Straight From the Bottle

Loved the co-sleeping.  We did it for almost a year, and it was GREAT.  It was just so much easier at first, because, like Fable, all he wanted to do at night was nurse.  As far as the adults-only time goes, we put him to sleep at first in the crib or bassinet, where he would sleep for several hours.  Then, he'd get up and stay in our bed from then on.  

But yeah.  I really, really wished for a king-sized bed.  And I'm still wishing for one.

we co-sleep.  it was pretty hard the first go around with twins, but we figured out a way to do it:  i slept on the couch with all of the cushions off and pillows under my arms so the girls could nurse.  it was the only way we could all sleep.  we co-slept with the boy the next time, but that stopped at 7 months b/c he was vicious when he nursed and didn't stop. all. night. long.  so we whipped him into shape with the sleep lady.  currently co-sleeping with miss james and loving it.  it's much easier this time as we have a king-sized bed and she nurses and then falls asleep.

my daughter slept in the same room with me for about 2 seconds while we were in the hospital because I was so paranoid about every little sound (co-sleeping was NOT an option...even though she was sleeping down the hall in her own crib I woke up every night for weeks searching for her in the bedding thinking I'd fallen alsleep with her in my arms! my mom did it with me too...weird)

at 2 1/2 years old she slept in our bed for the first time ever last week. she was puking all night and we'd run out of sheets for her bed and she was scared to go to sleep. it was so sweet to have her snuggled like a bug between us. and even though I bolted awake with every little cough and sigh, I felt like maybe I missed out on extra baby cuddles when she was teeny

Yeah, we co-sleep too! It was never our plan.  We have the Arm's Reach co-sleeper hooked right on to the bed BUT she's never slept in it.  It currently houses pillows, blankets, and books.  Co-sleeping is just so much easier with breastfeeding.  

How long will Evey be in our bed?  Who knows? It's been 7 months already!  Honestly, I don't think she'll ever sleep in the Arm's Reach or even her actual crib in her room.  I think it may happen when she's ready for a toddler bed.  It's scares me though- the thought of her by herself.  It will happen... she'll probably be ready before I am!  

Our son co-slept until about 7 months old and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We too had not planned to co-sleep, but it really was the only way to get any rest as a nursing mother, especially when I went back to work and sleep was essential.

Now, at 10 months, he blissfully sleeps through the night in his own crib in his own room, and the bed is ours again. I do miss my cuddlebug, though.

*raises hand*   We co-sleep still... STILL... at 19 months.  Every time I think of putting her in her bed I get sad.  I love the little snuggly babe.   So I have no clue as to when I will cut the co-

Ha! I had the same thing about co-sleeping.

Noooooonononono! No babies in my bed. My bed is for me and my hubbins.

And Sadie. Her too. Cuz she's 4 months and smells all milky baby cute and snuggly. I'm all for it. :D

Ditto what Lex said:  Loved the co-sleeping.  We did it for 11 months, and it was fabulous.  We started because at night he'd wake up 5 min after I put him in the bassinet, but if he slept with us, he'd sleep for 3 hours.  And shockingly, I chose the 3 hours!  But boy howdy at the end we needed a King-sized bed.  Now we're doing it again with our little girl (born 4 days before Fable) and it's still great!

With my first son, we TRIED to co-sleep because it was freezing and we had no heat. But he wasn`t having any of it. He would lie there staring at me and I`d stare at him and neither of us would sleep at all. :S So he just went back in the crib. We did co-nap, though!

With my second, it wasn`t even an option. We`d booted the first kid out of our room just in time for the second to arrive(they`re kind of close together, so watch that whole post-baby sex thing) and the new one crashed in a baby tub until the first could be moved to a big boy bed. I was too cheap to buy a second crib, but my baby grew way faster than expected, so at 18 months, my firstborn found himself in a bed and his baby brother in his crib. And the little guy is now 18 months and STILL sleeps in our room in the crib . . . with my husband. I sleep in the living room since both kids wake up a gazillion times during the night. So hubby is up with the little one and I get up with the older.

