When my 3rd child was born I never intended to bed-share. We had planned, as we had with our other 2 children, to room-share for the first year of their life, but things changed 2 months after she was born.
I have been struggling with an undiagnosed health issue for 2 years which can cause some troubling neurological symptoms. This particular day I had lost feeling in my legs for a brief moment while walking down the stairs and I fell and broke my coccyx and sacrum (very luckily I was not holding a child). I was exclusively breastfeeding my daughter and it was very important to me because I was not able to breastfeed my other 2 children for long (6wks for 1st child and 4 months for 2nd), I wanted to continue as long as I could. Given my broken bones I was having great difficulty nursing because I was not able to sit down and was afraid this would hinder or completely stop our nursing relationship.
Before the fall I fed my daughter sitting up in bed and would place her back in her bassinet when she fell back asleep. Since I could no longer sit down I needed to find something, which is when I discovered the beauty of nursing while lying down. I was able to feed my daughter without causing pain from my broken bones. This is what brought on our bed-sharing. I was lying down with her in my bed 4 times a night to feed her and we became so comfortable. We both slept better and were able to extend our breastfeeding relationship. Bed-sharing saved my breastfeeding relationship with my daughter and forged an even deeper bond.
She is 13 months old now and both our breastfeeding and bed-sharing is going strong. We have a rhythm to our sleep that allows us both to get better rest. I am slowly and tenderly trying now to transition her out of our bed (we’ve set up a mattress for her beside our bed) but will still continue to bring her into our bed when she wakes up for her 4 am nursing session.
I would love to hear your experiences with co-sleeping or bed-sharing. Is it something that has worked for you and your child?
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We have been bed sharing, because it is so much easier to nurse. Bella is up every 2 hours (still) at night. I wish I could find a sleeper for her to be in next to us where she can still lay next to me. All of them seem to stop at 4 months.
I do love her snuggled up against me, but at times I miss the ability to move around at night. I wake up a little cramped.
Thanks for sharing!
It really is SO much easier to nurse and try to get some sleep when bed-sharing. I'm not a woman who can walk across the hall (or even room) to pick up the baby, feed her and hope to go back to sleep – i would be up (no matter how tired i was)
There are lots of bed-sharing products for babies 4mo and under – but you're right, not a lot for older babies.
I have found the "Humanity Family Sleeper" I haven't used it myself, but looks useful – you should check it out: http://www.humanityorganics.com/humanity-family-sleeper.html
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Thanks for the follow (following you back via subscription, because I don't see your GFC widget).
We bed-shared for a bit, especially during the early months. My husband and I would actually switch sides after each feed, so that by the next feed, I could feed from the other breast! So yeah, he would wake up every two hours as well!
I just find nursing lying down so much easier.
Bukeroomama – thanks for the subscribe – the GFC widget more visible now.
I did the same thing with the little on too – switched sides it worked so well! Now she is mostly sleeping through the night – wakes up at 4am so no need to play "musical bed sides" any more
After the 1st couple of months with my 1st child, she and all the rest of the children co – slept with us. I got the much needed rest and daddy got to see the kids before he left for work everyday.
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MBC