BellaOnline Forums Family Attachment Parenting co-sleeping

I never did understand what the big uproar over co-sleeping is all about. Then again, I come from a family where co-sleeping and baby wearing is common place. I have six younger siblings who also all have children who co-sleep. I have Two NICU babies and was never told by any medical staff not to co-sleep with my children. My youngest son was what is referred to as a 'micro preemie'. He has had multiple surgeries, at 3 area hospitals, most of them at Boston Children's Hospital. The hospitals have always provided a bed for co-sleeping. Children's actually has mom and baby sized cribs. They actually have pamphlets in the wards about the benefits of co-sleeping with your child! I find that the time i spend close with him keeps me in tune to his breathing (he has an airway disorder) I find that I am able to sense serious changes in his breathing and react to them where I might not notice until morning if he was in another room. I would say, do what feels natural to you. If it was dangerous, it would not feel natural. As a mother you will know what is best for you and your baby. It has become to common place for us to ignore our instinct and follow the advice stranger gives us in a book. Although I have to agree, I can obviously see the danger in a situation mentioned above, someone who was heavily medicated or intoxicated could hurt a baby while asleep, then again, someone in that state of mind could hurt a baby changing a diaper. As with opinions, everyone has their own, and thinks their way is best. This is just my two cents Thanks Tina

Hi, I wish you all the luck with convincing him about co sleeping. Have you tried reading with him The Baby Sleep Book by Dr Sears? It is an amazing book for cosleeping. We have been co sleeping with our son since he was 6 weeks old (suggested by Dr Jack Newman) and he is 6 mo old now. We all love it, and we all sleep so much better since we have been co sleeping. The key is doing it safely. I wanted to respond especially to your breast feeding comment. I had an emergency csection after a 36 hour diffiult labour. My baby was in distress and his heart rate kept dropping. He was very stressed out after his birth and would latch but not suck. After a few days in the hospital with no luck bfeeding I stupidly allowed the Lactation Consultant to give him a bottle. She said it would "teach him how to suck properly". Well, the only thing it taught him was how to suck properly on an artificial nipple... It took me seven weeks of heart break, sleeplessness, and pumping every 2 hours to get him off the bottle and on the breast. I saw 6 different LCs and it wasnt until I found Dr Jack Newman that my baby finally got it. He had him bfing in his office properly for the first time, and on his first visit! I dont know if you are close enough to Toronto to visit his clinic, but if not go to his website (The Newman Breast feeding Clinic and Institute) and you can email him and ask any qiestions. He responds himself usually within a day. The way he got my baby off the bottle was with a lactation aid. This is a feeding tube that one end goes in a bottle of your milk, the other you slip in the corner of the babys mouth after he latches on. The baby gets the fast flow that he is used to from the bottle, only he begins to associate this with your breast instead of bottle. It only took my son two days and one night of using this and he was bfing on his own ever since. There are videos and info on his site on how to do this method. Im sure if you took this info to your LC they can help you get started. It is a little difficult at first but sooo worth it in the end. It is so difficult to pump and bottle feed, and bfing is so much easier. I wish you all the luck in the world with bosth bfing and cosleeping! If you would like to contact me, feel free! :-)

Lots of people have already said it, but I just want to chime in with another co-sleeping success story. My twins were born a couple weeks premature, and slept with us from the day they came home until they were too big to fit! We're a very snuggly, affectionate family anyway, so co-sleeping was just natural for us, and I never doubted it. In fact, the one night the girls slept in their own room (really just a playroom), because they wanted to try out a new piece of furniture in there, I was up and down all night, because I was so worried about them. Worst night's sleep since they were born--LOL! Co-sleeping is the natural habit of humans since caveman times.

--Maria