We just entered the mommy/daddy world last week and we tried to put our new little one in the 'co-sleeper crib' right next to us the first night and he was not having it. I wanted him in the bed but the hospital told us not to because we might roll over on him or something....aagh! But then I talked to all my sisters, my husbands sisters, my friends with babies - and they all said their babies slept with them for months so now he's happily sleeping with us (on my side so we still get a little spooning!) and the nights are going much better. When I told my doctor I was doing it anyway, he admitted that unless I'm severly inebriated or obese I don't have to worry about rolling on top of him. It still makes me a little nervous, but it's nice to have him next to us - I just am trying to figure out the best way to make sure he doesn't get tangled up in the blankets. Tips on that?

all for the cosleeping. theoretically until the child calls it quits, but since i haven't done it yet i can't really say for sure. i'm comitted to the first 4 years though. i'd probably gently transition them once they hit 5/6 if they haven't shown signs of being ready to leave by themselves, which is probably unlikely by that age, but that's what i'd like to do in theory.

Fable's dress is awesome.

We didn't co-sleep, so I have nothing intelligent to add to the conversation. I have a friend with a nine year old who still whines about sleeping with her, and I was terrified of that situation. I know there are lots of people who do it well and appropriately and so it totally works for them, but her example just scared the crap out of me.

I used to babysit a friend of mine's child pretty often and since I didn't have the second room set up at the time, she slept with me.  Even after I had the second room set up, she didn't want to sleep there, even though she sleeps in her own room at home all the time.  For that reason, we didn't co-sleep when I had Michael.  After sleeping with a kicking toddler before, I had no desire to do it again.  Also, Michael frequently wets the bed, so that's also a deal breaker.  

I have a three week old and I can't even sleep in the same room as the little guy - I think he's a sleep crier, so I was constantly being woken up by every squeak and moan while he was happily dreaming.  After two weeks of having him in the room with me, he's now in his crib and I'm back to the master bedroom with the baby monitor turned down so I only here the "no really, it is time to feed me now" cries instead of the preamble.  

We're still co-sleeping with a 22 month-old. We didn't plan on it either, it just happened. We now try to put him away -because it's still cute for 20 minutes, until we get kicked hard on the nose-, but he won't have any of it.

Indeed, it really was easier to co-sleep when he was little (I nursed him until he turned one and he's a light sleeper). I have wonderful memories of us all snuggled up together, and I would do it again! I know a lot of experts say that you shouldn't, but it just seemed right and natural. One day a pediatric nurse I know remarked that humans are the only species that sleep separately from their offspring, and that in the history of mankind, it's both very recent and very north-American. When put this way, it reassured me that what we were doing made sense.

There comes a point though when they get really big and strong, and like many people we only have a queen-size bed. Right now we put his pack n play by our bed for a transition, and it's only moderately successful. I have a feeling he won't be out of our bed for a while, although on a positive note, since he sleeps at least part of the night in the pnp, my partner and I get some time to cuddle again!

I think in the end it's only really a problem if you view it as one, after all, he WILL be out of our bed someday. Since we created the habit, we will deal with it, transition him slowly, and be patient.

Love it! We cosleep..unwillingly these days...try 4 people in a FULL size bed...mommy, daddy, a 3 year old and a 4 year old...they managae to crawl in when they know we are way to tired to put them in there own beds...someday we'll be able to sleep by ourselves, right????

Nope, not even once, not for a minute.  I slept on the daybed in his room the first two weeks, but he's been in his crib from night one.  I was on maternity leave, but didn't see any point in Hubby, who has no paternity leave, waking up every two hours.  So Little Man and I moved to his room, and he's been in his crib ever since.

I moved back to our room when he was 2 weeks old, and we turned off the baby monitor for good when he was about 3 months old 'cause every peep woke me up.

I am a SOLID sleeper, we have a pillow-top mattress, and you're supposed to co-sleep with no covers on yourself or baby.  Which would be no-sleep for me.

No-way No-how.

Now God is going to bless me with a child who will only sleep in the bed with me.  I take it all back!

