We are co-sleeping with Tiny Ched.
*sharp intake of breath from the anti co-sleeping brigade*
When Mini Cheddar was born in 2009 we were parents in need of sleep. She hated her Moses basket. It may have been because we didn't give her time. You know how it is with your first born? You practically run to them if they make the slightest little noise. You're on edge constantly, checking they are okay and questioning every action hoping you're caring for them correctly.
MC was also a comfort feeder. I've spoken about this on my blog before. When she was 3 weeks old the health visitor saw how broken and exhausted I was from breast feeding. She told me to get a dummy. When I explained MC was difficult to settle she said "why don't you co-sleep?"
I almost spat out my decaf coffee.
What?
A health visitor suggesting something as controversial as co-sleeping!
Never!
I swear...she did.
She went on to explain about how breast feeding women are totally aware of their babies whilst they sleep. How if Matt and I don't smoke or drink then there is no harm in it and it is actually beneficial to both mother and baby.
She told us that if we put MC between our pillows in a wide enough space it was perfectly safe. When does your head ever roll off your pillow and if it ever did it's just your head, not your whole body.
She even directed me to the UNICEF website that talks about it and explained that women all over the world co-sleep with no problems. It's a natural thing to do and breastfeeding mothers and babies get more sleep by co-sleeping.
Thankfully Matt and I are the proud owners of a super king size Tempur bed. Yes, I love our bed - it's totally amazing. This means there is plenty of room for 4 or 5 people (not that we've ever had that many in there you understand!) so co-sleeping with a tiny baby is a doddle.
We co-slept with MC for the first 6 months whilst I was breast feeding. We had no issues moving her to her cot in her room when the time was right. I expected a struggle but it was easy.
TC is a completely different baby to MC. He very rarely comfort sucks, he self soothes and he likes the Moses basket.
So why co-sleep?
Because we like to.
He will sometimes start out in the basket but end up in our bed. Having him close is wonderful. He also sleeps 5-6 hours between feeds at night and has done since he was about 3 weeks old. It may be because he's a typical lazy Lucas male or that we are more chilled out with him being our second child but I like to think that co-sleeping has an impact.
Yes we co-sleep. So what?
For those of you who do co-sleep, you may appreciate this hilarious co-sleeping chart. With thanks to Charlie and Andy at www.howtobeadad.com for allowing me to put this on my blog:
Brilliant!
