Co-Sleeping

So many positives but also a lot of risks. Some moms do it but change the environment to make it safer. It seems the softness of the mattress / blankets is a huge variable for safety. It has a lot to do with suffocation of baby and is linked to SIDs. But it depends on if you have a soft mattress and a ton of items around baby. I navigate this by doing contact naps during the day when I’m not sleeping or my partner isn’t sleeping. I move away pillows and covers and set up a boundary to avoid rolling over. It’s sooo nice to cosleep but I only do it during the day with supervision. At night, I might be too deep in sleep or might not see if my baby is in distress. I’d like to think my mother’s intuition would catch anything off, but it’s a risk I’m not willing to take. Every mom does things different, though.

Lullaby trust website has the safe sleep seven and explains how to co sleep safely.
A lot don't reccomend it but I have had a HV reccomened of needed and was told to check out the Lullaby Trust website for guidance on doing it safely if we choose too.
We are lucky baby is a good sleeper in her own space but have co slept on occasion whem she has been poorly and unsettled using their guidance. X

We didn’t co-sleep until she was 10months old, and only started because all of a sudden she started to wake up randomly at night, and it was literally the only way I could get some sleep. Still makes me a little nervous but I follow all the safe sleep advice, and only feel okay with it now because she’s much older and she’s also 12kg, feels much safer x

if you can co sleep safely then it’s really down to personal preference, most of the horror stories are because of people not taking the right precautions and that’s where the negativity comes from - such as babies falling out of bed, babies getting covered in sheets, mattresses not allowing them to regulate heat properly, parents rolling onto their babies and not realising and things like that - some of which can cause SIDS

but you will know yourself and your baby best to judge whether you think it’s the right move for you

i’m sure there are sites that detail safe sleep in terms of bedsharing/cosleeping might be worth just taking the advice on there and making sure baby is safe if you decide to cosleep

every mum and baby is different there’s no one rule that fits all

I mean they can’t do that other than for within the hospital. It was definitely a ‘rule’ on the ward that you weren’t to sleep with baby on you but what you do in your own home is up to you x

I coslept with my daughter as a single mom. Getting up in the middle of the night I was so exhausted I had fallen and smashed my head into the crib too many times so I put her in my bed (king size bed and I dont move around in my sleep.
I now sometimes cosleep with my son as his father and I got used to my now 3 year old getting into bed and he also doesn't move once asleep. I had a c-section and was unable to get baby in and out of the bassinet safely. Now I usually keep baby between us until I go to bed and transfer him to the bassinet and when he wakes up I cosleep as usually my partner is getting up then or shortly after. There are a lot of safety reasons to not cosleep but my babies were both born able to hold up their head and they sleep on their back or side. I only recommend cosleeping if you can do it safely

The risk comes from accidental co-sleeping/ a smoking/intoxicated parent, using blankets or generally not following safety principles. There're numerous cases where a baby's life is saved because of co-sleeping as the mother notices mild changes in their breathing for example that she wouldn't have if they weren't sleeping together. Look up the happy cosleeper

You can do it safely! It’s better to have a safe co-sleeping environment than accidentally fall asleep holding baby because you are absolutely exhausted from constantly re-settling a newborn in their own environment. I sleep by myself with my baby in a super king bed. We each have so much room. I can easily comfort her and check her

With my first baby I was so frighted to co-sleep, it was torturous trying to stay awake and fight a newborn to sleep. I gave up pretty quickly and have done it since day 1 with my 5 month old. We all got better sleep. It’s so natural to want to be near your newborn and vice versa. There are so many positives. Yes horrible things can happen but you can minimise those risks.

I think it’s a little different the night you’ve given birth because you are physically exhausted and I would agree it’s probably a lot safer to put baby in the cot provided. It’s also probably to ensure you don’t try and sue the hospital for them not telling you not to do it.