I co-slept with my little tyke from the first night. We tried putting him down in the little plastic bed they gave us at the hospital but he was having none of it so the nurses told me to keep him in the bed with me. He only started sleeping in his crib around 10 months and then he would just start the night there and then wake up around midnight and I'd bring him in bed with me. He's 17 months now and he's been sleeping in his own bed all night for about 2 months now since I stopped breast feeding him at 15 months. His room is attached to ours so we're still kind of sharing a room but we're working on getting a bookshelf to separate the rooms more.

Co-sleeping was lovely and we do have a king sized bed so it was always comfortable for everyone involved.

We coslept nightly for a year and 2 months with the toddler and then spent a year slowly getting toddler into his own bed full-time (we travel a lot and cosleeping is so much easier).  

We coslept with the 9 month old baby for 2 or 3 months and then moved him to his own bed because the toddler was louder then the baby.

Now, during baby's teething, I so so SO regret that move.  The baby doesn't cosleep which means I'm out of bed hourly.  Every week or so, I try cosleeping with baby again- and fail.  If I'm next to him, he wants a sitting up boob.

This teething business (with drugs and all) is way worse then the newborn feedings- I supposed because I wasn't expecting it.

I loved co sleeping but we used an arms reach co sleeper most of the time.  He used it until he could turn over and sit up.  We took naps together (still do) and he did sleep in bed some nights.  There is nothing better than a sleeping snuggly baby.

i am laughing so hard because all i can think of is air supply. "Even the nights are better...now that we're here together...." hahahaha!

Slept with both girls not because i made a conscious decision to co-sleep but more of an unconscious and groggy decision in the middle of the night to continue sleeping. i breastfed and never had to get out of bed. this lasted for a few months- maybe 6? there was no specific cut-off. my son was born with an internal schedule which he adhered to no matter what and was in his crib by 8 no questions asked from day one. that was just him. do whatcha like...

Co-sleeping is an amazing thing if you are open to it.  I co-slept with my first daughter and co-napped.  I don't do it as much with this one due to a smaller bed, but I really wish I could.  We have a co-sleeper strapped to the bed and it's great to be able to pull her into bed with me in the night and be done with it.  I love it.  It always makes me angry when people criticize others for this, because it can be extremely rewarding and beneficial for both the mom and the baby.

We co-sleep with all three of our boys (ages 6, 4, and 7 months), although it's not as extreme as it sounds.  (Ha!  Extreme co-sleeping--a new x-game?)

Anyway, the oldest co-slept for his first 15-ish months, then I found out I was preggo with #2, so we transitioned #1 into his own bed.  #2 liked his own space, so he slept in a crib most of the time.  #1 realized this and started climbing into the bed in the middle of the night (he was about 2 years old then).

We moved from NY to Oregon when #2 was 3 y/o, and he suddenly started popping into the bed in the middle of the night.

#3 used an arm's reach co-sleeper (mostly cause I was worried about the older two rolling on him), although he'll usually end up in the bed around 5am (that morning nursing when I just am so not ready to get out of bed yet).

The boys all start off in their own beds.  It is not unusual for them to spend the entire night in their rooms, but it's also not odd to wake up with a bed full of boys.

For us it is not an all-or-nothing situation.  We co-sleep, we don't co-sleep.  Sometimes I get too crowded and kick the older ones out of the bed, sometimes we can all sleep comfortably.  It's OK--kids who co-sleep can sleep in their own beds too.

And when you're ready to do it, do it on the couch.

I never was a co-sleeper with my girls. Never, not even once let them sleep in our bed. In fact, when sick, they sleep in a sleeping bag on our floor....which I know people will think is mean.

But this tiny boy...he's been sleeping in-between us since the night we brought him home and he'll be nine weeks on Thursday. I don't even breastfeed, so I can't blame it on that. But he's so easy and adaptable; it just works this time around. We're more relaxed, our lifestyle is more relaxed now. I think six months will be the kick out time too. Because the adult fun will not be happening on the couch anymore...got caught last night. Plus, i don't want it to become the norm. But right now, we're enjoying him between us at night.

