Share your experience! Positive? Negative? How old was/is your LO? What kind of bed do you have (king, etc.)?
We are hoping to buy a kind bed this summer and try. DS will be 9 months by then!
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I personally don't mind it
I really couldn't do it when DD was an infant I was to scared, but would definitely "nap" or rest with her!
She actually likes her crib and space but if she wakes or has a hard night I'll Put her in our bed no problem! I secretly love the cuddles -
We started when DS was an infant because of his reflux and he hated sleeping in anything else. We stopped around 6 months because he decided he needed his own space. Lol. We had a queen bed and it was very challenging to cosleep. DH had little space on the bed. Co sleeping I had a love/hate relationship with.
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Very positive. Baby would not sleep in the bedside cosleeper, so we immediately moved her into the bed with us. I would nurse her, and then after she fell asleep I would move her to the side of the bed, next to my pillow. We had a bed rail to keep her in. I really liked it until about 5 months. At that point, she started rolling over to snuggle up with me, and I couldn't sleep because I felt so confined. She also started waking up more to nurse because I was just right there.
At that point, we transitioned her into a little floorbed in my nearby walk in closet. It works beautifully. When she (frequently) wakes, my husband just grabs her, and then puts her right back when she finishes.
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@sarac: Ooo what's a floor bed?
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@wrkbrk: Google for 'Montessori floor bed', but basically it is a bed on the floor. Easy for me to nurse her to sleep or my husband to snuggle her up. Basically avoids all the hassles of the crib to bed transition. She is on a futon that totally fills a small closet, and we have a baby gate across the door.
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@sarac: ok I will! Had not considered this option!
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I love it so much. We've been full time co sleepers since 3-4m and the sleep regression. He sleeps very well. Granted, he wakes up still to nurse or cuddle at 15m several times but I don't even know how many times because I sleep so well. We put our mattress on the floor and against the wall. We have a thin mattress on the floor in his room but he wakes up more there. So now I just put him on our mattress for all naps and the first stretch of night and he sleeps so well. He used to wake up more and I would have to occasionally stand up and soothe him but now I rarely get up at all from when i go to bed! Love it.
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We bed shared with LO forever lol. It's taken different configurations through the years, sometimes he and I sleep in his floor bed, sometimes he and DH sleep in our bed, sometimes all three of us sleep in our bed, it just depends
but we enjoy it and it makes us feel more comfortable knowing he's right there.
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I hate it. We wouldn't do it with my LOs when they were little because I had a cousin die co-sleeping. When they were older we would, but no one slept well. For a while, we could bring my oldest into bed and he would go back to sleep for a bit. My youngest would not sleep, just try to nurse the whole time. And he wasn't a gentle nurser so I couldn't fall back to sleep. Then he would try to play. If my husband held him I could sleep a bit. But usually he would scream and climb over to me.
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We started co-bedding around 6 months. When he was an infant he would only sleep in a rock n play. He slept in his crib in his Merlin from 4-6 months, but once he started rolling we had to go cold turkey on the Merlin which he didn't like. It became too much of a battle trying to keep him in his crib so we moved him to our bed and we all sleep much better because of it. He craves close contact and I'm honestly not sure when we will try to transition him out of our bed. For now, at 11 months, it's working for all of us and that's all that really matters!
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I co-slept with my third until she was almost 5 months old. It worked really well. We have a queen bed, and she would sleep on the end next to me, and we had a temporary bed rail up so she would never fall out. I nursed all night long and would have hated getting up out of bed 10x a night. I loved having hwe right there with me.
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We have bed shared in and off but she's been STTN since we went to one nap at 9 months so I don't expect to do it unless she's sick or in a sleep regression.
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We have been cosleeping since day 1 and we love it. Over the last month I've tried to get her to sleep in her crib in an effort to drop one night feeding and it was a huge failure. We just went back to cosleeping and I'm so much more rested. We have used a queen bed and a king would be better but a queen is definitely doable. We also just have a mattress on the floor. I like it but I'm a minimalist and don't think it's weird that we "don't have a bed".
My ILs do not understand and I think they get the cosleeping but the fact that we just have a mattress on the floor weirds them out. I think they feel like it's a mark of poverty to not have a bed and that's partly why it makes them uncomfortable? They constantly comment on it and tell us about deals on bed frames.
We don't drink or smoke and I didn't have a c-section so I never took anything stronger than Motrin. And we are both fairly light sleepers.
Once we learned to nurse side-lying it was a total game changer (probably took a couple months?).
She sleeps in her crib for all naps and from bedtime until I go to bed. but we also lived in a studio from birth until 6 months and now live in a 1 bedroom.
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I thought I would hate it, but LO hated sleep more. We ended up transitioning from the RnP to co-sleeping when she was a few months old so I could nurse and maybe sometimes also sleep. It saved my sanity, because it let me doze while she ate (all.damn.night.long, but that's another story). At the time, we had a full-size bed, which was OK when she was tiny but not OK as a toddler. We transitioned her to her crib (still in our room), after we weaned at 14 months (so she was somewhere between 15-17 months at the time). She now mostly sleeps in her crib, but I think she often prefers to be in with us. She ends up in our bed at some point several times a week.
I really didn't think co-sleeping was going to be for us, but we ended up buying in pretty quick when we realized that it would allow us some more rest. I will say that sometimes, co-sleeping with a toddler can be challenging, because they move so much. But I also love the snuggles!
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@Boopers: he's 11 months already?! Goodness!!
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@tofuwad: we only had a one bedroom for a long time, too (until a few months ago, actually), and co-bedding made a ton of sense. I also love side-nursing. When we made that work, it was like the heavens opened, and life became easier.
