Night sleep

S

supermom30

Registered User
Hi- I am first time mom-to-be due in some days and wanted to clarify baby's sleeping habits?
Should we buy a cot fitting our room or for nursery in the night?
Most cots have bars and wont be easy to slide the baby so is it ok for baby to sleep us in bed for first few months since i assume when baby gets up and I need to breastfeed or should I keep milk bottles ready for the baby at night? Also shifting the baby after breastfeeding may awaken the baby again..
Also, I am thinking going to baby's room every now and then will be problematic but dont want her to get into wrong habit of sleeping with us..
what will be the best suggestion
 
supermom30 said:
Should we buy a cot fitting our room or for nursery in the night?
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If your end game is to have your baby sleep in his own room then buy a cot to fit the nursery.

supermom30 said:
is it ok for baby to sleep us in bed for first few months since i assume when baby gets up and I need to breastfeed or should I keep milk bottles ready for the baby at night?
Click to expand...

As newborn/infants, my two daughters NEVER slept in our beds at night due to the risk of SIDS. They slept in a small bassinet in our room till they were 4 months then they moved to their own cot in their own room.

I'd pick them up when they need a feed & breastfed in a separate room where there is a comfy chair. Don't worry about waking up the baby when picking him up at night because chances are he will be the one to wake you up first.
 
we had a thing that we put in the bed between us for the first couple of months. it had hard sides and it protected the baby from being rolled over upon and from suffocating from blankets.

we moved from that to a cot when baby got to be about 2-3 months old. we put the cot in our room, because our older child's room was just too small.

then we moved house when she was about 6 months old. she remained in our room (along with our son) for about 4 months (our new house is very big). then they went into a room together. they happily shared for about 3 years. they've been on their own for just over a year, but would happily share again if i let them!

i liked having baby very close to me when they were very small. when they awoke in the night, daddy would get them and change their nappies, then pass me baby to breastfeed. he'd then put them back in their sleeping position. for us, this was more because of my own health reasons and immobility. once i started to get more mobile was when baby was transferred to own cot.
 
Same as pp...bassinet in the room at the moment. We'll move baby to her own room at 4 months when we plan to begin sleep training. once baby gets used to night feedings, it will be easy to put her back down to sleep in the night. At least that's my experience. I generally don't worry about disturbing her...she can be quite a noisy sleeper so it's really baby thats doing the disturbing!
 
our sons slept in their own room in a crib right from birth. we actually only used a bassinet with my first, when we borrowed it from a friend. he never slept at night in it, but we left it downstairs so he could be with us when we were there etc..it was a lot of back and forth for the first couple of months, but we liked it that way especially when we needed to sleep train.
 
Also, if you decide to room with baby I've found that on particularly difficult nights (or early mornings) nursing while side lying in bed has been a LIFESAVER! Might not be for everyone, but I also enjoy the extra snuggle time with baby. I wake my husband each time so he's aware of it.
 
supermom30 said:
Hi- I am first time mom-to-be due in some days and wanted to clarify baby's sleeping habits?
Should we buy a cot fitting our room or for nursery in the night?
Most cots have bars and wont be easy to slide the baby so is it ok for baby to sleep us in bed for first few months since i assume when baby gets up and I need to breastfeed or should I keep milk bottles ready for the baby at night? Also shifting the baby after breastfeeding may awaken the baby again..
Also, I am thinking going to baby's room every now and then will be problematic but dont want her to get into wrong habit of sleeping with us..
what will be the best suggestion
Click to expand...
Some thoughts:
1. If you are going to breastfeed, breastfeed. Don't use bottles at night. You will make a mess of problems for yourself if you try to use bottles at night and expect to BF in the morning. It doesn't work that way. You will have milk supply issues, nipple confusion issues, just to start.
2. Most breastfeeding moms choose to co-sleep because its so much easier at night. It is not a "wrong habit". It is what women and babies have done for thousands of years and many women continue to do today.
3. The truth about SIDS is that cultures that practice co-sleeping have a LOWER rate of SIDS than cultures where babies are put in cribs. No one knows really what causes SIDS.
4. If you choose to put your baby in a crib or bassinet, that is simply your choice and neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. Same with co-sleeping. Don't do or not do something because someone on here said to do it or not do it. Choose what feels good to you and what you feel most comfortable with. Put the baby in a cot for a few nights and co-sleep a few nights and decide what works for your family. And don't feel your choice is wrong or bad!
 
I think you won't be able to really know what to do until you meet your child. You need to 1) meet your child and find out what his/her personality is like. 2) find out what type of parent are you (laid-back, stressed, perfectionist, easy-going...etc.). You also need to find out how feeding is going to go. I had every intention of breastfeeding my first child but ended up pumping and feeding him instead. Sounds like you want to breastfeed and are set on that, though.

But, be prepared. I would have a crib/pack n' play (portable crib)/bassinet or something of that as a bed for baby ready. Just somewhere for the baby to sleep if the baby isn't sleeping in your bed. If you don't have much room, just buy a pack n' play (portable crib) or a bassinet as they take up less room and will be useful for the first couple of months. They also can be moved in between rooms easily.

With my first child, we didn't really know what we were doing. We had a bassinet/crib for him but as it turned out he had to co-sleep with us for the first couple of months anyway. It wasn't a problem except that he moves too much and snores while he sleeps and we weren't getting any good rest. So, then we transitioned him into a crib in a separate room--worked well with the first one. But, with him I had breastfeeding problems so ended up pumping almost exclusively so he was having bottle feeds from the beginning.