I made sure to get the king sized tempurpedic before I got pregnant. Sleeping with my huz is not unlike sleeping with a muskie. Full on co-sleeping was not an option, I felt. She slept in an Amby bed right next to me for about 7 months. I didn't want to be battling to get her to sleep in her own room when she was old enough to stand up in her crib, hang on to the bars, & wail like Sebastian Bierk. I ate the elephant a bite at a time. I first worked on her being able to fall asleep without a boob in her mouth. Than I worked on her faling asleep in her room, in my lap. Then we worked on falling sleep in her bed with me there. Then without me there. I did end up sleeping on the air mattress on her floor, with a few shifts from dad, because she was inconsolable. I say I didn't do 'cry it out', I did 'let's cry together'.

When she was still sleeping in our room I did bring her into our bed to nurse her in the middle of the night, but if I fell asleep nursing her my back would kill me, so I usually woke up or was awake to put her back in the Amby. I'm glad you've been able to nurse with her because while it is nice (I've been told) to have a formula baby that doesn't wake up to be fed so much, it's still nice to just roll over & not have to deal with the bottle & the mixing. I'm glad you got this experience with Fable.

I am all for co-sleeping! It is much easier when you are breastfeeding. My daughter is 14 months and still sleeps with me. I love the snuggles but my husband has to sleep in the other room because of the queen size bed situation. I am trying to transition Lilli to her bed because she is getting kind of violent (nothing like a head but in the middle of the night) but she will not fall asleep in her bed.

I was afraid of this situation but wouldn't give up the co-sleeping for anything in the world. I will probably do it again with the next, whenever that happens.

Co-sleeping. YES! We didn't really with the fist baby much after 3 months. But, this second baby has never sleep alone. She'll be nine months soon. Not sure when we'll transition her to a crib. Maybe soon, but Hubs and I both dig the snuggle time with her. Soon she'll be grown and gone. I'm sure she won't pass up college to co-sleep.

Anyway, it hasn't wrecked our sex-life at all. That's what the guest room (AKA: The Love Room) is for... or the shower or the living room, or... you know, co-sleeping might have improved our sex-life.

My second and probably last baby is now two weeks old and he has yet to use his bassinet either. With our first, I had no desire to have a baby in the bed but this time around things are very different. I think it's that knowledge that we will never have these early weeks with an infant again so literally every second spent snuggling, staring, feeding, bonding counts. I really wish I had this attitude with our first babe. I think I was such a stressed out first-timer that we missed a lot of moments. I'm amazed at how different it is the second time around.  

I couldn't do it. I too had those frantic dreams where I thought the baby was lost in the sheets somewhere, and I never got the hang of nursing on my side. These days, now that she's one and because we are still stuck sharing a room, when she wakes up in he middle of the night we bring her into bed with us to calm her down- but just until she doses off and then we put her right back in the crib. As long as she's in bed with us I don't sleep and the next day after a rough night is terrible. My greatest fantasy these days is to take a nap in the bedroom with no one else around.

Sam has always slept with us, with the exception of a brief period where he started out the night in his own bed. Now he's two and a half and we're going to try to transition him into his own bed again, because there is no longer room in the family bed for me.

We co-sleep...sort of.  We started off with the (barely used) co-sleeper by the side of the bed.  Then I learned to nurse laying down, and the wee one wouldn't get out of bed.  We moved her to her room, her crib around 8 months, but she'd still end up in our bed to nurse, continue to sleep, etc.  She's now nearly 20 months old and she ends up in our bed around 4am each morning.  I love the snuggling, I don't love her wanting to be awake and talk to Mommy.  I posed the "what happens when we have another one?" question last night (we're not all going to fit comfortably in our bed), so maybe now we'll work at being better about not just having her in our bed.  Honestly, though: I didn't grow up feeling welcome in my parents' bed.  I don't want that for my children.  I love the snuggles, I love the weekend "family naps" that we sneak in every now and then.

