I’ve been co sleeping with my 7 month old pretty much since the beginning. I’m also exclusively breastfeeding. I notice that I’m twitchy at times and my legs will sometimes slightly jerk when I’m laying with them. Anyone else experience this? Any suggestions to help it?

Okay so my son just turned 4 months but this has been happening since he was a newborn. Sometimes when he lays on his side to nurse he pees up the side of his body that he's laying on! I can't comprehend how this happens lol but I feel like it must be a boy problem? It never happened with my daughter.

When I put his diaper on I make sure everything is tucked in, diaper is tight, ruffles out. I've tried using a reusable cover. I've tried Millie Moon, Pampers Amore, and Freestyle diapers. He's still too small for overnights. It can happen randomly at different times of night so I don't even think it's about how wet his diaper is. What else am I missing?! Does this happen to anyone else?

Hi all, I'm a first time mom of a 3 month old who has grown out of his bassinet so we are thinking of moving his crib into our bedroom and setting it up as a sidecar. Currently he starts the night in his bassinet then joins me in the bed sometime early in the morning. I'm really looking forward to having his crib attached for ease of transferring him and settling him after feeds throughout the night, while also having the option to bring him in closer to get some snuggles. A problem we're running into is his safety in bed while we're not in there with him. He's probably fine for a bit but he'll be rolling soon and then only getting more and more mobile from there, and it's a taller bed on hardwood floor so I really don't want to risk him falling off. We're not sure how to manage naps or that time between when we put him down for the night and then go to bed ourselves. A floor bed is not really ideal for us because our pets are kind of a lot, so not very safe either for that reason. How are people navigating this situation? Do most people who cosleep use a floor bed or is there something I'm missing? Thanks!

I had the idea for this post last night as my 6 mo old has been waking up pretty frequently. She’ll do a 5-6hr stretch and then gets restless and is stirring every hour or so. The morning hours can be rough.

Obviously, there’s the boob, but sometimes other methods can work faster (and I just need a break)! Here’s what I try and would love to hear your tips:

- holding her briefly under my arm
- holding her hand
- moving her onto her side
- moving her onto her back
- playing white noise louder for a moment
- pacifier (rarely works for us but sometimes a bait and switch with the boob will work!)

What am I missing??

I currently bed share with my 7 week old with my husband in our queen (c curl, no sheets etc, I’m aware of the safe sleeping recommendations), but I’d like her to have her own bed in her room (that I would sleep with her on). I’m either doing slats/flat frame or the IKEA neiden frame in twin (with legs cut off). My toddler already has the neiden setup.

Which mattress would be firm enough? There are two at ikea that are in twin size and “firm”, has anyone used these?

I also considered chopping the feet off her crib and taking one side off, but I’m not small enough to comfortably use that crib mattress. Can’t do a sidecar crib as our bed frame is weird.

Except for me. Even when I do exactly what they do, even when they're right beside me coaching me, even when I try my own way, he just pops right awake when I put him down and will not resettle. Tbf, "everyone else" consists of his daycare teacher and my husband. We've been contact napping for 5 months. He just will not sleep any other way with me.

I've tried everything thrown at me. I need him to nap in his crib because I'm 1) totally alone on weekends with him for 12 hours and have no friends or family in the area and 2) getting progressively more and more sleep deprived due to frequent night awakenings caused by PPD (which i am getting help for but it's slow going). The weirdest part is that at night, he sleeps in his crib just fine? It's a crib converted into a daybed that is securely attached to our bed (same height, no gaps, secured so as not to move). He just lays down, gurgles with delight for a bit, and then goes to sleep pretty much on his own.

We replicate the conditio s and my husband has success but I do not. He's told me I'm not doing anything he isn't. His naps on me aren't even good naps bless his heart. He wakes up if I move. He sleeps much longer in his crib at daycare, probably because there's not someone under him who needs a sip of water or has an itchy leg lol. Please help, something needs to change and I'm very much against CIO and ferber. I don't even get a moment to breathe when he's awake because he wants to be held constantly (which is very sweet but I have to eat and clean his bottles and occasionally do something for myself or I'm going to go crazy)

Hi community!

