[musikat]

I'm going to be a second time mommy. I have a 20 month old son who co-slept with us until he was about 15 months old. However, for the first few months, he was in a pack and play beside the bed and I used a boppy to breastfeed him. Consequently, I spent many nights sleeping upright with him either on my breast or against my chest. It wasn't until I learned to BF laying down that I experienced the epiphany of how much better that was! I could actually sort of sleep while he BF, or at least not move him afterwards and go right back to sleep.

I am currently pregnant with #2 and due in January. We live in Chicago, so it will be cold. With my first son, he slept between us, we had the pillows way off to each side to create space for him, and pushed the comforter down in the middle. But he was a little older then. I'm nervous trying this with a newborn, and also about the "logistics" of breastfeeding a newborn laying down.

My goal is to cosleep from day one and to make breastfeeding at night as easy as possible. How do I do this? I know with Evan, I was able to roll over and offer my other breast when he was ready (without moving him), but I don't feel comfortable doing that with a newborn. Part of my dilemma is that my first son and I had a really rocky BF'ing start and weren't fully completely breastfeeding until he was two months old. So I'm a little fuzzy on how to do this with a newborn.

So... Do I sit up to breastfeed on one side, burp, then lay down on the side that's toward the middle and let him drift off to sleep nursing? Do I have to wait until he is a really confident breastfeeder to do the lying down thing? I know it's silly, but I do worry about falling asleep laying down while breastfeeding such a small baby -- the suffocation thing. I'm considering a snuggle nest as well. I know that would involve moving him to breastfeed, but realistically won't I have to move him anyway (to burp or change a diaper?). And what about the burping thing at that age? Sorry so long. I hope this makes some sense! I'm looking for specific, real-life examples on how to do this with newborns. Thanks!

 

[LiamnEmma]

Yeah, I had trouble with the lying down position too when both of my kids were newborns. Plus, I don't know about other babies, but it seemed like mine waited until they were good and nursed before pooping in the middle of the night.

: So it all became moot anyway. I did have to sit up with dd until she was about a month old. I bet others have had more success with lying, but it seemed like until they had good head control they couldn't do it in my house...(ds was an entirely different story, I actually got up, went out to the couch and nursed him there until he was about 6 months old...zzzzzzz).

Also, I only ever nursed my kids on one side at a time. It was a habit I began when ds was a colicky newborn and it worked for us. So I can't really respond to the both sides question. But I did find that I was far less concerned about dd suffocating once she got here than I had been about ds, and I slept far more snuggly with her than I had with ds. Hopefully you'll feel better when the new one arrives too. Good luck!

Leah

 

[emmaline]

I have been co-sleeping and bfing with ds3 since he was 6 days old (upon returning home from hospital after c-birth)

this baby did require burping but has never been a two-sides feeder so, as anewborn, i just fed him lying on my side, sat up for a burping then lay down again and hold him close to drift off again

we alternated sides for sleep/bf thruoghout the night, he fed 1-2 hourly for a few weeks

I did not have any special bedding or pillows etc, just kept my pillows and duvet away from his face

I was never worried about rolling on him, in fact I did not move while asleep, probably due to the c-sec, and there was no room for dh! he has been bunking with ds2 who i felt very nervous having in my bed as he flings his limbs about while sleeping

he was born in midwinter here and after my c-birth I was too knackered to get up in the freezing cold for nappy changes so I put on a disposable nappy and wrapped him in a polar fleece blanket and didn't get up for a change unless he was clearly soaked or very poo-ey - he's my third child and my standards would never have allowed this for my first or second kids!! but it was how we survived

sorry to be a bit garbled, i might edit later for more sense!

 

[SpiralWoman]

hi there~
I didn't start cosleeping DS until he was about 3 or 4 weeks old, but he still only weighed 7 1/2 lbs, so he would compare in size to a NB. We have a arm's reach cosleeper on my side of the bed, so even tho we don't use it for him to sleep in, it gives me a safty barrier & I can switch sides pretty good, although there's more to it than just rolling over. I sit up & get on knees, slide him over, then lay back down facing him the other way. It doesn;t bither him as long as he gets a boob back in his mouth pretty quick! So, DS is always between me & DH, or between me & the cosleeper. I have never worried about pillows bcz DS is almost always latched on, which keeps him @ chest level. As far as blankets, DH & I each use our own & so Dh keeps his tucked down, no problem when DS is in the middle.

good luck with your new babe, I wish I had been able to nurse side lying from the beginning, but it took my guy a little time to get the hang of it.

 

[Piglet68]

I nursed and coslept from day one. In the hospital those beds that sit you up were wonderful, lol. I would crank it up to nurse, she would fall asleep on my chest, I'd put a pillow on either side of me to prop up my elbows, then lower the bed and we'd sleep until she woke to feed.

At home, it wasn't quite so easy, lol. But we did basically the same thing. DD slept on my chest, and when she needed to nurse I'd sit myself up, propped up with pillows I kept right beside the bed for that purpose. She'd nurse and fall asleep, and I'd slide my butt back down again (oh how I wished for one of those 'craftmatic adjustable beds' LOL).

FWIW, I don't think anybody can nurse lying down from day one. It does require some latching skill on behalf of the baby. I think we got it around 6 weeks. Then I still had to prop her on her side with a pillow behind her back, and I think I even put her on a pillow to raise her up a bit (my breasts weren't quite as stretchy back then, lol). Then when she was done on that side, I'd get up on my hands and knees and scoot her underneath me so I could lie on the other side and nurse her.

It wasn't too long before I figured out how to nurse her from both breasts on one side, but that's an advanced lesson!

Don't worry, when the time comes you'll figure it out!