Well. . .with our 1st, co-sleeping just kind of happened. She was with us until she was about 2 (yes, years) b/c her sister arrived and I needed to put her in the bed.  When #2 was about a year, I started putting her on a mattress on the floor b/c #3 was almost due (yes, we still managed to have sex; I think that is what our nice big walk-in closet was for)! Our crib was hardly ever used; in fact, I gave it away before our third was even born.  He stayed in our bed for almost (gulp---I swear we aren't hippies) 4 years, and now he sleeps with his sisters while we figure out what we want to do with his bedroom. He still comes into our bed about 1/2 way through the night but the girls sleep pretty much alone.

And, you know what?  We get loads of sleep.  That was always my #1 reason for co-sleeping.  And, knowing he is my last child, I also know there will be years and years in the near future that our bed will be empty of little limbs.  So, I'm in no hurry to end this chapter of our lives.

Co-sleeping never happened here. It's not that I have any philosophical aversion to it, it's just that for me co-sleeping= NO sleeping.  I am the world's lightest sleeper and every baby wiggle and grunt wakes me up.  In fact, I had to move my kids right out of the room at just a few weeks old because I couldn't take the exhaustion from waking up every time they shifted in the bassinet.

I feel like such a bitch when my 5 year old has a nightmare and all I can think is 'NO, dammit! there will be no more sleep for me tonight!' I usually put up with her for an hour or so, then dump her back in her own bed. Conversely, my SO is the worlds heaviest sleeper and one time he fell asleep with my sweet newborn on his chest and I when I found them she had slipped down his side and he had the entire weight of his arm resting smack top of her with her little face totally mashed between the mattress and his body.  I freaked, and was terrified that he would smother her if she ever slept in our bed.

Co-napping though? Yes, I love the mid day doze together.

I was one of the "never gonna ever consider co-sleeping" mommas until I had a BF baby who nursed all the time.  With DD we cut her off from regularly cosleeping around the 8 month mark, but she was always okay sleeping her her crib alone, too. With our DS, he was attached at the boob all day (and night) long, so even though I bought this great cosleeper, her slept between me and DH until he was 13 months old.  Then he stopped cosleeping, stopped nursing at night, and slept through the night in his own crib in his own room.  He was ready.  Even though we're done having kids, I loved cosleeping.  At least for that first year.

I know there are lots of negative thoughts on co-sleeping, but My husband and I loved it for the first couple of months. I was working full time and it felt so refreshing for all of us to get in bed at night and just be together.  I have to admit my daughter still comes into bed periodically, and we enjoy having her there.  I think as long as we go through the motions of putting her to sleep in her own room, it's ok to have her "visit" once in awhile.

I'm so happy to read I'm not the only one. I love it and wouldn't want anything else. And you know what?? Why not??! Because society tells you you're not supposed to sleep with your children??! As long as I'm ok with it, my husband is ok with it and my children are happy, I keep on loving it. My daughter is almost 4, my son is 2 and I'm pregnant. And we'll find a way to fit all of them in our bed ;)

ps: our sexlife is great, there's plenty of other places inside the house and out..... ;)

With three kids I did whatever it took to survive. I personally didn't like having kids in the bed but if that's what got me some sleep I did it. (Or sleep in a recliner for 3 weeks straight because my middle kiddo would only sleep in the crook of my arm SITTING UP. Or sleep on the couch with my 3rd in his carseat beside me because that's the only place he would sleep for the first two weeks of his life.) So whatever it takes, to each his own is my opinion!

As for the helicopter issue: get a sound machine. They have been lifesavers in our house and all three of my kids are champion sleepers. We live near an airport and a Coast Guard base. So lots of air noise here. Everyone in our house has a Marpac SleepMate 980A Electro-Mechanical Sound Conditioner machine. You might want to choke me over some other things lately but you will be thanking me for this, promise :) Other than the fact you'll then have kids who want it to sleep....but hey, at least they'll be sleeping!

mother of 4.... the oldest 32 and the youngest 14 (yeah...I was insane, I know!)   my three oldest were NOT co-sleepers, i bottle-fed them, so i had to get out of bed anyway and make bottles.  In those days we actually had to warm the bottles because that was the "trend"...(or in my case because the formula would not dissolve properly).