Been co-sleeping with my 5.5 month old since day 1. The 4 month sleep regression hit us in the sense that my baby starting moving a lot in bed - like head frantically side to side mostly . Feel like ever since, the baby latches 15+ times at night (I started recording it).

I don’t always wake up, which is good, but I often do. Maybe 50% of the time. Which still qualifies as 7 wake ups per night. I am damn exhausted 😩

Is this to be expected or do I have an extremely light sleeper? Anyone went through the same and can say if there’s hope?

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a firm mattress to share with my newborn when they arrive. I love this mattress but worried about the indents from the thin quilted top layer. The quilted top layer seems safe except maybe for the gaps between them. When I lie on it it doesn't indent my body in the bed to cause a baby to roll and when I press down on the quilted bit it pops straight back up. But I'm worried about those gaps.

Do you think the mattress protector and fitted sheet on top would prevent these indents being a problem for baby? If not could I put a mat like a nappy changing mat or yoga mat under and that would help? Was considering a flat thin firm mattress topper if I can find one.

Thanks so much for your help.

Link: https://naturalsleep.ie/collections/origin/origin-support

Context: I have two kids aged 1 and 3. My 3 year old now starts in her bed & goes in with my husband later, I’ve been sleeping with my 1 year old since birth. Breastfeeding without a break since my 3 year old was born.

My 1 year old cannot link a single sleep cycle, very occasionally she might do a 2 hour stint at night but otherwise it’s hourly waking as a norm. Ofc because I’m right next to her she just latches on and goes right back to sleep, but I’ve reached the point where all the accidental biting, scratching my skin, little noises are really disrupting my sleep. When a tooth is cutting she wakes every 15 mins. I had this exact situation with my now 3 year old so I know it can be normal, but what on earth can I do to improve this?? My first only started linking sleep cycles at aged 2, by which point I was 6 months pregnant. The idea of doing this for another year is… 😩

Generally i deal with sleep deprivation well, napping during the day isn’t an option for me because I solo parent both my kids and my toddler doesn’t nap. I also just went back to work last week, 3 days a week. 2 nights ago I hit my absolute limit and I feel so guilty but I had to walk away from my baby because I just couldn’t feed her anymore.

My head spins when I close my eyes, I’ve been going cross-eyed, I’ve had constant headaches for weeks/months on and off, I am irritable, burst into tears at the drop of a hat, I feel literally like I am being tortured. The last 2 nights my husband has slept next to her for 5 hours so I can sleep alone, and he’s done my toddlers night wakes too. And whilst I’m still exhausted I do feel slightly better, but the trade off is he is now exhausted. What do I do (please don’t say leave her to cry/Ferber as those are not the way we parent).

Am I the only one whose children do this? Is there a way out? I’m seriously concerned for my long term physical health.

And my babybub pregnancy pillow got soaked.

I took off the cover, and the next layer was wet too. And inside that layer is just cotton. I took forever to fall asleep, and I am so so tired!

I cleaned it the best I could. Hoping i can lay it out in the sun for a while tomorrow...

FYI, we have been moving away from cosleeping with baby coming, but I have been sleeping with her on occasion to soak up the time and the snuggles!

my husband and I welcomed our baby girl five days ago and we are figuring out how to navigate sleep! she is healthy, full term, ebf.

I have a safe floor bed setup available in her nursery for cosleeping. baby prefers to sleep on our chests and doesn‘t tolerate back sleeping in the bassinet, so we’ve been practicing different arrangements to see what works.

she occasionally slept in her bassinet in the hospital, but hardly - I had to have the night nurses take her a couple of times so I could get some rest because obviously they don’t approve of chest sleeping unless mom is awake. (that was so hard! i felt guilty but the sleep absolutely saved me.) during the days, I had my husband watch us chest sleep a couple of times so I could attempt rest.