With our second, breastfeeding was and is so much easier. She's also a very peaceful sleeper. Falls asleep in one position and wakes up in the same position--doesn't kick or snore. :) And we didn't really plan it this way but she co-slept with us for the first 4-5 months. I got EXCELLENT sleep and just breastfed throughout the night. Never had any problems with it at all. Co-sleeping is pretty natural and there are safe ways to do it. You hear these stories of babies being rolled over on or smothered from co-sleeping and I just marvel at that because as a new mother (or a mother for a second time with a newborn) I wake up with every sniffle, sound, cough and movement of my baby and neither my husband nor I drink or use drugs so we are pretty alert even when we're sleeping. But, definitely, breastfeeding is a breeze when you co-sleep.

Now my daughter sleeps in a pack n' play crib in another room. We do have my son's crib but it's bigger and we don't really want to set it up. Time goes by quickly and soon she'll be a 1-year-old. We plan to put her in a "big kid" bed in her brother's room after she's a year old so at this point we won't be setting up another bulky crib for her.

I second what genkimom said. Be prepared (your child should have a safe place to sleep available--such as a crib/bassinet/portable crib) but also be flexible because at this point you have no idea what birth, recovery from birth and your newborn are going to be like--that's going to be a very personal experience for you.
 
Before our baby was born, we bought 2 baby beds.
* A small cotton-sided bassinet for our room -- so she's close to mom at night.
* A larger crib that can convert into a small bed, which is good for up to 3 years. We put this in the nursery.
During the day, she uses the larger crib in the nursery for naps and playing. This is our way of getting her used to it, so that when she eventually transfers to her own room, it won't be a strange place.
But we're planning on keeping her in our room for 6 months. (She's 5 months now).

For a while I was using bottles at night, but I found it too much of a bother. When it's 3 am and the baby is screaming and nobody's there to help you, it's a hassle to have to assemble the bottle / nipple, boil water to warm it, etc. I just found breastfeeding easier.

I have nothing against co-sleeping. But note that if you start, your baby will probably not give it up easily for a long time.
 
I've co-slept with my daughter since she was born. I put her next to me in the hospital bed because a tailbone injury made it difficult for me to get out of bed and lift her all the time.

Co-sleeping has helped enormously in not feeing tired or fatigued. In the first couple of weeks, I was always nervous I might roll over her, and woke up every couple of hours to check. I did roll on her arm once-- she screamed, and I stopped worrying because I knew she'd let me know if she wasn't comfortable.

When you have to get up and position to breastfeed, sleep is more interrupted, and it is easier to feel tired during the day. This was my experience in the first month or so, when baby was too small for me to comfortably put in side-lying nursing position, and I would sit up with her to breastfeed. Once she was able to nurse lying down and we didn't have to move to nurse, I feel great despite having to nurse every 2-3 hours.

I have no experience with other ways of sleeping, but I can't fathom putting my daughter in another room, even though I was warned that it would be difficult to have baby sleep somewhere else later if we co-sleep. My husband and I mutually agreed to do this since she was born, and it works for us. She's 7 months now and I'm not in a hurry for her to move, I really enjoy our time together.
 
It's funny, we tried co-sleeping with my first daughter when she was born and found that we got no sleep - if she made any noise, I'd be awake instantly. Even though I was breastfeeding, she HAD to be in her own room for me to get any decent sleep. I'd go get her, feed her in 5 minutes and put her back into her room, then I'd fall back asleep instantly. If she was in our room, even the littlest gurgle would keep me up.

With our 2nd, she was in NICU for 4 months, then when she came home, I was worried about her disturbing my older daughter, so she slept in our room in a moses basket for a few months. I kept her in that until she started rolling over (she rolled late - maybe around 7 months old or so??) then for safety reasons, I put her into the cot in her older sister's room. The 2nd time around, I didn't wake as much as the first time - but she wasn't in the same bed as us.

If we have a 3rd, I'd probably prefer the moses basket at first for those first few months - they are close enough that you don't have to go into another room, but not so close that they wake you with every noise or movement.

Different people like different things - up to you what suits you and your family :)
 
Just to clarify and add to what Genkimom said about SIDS. I think you are mixing up suffocation of the baby with SIDS. There are no known cases of suffocation when a fully breastfeeding, sober (no drugs or alcohol), non smoking mother is co sleeping on a firm surface (ie proper mattress, not a water bed or sofa/chair)- so if all those factors apply to you, you don't need to worry about suffocation. Some of these things are obvious eg being sober, but others like the breastfeeding and not smoking they don't really know why these are protectors for suffocation but they are. For example, if you were to give bottles overnight, even if they are expressed milk - which is not a good idea if you plan to breastfeed as Genkimom said - then there is some small risk of suffocation in co sleeping (albeit v v small).

Sudden infant deatth syndrome is a different thing altogther (where the baby dies suddenly for no known reason) and SIDS research recommends the baby being in the same room as the mother (can be in the same bed or in a separate bassinet/cot) for the 1st 6 months to minimise the risk of SIDS.
 
Thanks all for contributing to such practical replies.. makes life simpler. getting a moses till 4 mtnhs and plan to buy a leander depending on baby's moods..
 
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