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I love it. I was too nervous to do it when she was itty bitty, but once she was older, I wasn't worried. I don't move much in my sleep, and am very in tune with her. It makes my husband nervous, so most of our cosleeping is done after he leaves for work in the morning.
We have a king bed, but it would be doable in a queen. My 6 month old starts every night in her crib, and has since 4 months. She's a great night sleeper, and usually sleeps through the night til about 7. I bring her back to bed with me then and I nurse her and we sleep for another hour.
The snuggles are awesome, and I love beibg right there when she wakes up. It's also nice that she's used to cosleeping, so we just cosleep when we travel.
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We've essentially shared a bed, since day one. Queen bed, between me and DH. I think this is the sole reason I can honestly say we have a pretty excellent sleeper. Our experience has not been without its frustrations, of course, but has been mostly positive. She's 2.5 now and still spends a large chunk of her night, in our bed. We're in the process of outfitting her "big girl" room, complete with a new (twin) bed. We'll soon start expecting her to stay in her bed, the entire night. I think she is ready, and I would admittedly like our privacy back, full-time. Not sure how it's going to go, but I am hopeful it will follow the same tune as our departure from diapers and pacifiers (which were relatively easy transitions, considering the initial dependence).
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I'm torn, I'd like to say I hate it, but I love having DS right there. My plan was crib from day 1, then I had a reflux baby who spits up and chokes in his sleep and at 3 months old it's not any better. My plan is once his reflux is calmed down he's going in the crib. I miss my cuddles with DH, it causeing a little strain on our relationship. even if I also love having DS there too.
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@wrkbrk: I forgot to add we have a king bed and it's worth taking up so much of the small room! Also, you might want to check out the book sweet sleep from la leche league. Also, maybe try it for a nap and see how you like it! I sometimes try to sneak away to do chores but I also love reading in bed while he naps and dozing myself.
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I love reading these responses! Thanks to everyone who responded!
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@wrkbrk: We have a queen and we co-slept with our son starting the week he came home from the hospital. He'd start in the sleeper sidecar crib attached to the bed, but then Id doze off nursing him, so I learned to side-lie nurse and he slept in the bed. We did crib/his floor bed at bedtime & then in our bed after the first wake-up until he was 3 years old. We stopped because I was pregnant and didn't feel okay with both kids in the bed, so I wanted to transition him out.
Our daughter is 2 months now & I'm better at using the side-car, but she still sleeps in the bed. I even co-slept with her at the hospital! -
I've co-slept with all of my girls until they get mobile around five months. I really think they benefit in sleep learning from bed-sharing. We've been fortunate with very good sleepers and I wonder if having them in bed with me from day one has contributed.
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@LovelyPlum: yes! He turns one in just a few weeks
Your LO is almost 2 right?! I remember when you were pregnant with her! Time sure does fly!
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With dd we only did it when desperate. It was ok but not preferable for me. I prefer to have the pack n play (we have the mini cosleeper) in our room for when needed but try to keep them in their rooms. (DD is 3 now so she can't go in there anymore anyway..) I try not to make it a habit because I don't want to have to break it later, and because everyone in our household seems to sleep best that way.
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We have had a really positive experience bed sharing. We started with LO in a basinet right next to the bed and she was a crappy sleeper. The night we moved her into the bed in desperation she STTN and basically has ever since. So, in that respect it was a lifesaver!
When LO was first born we all slept in our guest room (long story) in a full. It sucked but was doable with a tiny babe. After she was maybe 4-5 months we moved back into our master bedroom and the Queen bed we had at the time and that was fine. We upgraded to a King when LO was maybe 7 months old and *game changer*, I freaking love this bed.
I will say that LO is a snuggly sleeper, which helps a lot. We now have the problem of how to get her out of our bed. She has a lovely bed right next to our bed....which is where her "babies" sleep, while she still sleeps in "big bed". I tried a floor bed with LO too, but no dice. It's big bed or nothing
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Thanks for the replies!
So far we have had DS in his Halo next to the bed. He falls asleep in our bed and I transfer him after an hour or so. But he is going to grow out of the bassinet soon (label says it's not safe after 5 months!) so we are debating what to do!
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We have bed shared since day 1 also, and I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. He's 8 months now. DH build a side care for our king bed, but I never put DS in there to sleep, he just seems so far away. We nurse so much at night but honestly I couldn't tell you how often as he wakes and wiggles around a big, I roll over and pull down my shirt and he latches on and I fall right back to sleep. He pops off at some point I guess when he's done. DH and I are both so well rested. We will soon need to put our bed on the floor. If you are looking for a great book to read with facts and good information, try 'sweet sleep' I can't remember the author but it's so informative and really teaches you about how to safely sleep with your child and what the different stages of sleeping with them look like as they grow older.
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We don't cosleep. We're just too nervous. Our 8 week old sleeps in,his Chicco bassinet next to the bed, swaddled. He can actually fall asleep on his own!
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We've been co-sleeping (bedsharing) since like.. Day 5
We never thought we'd do it, but in those newborn days DD would not sleep unless she was on me, so I did that, and then it evolved into co-sleeping since nursing laying down made things SO much easier.
She would never sleep between me and DH; I was too afraid that DH would roll over on her! So I just kepy my long body pillow on the ledge, and then it was her, and me. She wasn't moving anyway!
She is 15 mo now and we still bedshare! I ended up wedging her mattress on the side using a pnp, so that acts as a wall. And the other open side I pile pillows on.
We plan to keep going till we have baby #2, and then try to transition her into toddler bed.
We love co-sleeping! She doesn't really kick me much and we all get great sleep that way. And I love the snuggles!
but we enjoy it and it makes us feel more comfortable knowing he's right there.
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