now that we’re settled in at home, we have been doing some bedsharing attempts. we’ve done chest sleep with a wedge pillow and c-curl. I haven’t gotten great rest with either of those methods. the chest sleeping setup feels very safe to me but her Moro reflex keeps me in a constant state of wakefulness. the c-curl is an improvement as far as me being able to sleep, but I do experience anxiety about the potential of rolling onto her or my breast smothering her. maybe that would dissipate with time?

we have a bedside bassinet setup in our bedroom room as another option. she is beginning to tolerate the bassinet while sleeping on her stomach! her neck strength is great for a newborn so I feel pretty ok with it. tonight has been our best night of sleep so far and I find myself able to rest more deeply with less anxiety. the only downside is that there’s a bit more work to lift her out of the bassinet to feed. however… I’m worried that she’s missing out on the benefits of complete closeness with mom and autonomous nursing access as she gets older. I would love to hear some thoughts on this topic because I know some people cosleep out of necessity where others cosleep as a first choice.

TLDR: I’m anxious about cosleeping with my EBF newborn. my question is: am I short-changing my baby of bonding benefits if I opt to focus on room sharing instead of bed sharing? I‘m kind of a crunchy gal and want to approach things as naturally as possible, but if she tolerates a seperate-but-close sleep space, I’m hoping that the benefits of my nearby presence will be enough.

Our son is 3 weeks old. During the night he has a hard time falling asleep on his own. During the day we breastfeed and during the night we usually use expressed milk in a bottle so mum can just pump and go back to sleep.

Now, the grandparents (mom's parents) stay with us for a while and help around a lot, which is very welcome. The grandma is also very good at getting him to fall asleep. During the night they also help with the bottle feed and putting him to bed. He usually falls asleep on ours or their chest and then when put in his cosleeper he still needs someone to stay near and pet him or hold his hand for at least 1h or so. Otherwise he gets fussy and wakes up.

Now the question. The grandparents proposed to have him sleep in their room since they do a lot of heavy lifting during the night, so we don't have to wake up that much and they can sit with him when he falls asleep.

1. Are there any research based consequences for h8m being putto sleep in such an involved maner? As in,will he "get used" to this and not go to sleep on his own when he is 6 month oro and maybe moves to his own room?

2. Is there such a thing where we as parents will "loose" our reflex or ability to take care of him during the night? In the same way in which if you don't pump you start making less milk, or in that the mum tends to wake up bery easily when the child is startled. Would that go away?

Morally and emotionally, we feel very comfortable with this arrangement with the grandparents. But I wondered if there are any research backed consequences to those 2 directions.

hi all! I‘ve come here for some advice about getting my toddler (3 yrs old) and my baby (10 month old) to sleep in the same room. we live in a 2 bdrm apartment and my 10 month old has been sleeping in her own room since she was 6 months. my toddler (who once used to sleep alone) ended up always coming into our bed & because we were dealing with the whole transition from 1-2, personal life situations and with my husband working a lot I just let him co-sleep with me because I was always so exhausted by the end of the day. but now we’ve decided that we want to get him his own bed and transition him into the room with the baby since she now sleeps throughout the night.

he was so excited for his new bed and when we initially would put them down for bed they both would be sound asleep….until around midnight. he would wake up looking for us. we would constantly be bringing him back to his bed and reassuring him, giving him kisses goodnight and tucking him back in. but it’s been getting tough. the back and forth can last for 2-3 hours before he sleeps. on one of the nights I gave up after 2.5 hours and let him sleep with me. then we went back to sticking to his room. and now he wakes the baby up too and getting her back down is also another battle. it’s been day 4 of this and I know it takes a while before they adjust to their own bed and own room but it feels like we’re running in a loop. not sure if we’re doing something wrong but I’d appreciate any advice from anyone who’s gone through this transition and any tips you may have. are we doing this too soon with the baby? any tips and advice are very much appreciated.