my last baby,  I breast fed.  i have to admit, it was great, especially for night time feedings.  i had it down to an art, i had the bassinet so close to my bed that i was able to maneuver her out of it  without even sitting up. i changed her and quickly put her onto my lumpy aching breasts without even getting out of bed or turning on any lights, for fear she would think it was morning. we then promptly fell asleep,  we were a co-sleeping family!  i loved it!!  i thought i was so clever......

but then after the magical age of six months, all hell broke loose......she wanted no part of sleeping unless i laid with her, day or night.  as soon as she was asleep, or so i thought i would creep out of the room, only to be summoned back by a screaming unable to fall asleep on her own monster!  

i cold turkeyed her from the co-sleeping habit, which by the way, is the only way to do it. i had had enough! Her constant practicing her climbing skills all over me while i pretended i was asleep was getting old, not to mention that the 5 minutes it would take to get her to sleep in the beginning,  was turning into 15, then 30 minutes.

needless to say, it was about a week of screaming in her own room in her never been used crib.  then one night, she laid down without any tears or protest!  she fell asleep all on her own!  WOW! i was a liberated mom again!!!

do yourself a favor rebecca,  put fable in her own bed NOW!

My baby slept in her crib for her first eight nights. Then she wouldn't sleep there and since then she's been with us. I keep saying that I'm going to try to wean her out of it and get her into her own bed, but I'm with you, I'm loving having her there and so is her dad. I'm not ready to put her in her crib yet.

For those practicing co-sleeping either intentionally or unintentionally, I bring glad tidings: there is nothing wrong with co-sleeping!  The only mistake you can make is not doing exactly what you want due to social convention or misinformation.  Whatever your decision, it's all about maximizing happiness for everyone in your family.  Babies love to co-sleep, so you don't need to worry about that one.  Husbands/partners might or might not like to co-sleep; my husband loved it from day one.  Do YOU like to co-sleep?  I struggled with the pros and cons for about five years (my kids are five and six years old now).  A year ago I started taking my daughter to bed early so she could wake up for school.  My son stayed up a bit later with my husband and fell asleep with him on the couch.  During the night both migrate upstairs and join me and my daughter.  We have two mattresses on the floor shoved next to eachother, a king and a double.  Plenty of room for everyone.  I wish I had fully embraced co-sleeping a lot sooner, rather than worrying about defining my children's sleeping habits for them and being a perfect Mom.  We are all very happy with the current arrangement.  Go for it!  Experiment!  And remember, Cavemen didn't have little stone cribs in the adjoining cave for their kids.    

Before I had Alana I was like HELL NO! to the whole co-sleeping idea, I use to tell people that once there in the bed they will never leave.  Well, once she was born I didn't want her out of my sight let alone out of my arms!  She stood with me in the room and I actually fell asleep with her in the hospital.  When we got home, I was exhausted and when she would wake for her feedings I would just lay with her next to me and dose...we have tried to get her to sleep in her crib and now her own bed but nope, not gonna happen.  She is turning 2 on the 27th and is still with us lol (sad right?) The truth is my husband and I secretly love it so I am sure she won't be leaving anytime soon.  As for the sex life - we have gotten more creative in our location as the bed is occupied ;) lol.

We did the co-sleeping thing with both kiddos.  It only lasted until 6 months of age, and then I thik we were all ready for our own spaces.  Daddy likes to flop around on the bed, and he would always wake the baby, so once baby moved to crib, we were all happier.  Any earlier is too early for us.  And I get a little sad at ending the night nursing, but this last one would nurse all night if I let him and I was totally exhausted by morning.  

I always got shocked looks from my friends when I mentioned that we co-sleep.  And while it does maximize my inherent paranoia about babies (is he still breathing?  are the covers too high?  is she too hot?  too cold?  is one pillow too many??), I also love the feelings of closeness it engenders.

And sex?  What's that?  I hope to rediscover it some day.....  

We co-slept until Jack was a little past 2.  I was too lazy to move him to his own bed, even after he got a bed for xmas over a year ago.  A few months ago I just started putting him to bed in his own bedroom and we've never had a problem.  I was shocked at how easy it was!