Cosleeping. It’s awesome.

Welcome to the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival

This post was written for inclusion in the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival hosted by Monkey Butt Junction . Our bloggers have written on so many different aspects of cosleeping. Please read to
the end to find a list of links to the other carnival
participants.

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In case anyone is wondering… Cosleeping is normal, healthy, safe and most of all… Awesome.

Why? Well just to name a few reasons:

• Baby sleeps better. Mine ended up on my schedule. Yep.
• Less mama anxiety. If it feels so natural to sleep with your baby, just do it.
• Nursing is a breeze and I get to sleep through it. Mostly.
• It’s SAFER then a crib. No recalls either. Breathing is regulated. Any problems with baby are known– since the baby is RIGHT next to you.
• Cute smiley faces in the morning all around! Mostly.
• Oh and did I mention MORE SLEEP? Isn’t that enough of a reason?

Now let’s note the reasons why it’s not safe.

• Parent(s) are intoxicated on drugs or alcohol.
• Tons of pillows/blankets are placed by babies’ face.
• Some other obvious danger to the child that would otherwise not be there. Example: medical equipment.

Let’s discuss. The real issue here is WHY any responsible parent would sleep in the same bed with a small child while on drugs or alcohol. There is a bigger problem there and I’d say yeah, get a crib.

Pillows and blankets can be pulled up near baby but really, keep them away for the most part. That’s really not a big deal. I do use tons of pillows but have never had a problem. Ever.

And lastly— medical equipment or some other danger. I get the issue here. Read below on a side-car crib configuration for the answer to that.

At around 4 months postpartum, I decided to start cosleeping full time. This is after failed attempts to get my daughter to lay down in the cosleeper without waking. It was so pointless! And exhausting! All because I was scared of squish her even though deep down, I knew I wouldn’t. You just sleep differently next to your child. Let nature take over, trust me.

Then one night, I had a pillow make it’s way into the stupid cosleeper and THAT is not safe! I chucked it and the bassinet and then posted about it on my favorite online community, KellyMom.com.

These sage mamas told me a side-car crib configuration was a great solution for those of us with space challenges. Our room is small. Our bed can be no larger than queen. But it just so happened that once I explained the sleep situation to my husbeast— he went right to work utilizing his amazing talents to semi-professionally rig something up. He definitely gets the sexy dad award for this. Let me explain…

We had a drop side crib, yep recalled and headed for the trash. Good thing I never used the thing before deciding to cosleep! My husband being the genius he is, used the front drop-side part of the crib for a swinging door that he attached in our kitchen, but this is off-topic but something I had to add because it was just so genius! So where were we?

First: Smash your crib up to the corner of any given side of your bedroom. We have a sleigh-ish style bed-frame and worried this would cause some issues, no, it really didn’t, with a few adjustments, my dear husband made it work.

Next: Affix the crib as closely as you can to the bed-frame. My husband used bungee cords for this. He added a small beat-up kitchen towel in between the bed-frame and the crib-frame to keep any damage from occurring. The photos explain this better, as you can see.

Next: Adjust the height of your crib to get it as close as you can to your mattress. To get it JUST right, we added some throw pillows that were hideously outdated and shouldn’t be seen on any couch. They just so happened to be the right height. You could also use blankets, foam, anything really. Just make sure everything is flush.

Finally: Do you have some space between your mattress and the crib mattress? You know those crib-bumpers you just HAD to have in that super cute patten? Well, you can still use em! I folded them in four and stuffed them on the side of the crib nearest to the wall. See photos if you don’t know what I mean.

The crib up against our mattress and bed-frame.

Don’t damage the bed-frame. Use an old towel!

Bungees that attach the crib to the bed-frame.

Those hideous pillows used for height adjustment.

Another shot of how my husband used pillows.

Armchair pillow and boppy. Once baby is asleep, you transfer to crib!

This is the most fantastic option for cosleeping in my honest opinion. You may not be able to lay baby down perfectly at first, it takes some getting used to and can be awkward to get into at times. But at night I can just roll over, nurse and have found that my daughter unlatches and rolls over to spread out in her own space. She realized right away that this was her new bed. You also deal with less interruption in sleep having the baby in the crib portion– I’m a pillow freak and stack them up around my back for support, I couldn’t do this if my baby was on my mattress, I’d surely wake her up and there would never be enough room.

I would also recommend you figure out the side-lying nursing position. But really, you don’t have to. I bought an inexpensive armrest pillow and still use it to sit up and nurse my daughter with a Boppy or other nursing pillow. This was a life saver when she was very little and I couldn’t figure out nursing lying down.