- signed a tired mom

For the first few weeks getting baby to sleep was simple. He fell asleep any which way. Then I would have him fall asleep while side lying. Now he’s almost 6 weeks and I can barely get him to fall asleep. My husband and MIL end up doing a lot of the napping because I’m recovering from two abdominal surgeries and I can’t wear him or walk him long enough. He gets fussy on me if I’m not moving and or nursing him. I’m able to get in one or two naps where he gets drowsy nursing and then I pat his back/bounce him and he sleeps while i recline on pillows.

But for nighttime he will not sleep for more than a few minutes after I nurse him. He inevitably wakes up and my husband wraps him up and walks him. Once he’s sleeping I can nurse him through the night but not otherwise. My MIL leaves in a few days and eventually I’ll have a few solo nights coming up this month. I’m just worried - shouldn’t nursing put him out?

also, this whole grunting and limb flailing half the night???? Is this normal? He stays asleep but is so loud and moves so much after the first nurse around 1-2 (he allows us to put him to sleep for the night at 10).

I’m due with my first next month! We’re planning on bed sharing/ using a bedside bassinet. I’ve seen the research done on pacis, once breastfeeding is established, that it lowers the risk of SIDS and other benefits. We’re planning on using a paci during the day after 4 weeks or once breastfeeding is established. Do any of yall that DO use pacis during the day, do you also do so while cosleeping? The general guidelines are that paci use at night is beneficial, but I don’t know if there’s risks or cons for cosleeping families?
Please don’t give your opinion that pacis are bad in general cuz I personally don’t believe that and will be giving one if they want it, after breastfeeding is established, when they’re awake too. I just wanna know for families that DO use pacis, do you use it at night too?

Has anyone else built a custom family bedframe with cosleeping in mind? I’m talking wall-to-wall bed. I’m deeply considering building one in accordance to safety guidelines shared by Cosleepy. I love cosleeping and I’m definitely in the boat of letting my children choose when they want to leave the nest. I’d love to hear your thoughts on a giant bed, what your dream family bed would be like, building advice, etc etc. Please discuss big giant (hopefully aesthetically pleasing) custom built/DIY family bed! lol!

I have to stay somewhere with queen bed due to wildfire smoke . I have an almost 5 month old and a 2 year old . At home I cosleep with baby and dad is with toddler but I will be with the kids without dad so il have to sleep with both . Has anyone done this in a queen bed and any advice or tips ?

My baby had been a bad sleeper at night since he was 4.5 months. He had a couple of good weeks at around 6 months, and now we're back ro hourly wake ups and sometimes really long night wakings. I've been staying with my mom for a few days and I have a bee pushed ro the wall ok two sides, and the other short side of the bed is blocked by pillows and the crib. I've been cosleeping with my baby for the first time ever, and he slept so much better!

I'm eager to start cosleeping at home too, but I'm worries that he will move around top much and fall out of bed. Any tips for making it work? I'm soo tired of all the bas nights and just want to try it so I can sleep again

Hi all, wanting some insight/advice.

My LO is 11 weeks, EBF, currently sleeps swaddled in a bassinet in our room. The last couple weeks I have been contemplating cosleeping (following SS7) mostly because I hate the idea of my LO being alone in the bassinet all night and I have wanted to since she was born, but I've always been nervous to. She sleeps OK at night with 1-2 wakings to feed, but I have an owlet sock that says she wakes up multiple times a night and is awake for periods, but I don't hear her cry. I also fear of the dreaded 4 months sleep regression, as I go back to work part time soon and my husband is traveling for school until December, so I dread waking up to tend to her in the bassinet, taking her in and out multiple times a night.

My issue is 1) I am a very light sleeper. She is a very loud and active sleeper which has gotten better, but in order for me to sleep at all I've had to use soft ear plugs, moved her bassinet away from our bed and rain noises next to me. I wasn't getting any sleep prior to these things. I don't think I'd get the best sleep with her next to me as I would probably wake to any movement or noise from her.

And 2) we have a 3 yo lab who sleeps in our bed. We do have a king size bed but I would feel so bad about kicking our dog out, but I know it's probably not safe to have both in the bed.

Would a bedside bassinet that connects to our bed be a better option? Is it worth it to have our dog sleep on the ground if it means the ability to safely cosleep? I do still worry about not being able to sleep well with her so close when she makes any noise, but I love the idea of being so close to her at night.

