Co-Sleeping Options

How Do You Co-Sleep?

March 2, 2010

Getting a restful night's sleep with a newborn requires some work. Some mamas prefer to place their tots in their own rooms, but 51 percent of LilSugar readers kept their babe's within arm's reach. Though doctors and the CDC recommend not to sleep with your wee one, 55 percent of our co-sleeping readers said they wouldn't change their ways.

To reduce the potential for suffocation, some co-sleeping parents opt to put baby in a bassinet that attaches directly to their bed, like the new Bednest. Others go the more traditional route and keep baby on their mattress. Which did you choose?

8 Comments

3 years 11 weeks

I didn't cosleep because I couldn't get any rest myself knowing my son was in bed with us. It's just not for me. I just could not relax enough to sleep for more than 2 minutes at a time before jerking awake. My son was a very easy infant too, so we all slept better with him in his own room. I know many moms who do cosleep safely with their babies, and it works well for them. There are so few absolutes in parenting, real health concerns, like fire, and poisons. All the rest, you're just trying to survive, and you have to do what works for you, your child, and your family, and that might be different for each child. :)

3 years 12 weeks

families ALL over the world co-sleep. it is more "the norm" than putting your baby in a separate room and using a monitor. i think it's funny that in the US people act like it's weird or dangerous when it's the most natural thing in the world - and i'm not some crunchy granola mom lol you know how you don't fall off the bed at night when you're asleep? because your body "just knows" where the bed ends? it's similar when you co-sleep. you "just know" where the baby is. unless you're drunk or on drugs or have some severe sleep disorder, it's totally safe. fear-mongering in the US (and worries of litigation) have turned co-sleeping into some "weird" thing. my son is 7 (yes, 7!) and still sleeps in our family bed. and i love love love it :-)

3 years 12 weeks

Instead of telling parents not to co-sleep I wish that someone would tell a parent how to do so safely. It is natural for a parent to sleep with their baby. I did so for the first few years- yes she got very attached. But as a baby it was just a necessity. I was a single mom who was exhausted by the end of the day. The idea of waiting for her to be fully awake enough to wake me up seemed ridiculous. So I removed all of the blankets from my bed, pushed the bed into the corner and bought two side rails; one for the side against the wall that still had a gap and one for the head of the bed for the same reason. I put her on her half of a queen sized bed and used a baby blanket for her. I slept on my half with a blanket. There were never any issues. I don't drink, smoke or use heavy medication that might have affected anything. Doctors and articles need to stop shaming parents who might be co-sleeping. By doing so you make it hard for those parents to ask for advice that might, in turn, save a life or at least a few good nights of sleep.

Niami 3 years 12 weeks

He wiggles and makes all sorts of noises all night, so most nights he isn't cosleeping. When he does I don't worry too much. From what I read, SIDS occurs with babies of parents who smoke or who drink too much and do drugs and literally smother them because they don't wake up. I don't do any of the above and don't even use my blanket, so no chance of smothering my child and he doesn't have breathing problems or any other factors.

starbucks 3 years 12 weeks

She was supposed to be sleeping in her bassinet right next to the bed but when I took her out to breastfeed her I usually fell asleep which led to her sleeping in bed with us most of the time. I was never really worried about rolling on her or anything because I was never actúally sleeping...only sort-of. After 1 1/2 months she (by accident) went to sleep in her crib in her room and we kept it that way. I don't know about her, but I sleep so much better now, although I still feed her 2-3 times a night.

MissSushi 3 years 12 weeks

I had my daughter in bed with me during the days in the beggining. My husband is too sound of a sleeper, so she slept in a basket by my side of the bed at night. I had a rough delivery and she was colicky and a whole host of issues that meant we were all getting very little sleep so it was nice to have her right next to me to feed during the first insane two weeks or so. She slept in the basket until she grew too long for it, and then rotated between the swing, stroller, and crib. With her it was a quest for survival and she slept wherever we could get her to sleep. She seldom slept for more then an hour at a time.

POPSUGAR Moms 3 years 12 weeks

Before I had kids, I never thought I'd co-sleep because I was scared of SIDs, but then you fall asleep while feeding a newborn and it happens. We have a bassinet, but my sons both slept better in a little bed insert.

wiggle 3 years 12 weeks

My first one slept with us for 6 weeks. THe second one made way too much noise — serious grunting — so she in the next room (the kitchen in a basinette then pack and play) until she moved into her crib at 3 months.

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