Babies are heat-seeking-missiles - my dh often wakes us up because he is balanced on the edge of the bed, I'm where he usually sleeps and ds is in the middle, but we just readjust and go back to sleep. So the edge of the bed isn't an issue very often.

[victoriag]

Thanks for sharing your experience making the transition from crib to bed. I'm just kind of nervous I guess because he sleeps all night long without any problem in his crib from 8pm to @ 7am. I would just really love to have him sleep with us at least sometimes. Tonight will be our experiment night with co-sleeping. I'm actually kind of nervous but really looking forward to having my baby beside me all night long and to wake up to his smile. For tonight we put our mattress on the floor(haven't purchased bed rails yet) I think we will also put his crib mattress beside ours and see how that works, so he has his own space if it's kind of wierd for him. Plus we have a pillowtop queen which may not be big enough for 3 and to soft for baby. We will put big pillows around the exposed parts of the mattress for safety. I know it's not a huge fall from a mattress but it's still not one I'd like him to experience. Maybe I'm just being extra cautious on this first night. Wish me luck! Thanks:)

[june'smom]

i think that a queen should be big enough. we only have a full size and we do ok.

good luck. i hope it goes well.

louise
mama to juniper
wife to ben:love

[michaelsmama]

We've coslept since day 1 (even in ths hospital) and love it! Our queen mattress is on the floor with a crib mattress between it and the wall. plenty of space for all, but michael can snuggle and nurse whenever he wants. wouldn't trade his sweet face in the mornings for anything. he goes to bed at 7pm, but has learned to not fall out of bed after 13 months (never has fallen). and even if he does, it's only 8 inches. your baby might fall once or twice, but if you put mattress on the floor he'll be fine. can also put pillows around the edge (away from baby) to discourage (NOT prevent) rolling off.


the natural child project website has great advice from Dr. James McKenna, an expert on cosleeping, in addition to what you'll find here. askdrsears.com is good too.