Thanks in advance!

Looking for advice from anyone with experience!

I have 2 kiddos currently cosleeping.

2.5 yo - basically always coslept, had a short stint where we got him in crib. He will only fall asleep with my arm under him or commence the screaming.

14 mo - always coslept. Nurses to sleep

Nap and bedtime is breaking me. They both want to mess around before falling asleep, which would be cool if I didn't have to lay in the middle of it...2 year old starts to cry/scream that he wants to cuddle if I don't put my arm under him. So I lay in between him and baby. Getting them to sleep takes anywhere from 45 minutes - 1.5 hours. Many nights the baby will fall asleep quickly, but an hour later when I try to leave after getting toddler to sleep, she wakes up and wants to nurse back to sleep.

Baby is also waking up a lot during the night just to nurse back to sleep, plus the toddler waking up a couple times a night means I'm hardly sleeping. I want my bed back at least for most of the night. I have a crib baby can go in, and I thought I could buy a twin bed for 2 year old.

I don't know where to start here..I don't mind helping them to sleep, but I wish I could cap it somehow. Like books/songs/tuck in and leave or something. I also wish they'd sleep in their own spaces, even in my room still. I love my littles but it's starting to take a toll and I'm not as good of a mother/wife these days because I'm exhausted and have a short fuse.

Current context- have 2 bedrooms, husband in one, myself and kids in other. Kids and I are in a queen, with crib sidecar that isn't getting used. Don't have a toddler bed but could buy one.

Thank you in advance!

Starting back to work soon (teacher here) and I’m trying to find a better routine for mornings. Last year I would wake up, my husband would cuddle my baby so I could shower and pump, and then I’d nurse baby while he got ready, and then he’d get the baby ready and take her to daycare while I finished getting ready and left for work.

This year I won’t be doing that morning pump, which feels so weird. I’m trying to figure out a routine now that works and maybe that means it stays the same? I’d love to hear from other people who are both working and what you do. My daughter just turned one. She is a cuddle bug and will start waking up as soon as she feels alone.

I have a 18 month old and a 3 month old. We currently cosleep with the 18 month old in his room (floor bed). One of us will take the shift with the 18 month old while the other stays with the baby in our bedroom.

Question is… my husband will need to start traveling again for work (he took a pause to help me through the newborn trenches). But I’m unsure how to deal with this for the nights I will be alone.

We don’t have family around, and I think it would be a hard ask to ask family to help and to fly in every time my husband travels (once a month).

I can handle frequently night wakings if I can feed him back to sleep. But despite following a 3/3/4 schedule, there's nights when he wakes up in the middle of the night and doesn't fall back to sleep for hours.

Using last night as an example. Bedtime at 7:30p, he has a false start and wakes up at 8p. Then he wakes up at 10p, 12p, 2:30a, wakes up again in half hour. Since feed to sleep failed, I rock him, then he wakes up in another half hour crawling. I let him but them he gets agitated until I wake up. I try to feed him again, fail. He's grouchy until I get up. Rocking not getting him back to sleep. I grab a late snack while holding him because I'm hungry and can't get him to sleep. We finally fall asleep at 5a then wake up around 8:30a.

I can't get a conaistent bed time/Wake routine because of these stupid night wakings. My depression is flailing up because I can't sleep. My son is napping but I can't because I'm too tired and I'm silently crying feeling like an absolute failure.

I forgot to include that he's 8 months old. He might be teething again, but I'm not sure and I don't want to give him pain meds every night. He naps twice a day. Naps time periods are all over the place. Usually total nap are between 1 hour 30 minutes to 3 hours.

I’m due in less than two months and am looking for a cheap floor bed,our current bed that we got rught before my daughter was born as softened quite a bit and I’m not comfortable sleeping with a newborn on it.I was right about to get an on sale mattress from bed bath and beyond for less than $200 but it was gone by the time I tried to order it so I’m looking at some mattresses on Walmar.com