Post by ouchy on Mar 11, 2008 0:39:06 GMT -5
There has been some recent discussion about this on the forum, so I decided to start a new thread. It is in no way intended to bash anyone who doesn't co-sleep. It is to be informative and personal experience related.
Some people think sleeping with your infant is dangerous. Sure, there have been fatalities with co-sleeping with babies. Truth be told, more infants have died in their cribs than co-sleeping with parents. My nephew is one of them. He sat up in his crib in the middle of the night and started playing with the miniblind cord. The cord got wrapped around his neck, and his mother woke to find that he had hanged himself. She couldn't save him as he was already blue and had just taken his last breath.
While scared in the beginning of co-sleeping with a preemie-sized baby not even 5.5 pounds, my pediatrician assured us that it was safe and that she has a lot of parents of patients who co-sleep. We had an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, but she refused to sleep in it. I spent the first week at home sleeping sitting up, holding her against my naked chest. That is the only way we could both sleep! After that, we got a "Snuggle Nest." That is a little bed that goes between you and your partner so that baby is in his/her "own" bed, yet still in bed with parents. She would sleep for a few hours in it if put in while already asleep; however, she would wake up and want to sleep with Mommy! We finally scratched the snuggle nest and I just let her sleep on my down pillow with one of my arms tucked under her head to prop her up (She also has reflux!) and the other arm cuddled around her. I locked her in with my head to her head. It worked out very nicely like that. Now, she just sleeps on my pillow next to me. She'll lightly wake to nurse several times, and now that she is big enough, I just roll over and give her a boob. We both quickly fall back asleep, and I honestly have no idea for how long she nurses!
Another surprising fact is that when co-sleeping, the mother's breath works like a pacemaker for the baby. Most infants sometimes take a looooooooooooong pause in their breathing from time-to-time, sometimes up to 20 seconds without breath! Upon hearing the mother breathe, the infant automatically takes a breath. I thought this was hogwash, but I try it every single time I hear her hold her breath, and it has ALWAYS worked.
We are mammals. Mammals co-sleep and wake to nurse. Babies have tiny stomachs, and breastmilk breaks down very quickly, in something like 2 hours or so. Not surprisingly, my baby wakes to nurse about every 2 hours on the dot when I am awake enough to even glance at the clock.
Here is a great write-up on why co-sleeping and breastfeeding is natural. www.slate.com/id/2020/
Now for the question everyone is dying to know--how do you have sex in the bed when baby is there?
Answer: Get it on in another room of the house! It will spice things up! Baby is still asleep in the carseat after a long drive? Go have sex in your OWN bed! That can be spicy after not doing it there for a long time. LOL! Baby is asleep at the far side of the bed? The lights are out? Why not just go for it?
I asked my husband tonight what he thinks about co-sleeping. He said that he loves it and that he loves waking up and seeing baby and me snuggling together, cheek-to-cheek or forehead-to-forehead, or seeing us both sleeping, her latched on to a boob.
We have her crib set up in the "nursery." She has taken a few naps in it. 3 hours or so is the longest she has ever slept in it. It does convert to a toddler bed. Maybe she will get more use out of it then?
P.S. I know this post has paragraphs completely out of order, but I'm trying to type quickly. I know someone will wake up hungry in a few minutes!
Some people think sleeping with your infant is dangerous. Sure, there have been fatalities with co-sleeping with babies. Truth be told, more infants have died in their cribs than co-sleeping with parents. My nephew is one of them. He sat up in his crib in the middle of the night and started playing with the miniblind cord. The cord got wrapped around his neck, and his mother woke to find that he had hanged himself. She couldn't save him as he was already blue and had just taken his last breath.
While scared in the beginning of co-sleeping with a preemie-sized baby not even 5.5 pounds, my pediatrician assured us that it was safe and that she has a lot of parents of patients who co-sleep. We had an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, but she refused to sleep in it. I spent the first week at home sleeping sitting up, holding her against my naked chest. That is the only way we could both sleep! After that, we got a "Snuggle Nest." That is a little bed that goes between you and your partner so that baby is in his/her "own" bed, yet still in bed with parents. She would sleep for a few hours in it if put in while already asleep; however, she would wake up and want to sleep with Mommy! We finally scratched the snuggle nest and I just let her sleep on my down pillow with one of my arms tucked under her head to prop her up (She also has reflux!) and the other arm cuddled around her. I locked her in with my head to her head. It worked out very nicely like that. Now, she just sleeps on my pillow next to me. She'll lightly wake to nurse several times, and now that she is big enough, I just roll over and give her a boob. We both quickly fall back asleep, and I honestly have no idea for how long she nurses!
Another surprising fact is that when co-sleeping, the mother's breath works like a pacemaker for the baby. Most infants sometimes take a looooooooooooong pause in their breathing from time-to-time, sometimes up to 20 seconds without breath! Upon hearing the mother breathe, the infant automatically takes a breath. I thought this was hogwash, but I try it every single time I hear her hold her breath, and it has ALWAYS worked.
We are mammals. Mammals co-sleep and wake to nurse. Babies have tiny stomachs, and breastmilk breaks down very quickly, in something like 2 hours or so. Not surprisingly, my baby wakes to nurse about every 2 hours on the dot when I am awake enough to even glance at the clock.
Here is a great write-up on why co-sleeping and breastfeeding is natural. www.slate.com/id/2020/
Now for the question everyone is dying to know--how do you have sex in the bed when baby is there?
Answer: Get it on in another room of the house! It will spice things up! Baby is still asleep in the carseat after a long drive? Go have sex in your OWN bed! That can be spicy after not doing it there for a long time. LOL! Baby is asleep at the far side of the bed? The lights are out? Why not just go for it?
I asked my husband tonight what he thinks about co-sleeping. He said that he loves it and that he loves waking up and seeing baby and me snuggling together, cheek-to-cheek or forehead-to-forehead, or seeing us both sleeping, her latched on to a boob.
We have her crib set up in the "nursery." She has taken a few naps in it. 3 hours or so is the longest she has ever slept in it. It does convert to a toddler bed. Maybe she will get more use out of it then?
P.S. I know this post has paragraphs completely out of order, but I'm trying to type quickly. I know someone will wake up hungry in a few minutes!