Co Sleeping with 4 month old - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

zeesmom · 01-19-2008, 04:48 PM

My baby has been sleeping in my bed for about 2 months now. It is was something that we swore that we would never do, but after her birth we changed our minds.

It began with me wanting to watch her sleep when she was a newborn, and now I watch her because she experiences alot of itching and discomfort from exzema. Additionally, her dad works at night, and I feel more comfortable with her in my room. We moved her bed into our room, but she protests when we lay her down at night. Other times, I can lay her down, and she wakes up crying for me. She calms down when I pick her up and lay her next to me. I have read many studies which say that cosleeping is not reccommended. What are some of your experiences with cosleeping, and suggestions to encourage my baby to sleep in her crib?

kittyroo · 01-19-2008, 08:25 PM

When my son was born we had him in a crib in our room for the first week. Then the second and third week he was in a children's hospital with a heart problem. When we brought him home from that hospital, I didn't want to let him out of my sight. So he slept with us until my husband almost squashed him. We had him in a little sleep positioner up between our heads thinking that was good. Well, hubby rolled all 250 pounds of himself toward the middle, popping DS out of the postioner. I woke up to DS wedged between hubby and the bed, both sleeping soundly. After I got done FREAKING OUT, DS went in his crib and we all had a typical new baby sleepless night.

The next day we went to Target and spent $160 bucks on a video monitor. Best money I have ever spent. That way we could see him in his room safe in his crib and we didn't go get him at every peep. We just watched and waited to see if he'd settle himself back down. If not, we'd go feed him. A lot of time he would put himself back to sleep after thrashing around quite a bit. If we hadn't been able to see him on the monitor, we'd have been going and getting him all night long! Using this method, he eventually slept through the night at 10 weeks old. He just turned four months and he sleeps from 8:30 pm to 7 am no problem.

I don't want to scare you or start a debate, but a huge percentage of crib deaths are from smothering from co-sleeping. I sounds like you have it under control tho, if you have been doing it this long. Just be careful and good luck.

BioAdoptMom3 · 01-19-2008, 08:47 PM

If you want her in the crib try placing her on her tummy in there unless of course she is already rolling over on her own anyway now. If not and you are not comfortable with that, place the carseat in the crib and let her sleep there, or place it on the floor by your bed and let her sleep in it. Then once she is rolling over, which could happen anytime now, just try the crib again. Chances are she will be content there when she can sleep in any position she wants.

Nancy

luckydarlin · 01-20-2008, 08:42 AM

I know a lot of people who have let the baby sleep with them, and to be honest, the kids are still sleeping with them. I even did this myself with my daughter for a few weeks while she was teething but finally got to the point where it was becoming such a habit she wouldn't sleep in her crib at all - she wanted me. She would cry and cry until I picked her up and put her in my bed and then she would laugh, roll over and go right to sleep. That's when I knew!

It took one weekend to get her back into the habit of her crib.

It's definitely difficult when you want to have them sleep next to you, but I just didn't want to be like a friend of mine who has a 9 year old, 5 year old and 3 year old all come into her bed at night still. Those who do it tell me not to do it because it's the hardest habit to break, so that's why she's back in her crib. ...plus, sometimes you need time to yourself.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Hope2Heal · 01-20-2008, 02:27 PM

HI

it really is a personal choice. my friend cosleeps with her 2 kids, the oldest finally is sleeping alone she is 6 but the 3 year old refuses to sleep alone. Her kids end up staying up really late until she is ready to go to bed.

Personally I really need some evenng time to myself, whether to do some chores, homework( I am back to college) or just sit down and watch TV or take a bath or spend time with my husband.

I slept with my son for about 3 months, alone in a seperate bed in the baby's room and used a snuggle nest. Then I finally put him in his own crib and continuted to sleep in his room with him until he was about 6-7 months old. I finally put the baby monitor to use and moved back to my own bed. It was wonderful to start actually sleeping at night and the baby slept better too. However I should say I did put hm on his belly, since he was not a good back sleeper. I was scared of SIDS and checked on him constantly, but he just wouldn't sleep on his back. I used a pacifier at night that supposedly cuts down on Sids as it keeps airways open.

It is up to you how much you need your evening or not. For some people it is all baby all the time. I think it is harder for them to seperate from you the older they get and harder for you to seperate from them the younger they are. That is my theory. Sometimes I take a nap with him and it is nice to cuddle but it is very rare.