Your opinion....Co-sleeping

100% correct!  my husband wouldn't dream of having Luken in the bed with him if I were not there.  he knows that he might not wake. but I will and always have. I've coslept for some amount of time with all 3 of my children and I love it.

Could you point me in the direction of some more info about that?

No prob, I posted a bunch of links right down at the bottom of this thread! In the end, you have to do what is best for you and your family, but I don't want you to be scared of co-sleeping because one person believes that co-sleeping was the reason for her babies death. You don't know what was going on in that bed or that house and if the parents where practicing healthy, proper co-sleeping habits.

Thanks!

Thanks for speaking up in a well-stated, responsible way for Co-Sleeping! I co-slept exclusively with Lydia for 4 months, and still do whenever she needs to ... I think it has really been instrumental in bonding with Lydia and I am so proud of the relationship I have with her!

As you should be mama! She is perfect, happy, healthy and thriving!

I have been meaning to ask you, are you CDing? I thought I spied a pair of BabyLegs in one of your pictures

I thought the same way you did.  I really did.  We put the crib in our room for this thought -- that we wouldn't co-sleep because the risks of SIDS was too high for co-sleeping and NO WAY IN HELL WOULD WE RISK OUR BABY'S LIFE.

But then!  Then Kaitlin had the worst reflux and she would choke in her sleep on food from an hour prior?  Wha?  An HOUR?  And she was a strange newborn that would go 4 hours w/o eating.. but would still puke 3 hours after eating.  Well, lying flat meant she'd aspirate.  This isn't good, either.

So doc said to elevate her bed.  And we did.  And she'd slide down her crib to the end of the crib.  This is helpful how?

So then we used a boppy pillow -- but NO!  Tag says "Do not let child sleep in pillow" So uh?

And babies with reflux have to be kept upright for at least 30 minutes -- well, she'd still puke 2 hours later.


So we ended up co-sleeping with her sleeping within the crook of my arm  with her head on my bicep.  Perfect angle to keep her from asphyxiating in her sleep on her vomit, I could get some rest while she slept, and she didn't die.


We were adamant we wouldn't co-sleep with Daniel.  Yeah, well, he had reflux, too.  Not as bad, but still.  So you know where that went.

And yeah, so what if they come join us in bed from 6:30-7:15 in the mornings?  It's the nicest alarm clock we could hope for :-)



Point is -- sometimes our plans change.  I used to be adamantly "no effing way in hell -- too much of a risk" person before our plans went to hell.  Sometimes we gotta roll with the punches.

I'm definitely starting to understand how people's plans tend to get thrown out the window when reality smacks them in the face.  Lol.  Who knows, I might end up co-sleeping too!

These are great post...thanks to all...

One thing I was reading about co-sleeping and putting baby in your room was that you baby won't sleep through the night as well...they gave this example...

If you slept in a kitchen and woke up and smelled steak, you would want to eat, not matter how long it had been since you ate....your breast milk (which is another goal I hope I can do with baby-breastfeed) is like a steak dinner for the baby...they want to eat everytime the awake, even if it's not "time" to say....

I think the hardest part for me especially in the beginning is...I will be alone for the first eight months.  My husband will be deploying between April-May (I am due at end of April)...so we are just hoping he will be here for the birth, but the next 8months...it's me and my lil lady....

Again really appreciate all the experience stories....Stacey

Hi Stacey .. It's my experience that babies want to eat, especially babies fortunate enough to benefit from breast milk - all the time no matter where they sleep. You can expect a newborn to breast feed pretty much continuously until they regulate their own routines. And, I co-slept with my daughter exclusively for four months, and she still co-sleeps whenever she indicates that she needs to. Because my husband travels a lot for work, I am a lone a ton, and co-sleeping has been great for us! As mentioned by a PP, co-sleeping does not mean the baby is always in bed with you ... there are other ways to do it safely and effectively. I hope that whatever you choose that you have a great experience with your new baby!