Newborn Sleeping (or lack of...)

[jennybeans]

Wasn't sure where to put this question and I figured we will have lots of sleep questions coming up so I'd start something.. It's still early but hopefully the BTDT moms can offer some advice as we get more S16 babies!


I'm contemplating trying to co-sleep with E this time around. We did not with DS since we ended up moving him to his crib at about a week on the recommendation of our pediatrician after I freaked out because he was so noisy at night and I thought something was wrong with him - newsflash - Newborns are noisy sleepers! We could do the same with E but I spent a lot of time sleeping with DS in the rocker early on and I know that's not the safest sleep situation.

BTDT moms who coslept before - how did this work for you? We don't have a side car bassinet for the bed so E would either stay in the bed or would return to a pnp or rock-n-play near the bed (she's been in the pnp the last 2 nights and I've been getting up to nurse in the rocker). How long did you do this and what was the transition like out of this arrangement to the crib? I return to work at 16 weeks so ideally we'd be in the crib by then.

[rufus426]

I'm a FTM but in the classes we took, the instructor strongly recommended reading Sweet Sleep which is all about the safest ways to co-sleep. She said it has answers to specific questions so you can use it as a quick reference or you can read it cover to cover. Hope this helps!

[fem]

I co-slept by DD's choice. It was the only place she would sleep at all. I didn't totally cave until 2-3 months so I don't have a lot of tips on newborn co-sleeping.

We extended breastfed also, it was so much easier just to pop a boob when she woke up. But I think partly because of that we just got her in her own bed at 2.5, and a few months after that was the first time she slept through the night. She still joins us in bed about 50% of nights.

We tried a crib transition a few times, but I just couldn't handle hearing her scream and cry in there. So overall I enjoyed co-sleeping, it allowed me to function with a crappy sleeper. But a combination of her personality and mine made it last longer than I had planned.

ETA: By co-sleep I meant bedshare. Girl was never satisfied even sleeping beside the bed, had to be in it.

[cbrandt1]

I'm all for co-sleeping for a few weeks, but I'm personally not a fan of bed sharing. This is what we did last time:

DS slept in the Halo Bassinest for 10 weeks. When he would wake up, I passed him to DH who went and changed his diaper, then bring him back to me. I'd nurse him then hold him on my chest for a bit because he had reflux. I always had myself propped up in the middle of the night so if I did doze off, I never fell into a deep sleep. I also didn't do side lying nursing motn (middle of the night) for fear of falling asleep and rolling over him or him falling off the bed.

Me staying propped up when I had DS also helped reassure DH, who would wake up randomly too to make sure all was ok, that D was safe. He knew if I was laying down that D was in the Bassinest.

This time I think we will transition sooner. Everyone slept much better with baby in his own room. Night time transition was no problem here because he only slept in the Bassinest. We didn't swaddle or anything and he laid flat from day 1.

Nap time was the hardest transition to the crib because he loved falling asleep at the boob and just refused to nap anywhere but on someone. That for sure can't happen this time but I don't really know how to fix that. One day he just decided he'd sleep in there. It was strange.

[mc13]

DD1 slept in the rock n play for the first 4 months then we bed shared until 15 months with a bed rail on our bed. She was a terrible sleeper, waking every 45mins-3 hours until we night weaned at 14 months. It was the only way I could survive.

She transitioned to a twin mattress on the floor really easily at 15 months then to her twin bed put together at 16 months.

This time, twins are in rock n plays until they outgrow them then we'll either bed share or put them in the pack n play until they go to twin mattresses on the floor around 15 months.

[watermelonseed]

As a FTM of an "ex-premie" as the hospital refers to P -we were told it was a good idea to co-sleep (definitely not bed share) for a couple weeks flat on her back. No RNP.

We have a chicco travel bassinet that has worked out awesome. So easy to drag from our room to the living room. (We live in a ranch)

Originally we were thinking of crib sleeping to start, but with the number of times she's up this has worked best. I'm thinking by one month - six weeks we may transition.

