co sleeping

January 5, 2009

Hi there, It seems so many of the families here have been co sleeping

I wanted to ask opinions about how to do it. I tried with my son but

could not get sleep that way myself so he was always in his own crib

in his own room the whole time. Now I am having a second child with

whom I plan to co sleep because the other bedroom is downstairs. But

I am wondering how to do it when he would need to sleep from about 7pm

to 7 am . Do you always have to stay in there with them until they

fall asleep ( we go to bed around 10) and my husband gets up for work

at 530 am. Won't he wake up the baby? I've just been wondering how

to work it out. Thanks!~Danielle

January 6, 2009

Hi Danielle,

Well, I think co-sleeping is different for each family, and maybe even

for each child within that family - based on how deeply they sleep,

whether they like contact with you while they sleep, etc. For the first

few months, our son wouldn't sleep at all without being held or laying

on me or his daddy - so most of his sleeping early on was in our arms or

in a sling/carrier on us. He'd sleep for a few minutes in a bassinet -

long enough for those fast-as-possible showers I got early on, or for me

to eat food with two hands. :-) But, other than that, he wanted to be

held or have contact with us. So, we'd often let him sleep in our arms,

taking turns holding him while we worked, checked e-mails, watched tv,

read, ate -- til we were going to bed, then we'd just take him to the

bed with us. Later, when he'd sleep a bit without being held, we'd take

turns sitting in the bed with him while he slept. Then, when he was old

enough to climb out of the bed, we just taught him how to do that, and

used a baby monitor for us to be able to go in the other room. We

looked into those gates for the sides of the bed, but as soon as he

could pull himself up to furniture, he could climb things, so we decided

that was too dangerous. (He learned to climb the baby gates for the

doorways within 20 minutes of them being in the house.) :-) He's never

rolled or fallen off the bed, and he's 4 years now and still sleeps with

us. It's lovely! I would trade nothing for co-sleeping! It is just so

luscious. Smelling their sweet hair while you sleep, knowing where and

how they are every moment of the night, never having to get out of bed

for fussing or nursing or anything - which reminds me, in the early

days, you might want to set up something near the bed to do diaper

changes quickly in bed, too, then you don't have to get up for anything.

:-) We ended up using the bassinet for a little diaper changing area

right next to the bed, with diapers, wipes, extra clothes and a dirty

diaper bag all right there - and we'd use wipes to clean our hands

afterward - oh and extra crib pads and blankets for possible diaper

leaks. :-) Still some of my favorite pictures in our family are

various ones of me with the baby tucked in my arm, sleeping away one day

after he was born - daddy with the baby on his chest, sleeping together

two days after he was born. So adorable and so comforting to us all.

:-)

Best of luck with the birth and with co-sleeping!

Lorraine

On

Behalf Of mylameoww

Monday, January 05, 2009 2:21 PM