[elevena true]

i guess maybe i should have just offered this to the complaint thread, but does anyone else co-sleep? with kiddos that smush into you and sometimes roll over onto your belly?? i am at the point where it is uncomfortable often times to even get touched on my belly, let alone rolled over onto. how on earth will we make our sleeping arrangements work when baby/ies come? right now i can't imagine.

i have never been so squished or bothered in the family bed.

 

[egmaranian]

I'm currently (4am) wide awake and thoroughly irritated in my family bed. DH is snoring. DS (2yo) is snoring and constantly waking up for some reason. And DH and just had a very annoying arguement over how to deal with DS's constant night wakings.

I don't know if I can take 7 more weeks of this during pregnancy...let alone whatever's going to happen when we add a newborn into the mix.

I just want to sleep

 

[synepona]

DS doesn't sleep with us any more, but he likes to start or finish a night with me sometimes ... I have a triangle pillow from Jolly Jumper, and when DS wants to snuggle, I lay on my side with the upright portion of the pillow in front of my belly ... gives a buffer for those sudden movements.

My bigger issue lately is the 17lb cat that things the side of my belly is the ideal new bed. I tense up every time I hear him walk into the room.

Can you sidecar an extra twin mattress onto the bed to give more room to escape the roving kids?

 

[nald1]

Im not even sharing the bed with DH - where did you get the triangle pillow?

 

[MarineWife]

DDCC. I am due at the very end of July so it could be August so maybe I'm not crashing too much.

I currently co-sleep with my 4yo and 7yo. My dh would be in the bed, too, if he weren't deployed. I've posted concerns about this a few times in the Family Bed and Nighttime Parenting forum and haven't gotten much helpful response about how to set up the sleeping arrangement once new baby gets here.

I figured out this morning (after being up since 3:30 am) that I only get about 3-4 hours of sleep each night and that's not even consecutive. I'm exhausted and irritable. Between having to get up to pee every 1-2 hours, having LOs moving and kicking and talking in their sleep, an adult child who works late nights and cats that like to howl in the wee hours, there's something constantly waking me. I don't have any end in sight for this. Once the baby comes, there will be the nighttime nursing, me still having to get up to pee every couple of hours as my body gets rid of the excess water I've been holding and, I fear, constantly wrangling the other LOs to make sure everyone else is safe and comfortable. My dh won't be home until lat next spring so I'm on my own.

I wish I could come up with a solution. I guess I'll just have to wait until baby comes and see how things play out.

 

[synepona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nald1

Im not even sharing the bed with DH - where did you get the triangle pillow?

I got it at Once Upon A Child when I was pregnant with DS, and it was a lifesaver even then, just for comfort! Now it works as a shield as well if I use it opposite to its intended fashion.

http://www.jollyjumper.com/show/89

Babies'r'us tends to only have the single version, which is not as useful IMO.

 

[*Jessica*]

We don't fully co-sleep anymore with my ds6 and ds7, but ds6 does come into bed with us at around 5am most days and I don't get up until 8am most of the time. His favorite place to put his head is right on top of my belly. I agree that it hurts, but my only solution is to sleep facing the side of the bed so there is no room for him to get in front of me and be right on the belly. That won't work for co-sleeping all night long, though!

I know this solution won't work for everyone, but since Nik was only 21 months old when Nate was born we had to find a family bed solution that we could all be comfortable with for a long time. We moved a lot of furniture out of our bedroom into what is now the boys' bedroom and bought two twin beds, which they now use in their own room, to put right next to our queen-size bed. In our house, the three beds fit snuggly between the walls, so we had wall-to-wall bed at one end of the room. It was so perfect! Everyone had plenty of room to get a little bit away from the others if they needed space, but we could all easily snuggle up if that's what we needed. Marc kept the toddler on his side and I had the baby on my side. Since all of the boxsprings and matresses sat directly on the floor we didn't have to worry about either of the kids falling out of bed. Sure, the other room became essentially a storage unit for 4 years, but it was so worth it for everyone to get the sleep they needed.

 

[Italiamom]

I put a pillow between DS and I (right now), to stop with the kicking at least. He sleeps most of the night with DH, but usually spends 3 or 4 hours in the morning in bed with me (we're in separate beds right now so I can *try* to get a block of sleep, theoretically). When he comes into bed, I'll put a pillow right up next to my body, and then snuggle him up against that.

One thing that we've both done a lot more since the reality of having a new little one has set in, is setting some firmer night time boundaries with DS. Obviously what he does in his sleep is no one's fault. But we don't let him fall asleep kicking (or kind of kneading, like a cat)... We'll ask him to roll over, or lay quiet and still, and if he can't then we'll leave the room for 30 seconds.

Very shortly before the baby is born, we'll go back to our previous setup with two beds squished next to each other in the same room. We've got a queen and a king, and if this time is anything like last time, I'll fall asleep wherever I'm horizontal

 

[mamamerle]

I woke up this morning with DH and the two yr old on one side, my beloved 50 lb dog on the other (against my ribs) and another 50 lb dog on my feet. I am thankful we have a roomy king size bed. DD doesn't always sleep with us, but if she wakes during the night, she will wander in... with her little arms full of stuffed animals.

When the new one gets here, the dogs will be pushed out for a while, but I'm sure it's a matter of time before they sneak in. We have a Arms Reach Co-Sleeper for this reason.

 

[nald1]

me too- love the co-sleeper. I was too paranoid to fall asleep with a newborn next to me- but the co-sleeper was wonderful.