[danizee]

We didn't bed share early on but he was next to the bed in the pack n play. If it was a difficult night and he wouldn't sleep I would put him in rock n play and rock/vibrate setting until he fell asleep. We transitioned to his crib when he was 6 weeks because he was noisy and I wasn't getting any sleep. After his early morning wake ups (3ish am) I would bring him into our bed because after 2-3am his stretched of sleep got very short unless he was in our bed. So he would sleep with me in bed from 3-8am. I would nurse side sleeping and I would have my arm curled around him so if he moved I would wake up. It's amazing how in tune you are with a newborn even when you are asleep. I would literally not move in my sleep when he was in my arms. We did that for several months until he slept for longer stretches in his crib on his own.

[hurricanerek]

Did not know that co-sleeping was not the same as bedsharing. This has all been so helpful to read!

[danielle]

With DS, he was in a bassinet next to our bed for 5 weeks and then we transitioned to the crib in his room. H and I weren't willing to bed share because H is a very deep sleeper and moves a lot and it just didn't seem like a safe option for us. Unfortunately, this meant getting up a lot at night to nurse until DS sttn at 18 months. We have the same plan this time around, but my fingers are crossed for a better sleeper.
We'll see what happens.

ETA: Bed sharing can definitely be a safe option for some people, it just wasn't for us.

[lpj]

We had a bassinet next to the bed but ended up bed sharing. The advice here is softening in favour of bed sharing and in fact they are now saying as long as safe sleeping guidelines are followed (no sharing of sheets and blankets, no smoking or drinking and bed sharing) it's the safest option of all in terms of SIDS risk.

We moved DD to the crib in the nursery at six months which went really smoothly, no tears even!

[eboyd83]

We did co sleep for about six months. That's when I stopped night feeding. We have a bed co sleeper. Bought on Amazon. It was like $20 and has a little light in it. We have a king size bed so it just goes between us. I like it because it has little walls to keep baby in and stuff out.

[LadyNymeria]

We plan to start LO in a bassinet next to our bed. I was going to start with a rock n play but MH's grandmother gave us a bassinet so we'll start with that.

Both the bassinet and rnp are bed height so he'll be right next to my side of the bed.

At some point we'll start to transition to the crib.

[beckyrosen]

With DD we coslept because she would wake up minutes after we put her down, just about every time. One night I picked her up and lost my balance and almost fell (got a huge bruise on my arm from the corner of the dresser that I used to stop my fall). After that I realized I was in desperate need of sleep and so I brought her in bed with me. She stayed with me until a few months ago when I moved her into her toddler bed. (Guessing she was about 18 months when that happened). Oh, and I breastfed her until she was about 16 or 17 months I think.

Abby does not sleep with me. She's been very good about sleeping in her own place (mostly the pnp). Also, I've read that cosleeping (bedsharing) isn't a good idea if you're not breastfeeding, and since I'm not able to breastfeed this time around (due to reasons completely out of my control and I'm not happy about it) so we aren't going to be cosleeping.

ETA, when I say cosleeping I'm referring to bedsharing. I realize there's a difference, but I always seem to refer to it as cosleeping.

[jennybeans]

It's so interesting to read all the different ways people work it out with their babies! I still don't know what we are going to do here, but I feel better remembering that whatever we do, it will get better and this newborn stuff is a phase!!

We tried side lying nursing for a minute tonight and I couldn't make that work so we will have to practice when I'm more awake to see if we go that route or something else.

[briannea]

I slept in the nursery with DD in the PNP until about six weeks. I moved back to our room when I finally felt confident letting her sleep through. (I was waking her to nurse because I was anxious about her eating enough) when she has a sleep regression at about eight months I started bed sharing with her in the nursery after her first waking. But we night weaned and she went back to sleeping through the night when she was a little over a year. Then I had a hard core nursing aversion when my morning sickness hit so I'm glad we'd already started weaning.

[caz1221]

We never bed-shared with DD - she slept in the PNP next to our bed for 8 weeks, and then we transitioned her to her crib in the nursery (where she still is at age 3 - she loves that crib!). Everyone slept better once she was in her own room, so assuming there are no health concerns this time around, we will probably try to transition LO a bit sooner. All 3 bedrooms are on the same floor in our house (within 20 feet of each other on the same hall), so going from the master to either of the kids' rooms isn't far at all, and I prefer BF'ing in the glider (which is in the nursery) vs. in bed. DD also started STTN sporadically around 4-5 months old and has STTN every night since she was 6 months old, so that made separate rooms even easier. See what works best for you and LO.