I really hope this post helps parents out there know that there are MANY options when it comes to sleep. My husband and I sleep together with our daughter and this has been a joy for the most part. It’s really very natural and convenient. I also relish in seeing her smiling face in the morning, rather then running to her room to answer her cries in the morning all alone in her crib. This is really what works for us. Thanks for reading.

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Thanks for reading a post in the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival. On Carnival day, please follow along on Twitter using the #CosleepCar hashtag.
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

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• Emotive Co-Sleeping Campaign – Miriam at Diary of an Unconscious Mother talks about her feelings on Milwaukee’s anti-cosleeping crusade and its latest advertising campaign.
• Why Cosleeping has Always been the Right Choice for My Family – Patti at Jazzy Mama shares how lucky she feels to have the privilege of sleeping with her four children.
• Cosleeping is a safe, natural and healthy solution parents need to feel good about. – See how Tilly at Silly Blatherings set up a side-car crib configuration to meet her and her families’ needs.
• Black and White: Race and the Cosleeping Wars – Moorea at Mama Lady: Adventures in Queer Parenting points out the problem of race, class and health when addressing co-sleeping deaths and calls to action better sleep education and breastfeeding support in underprivileged communities.
• Reflections on Cosleeping – Jenny at I’m a Full Time Mummy shares her thoughts on cosleeping and pictures of her cosleeping beauties.
• Cosleeping and Transitioning to Own Bed – Isil at Smiling Like Sunshine shares her experiences in moving beyond the family bed.
• What Works for One Family – Momma Jorje shares why cosleeping is for her and why she feels it is the natural way to go. She also discusses the actual dangers and explores why it may not be for everyone.
• Really High Beds, Co-Sleeping Safely, and the Humanity Family Sleeper – Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama gives a quick view of Jennifer’s bed-sharing journey and highlights the Humanity Family Sleeper, something Jennifer could not imagine bed-sharing without.
• Crying in Our Family Bed – With such a sweet newborn, why has adding Ailia to the family bed made Dionna at Code Name: Mama cry?
• Dear Mama: – Zoie at TouchstoneZ shares a letter from the viewpoint of her youngest son about cosleeping.
• Cuddle up, Buttercup! – Nada of The MiniMOMist and her husband Michael have enjoyed cosleeping with their daughter Naomi almost since birth. Nada shares why the phrase “Cuddle up, Buttercup!” has such special significance to her.
• Co-Sleeping With A Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler – Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares how co-sleeping calls us to trust our inner maternal wisdom and embrace the safety and comfort of the family bed.
• Fear instead of Facts: An Opportunity Squandered in Milwaukee – Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction discusses Milwaukee’s missed opportunity to educate on safe cosleeping.
• Cosleeping: A Mini-rant and a Lovely Picture – Siobhan at Res Ipsa Loquitor discusses her conversion to cosleeping and rants a little bit about the Milwaukee Health Department anti-cosleeping campaign.
• Our Cosleeping Story – Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares her cosleeping story and the many bonus side effects of bedsharing.
• Cosleeping can be safe and rewarding Christy at Mommy Outnumbered shares how her cosleeping experiences have been good for her family.
• Adding one more to the family bed Lauren at Hobo Mama discusses the safety logistics of bed sharing with a new baby and a preschooler.
• The Truth About Bedsharing – Dr. Sarah at Parenting Myths and Facts discusses the research into bedsharing and risk – and explains why it is so often misrepresented.
• Cosleeping as a parenting survival tool – Melissa V. at Mothers of Change describes how she discovered cosleeping when her first baby was born. Melissa is the editor and a board member for the Canadian birth advocacy group, Mothers of Change.
• Dear Delilah – Joella at Fine and Fair writes about her family bed and the process of finding the cosleeping arrangements that work best for her family.
• CoSleeping ROCKS! – Melissa at White Noise talks about the evolution of cosleeping in her family.
• Safe Sleep is a Choice – Tamara at Pea Wee Baby talks about safe sleep guidelines.
• 3 Babies Later: The Evolution of our Family Bed – Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment talks about how her family’s cosleeping arrangements evolved as her family grew.
• Tender Moments – The Accidental Natural Mama discusses tender cosleeping moments.
• Cosleeping Experiences – Lindsey at An Unschooling Adventure describes how she ended up co-sleeping with her daughter through necessity, despite having no knowledge of the risks involved and how to minimise them, and wishes more information were made available to help parents co-sleep safely.
• The early days of bedsharing – Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares her early memories of bedsharing with her then new born and gets excited as she plans including their new arrival into their sleeping arrangements.
• The Joys of Cosleeping in Pictures – Charise of I Thought I Knew Mama shares pictures of some of her favorite cosleeping moments.
• Symbiotic Sleep – Mandy at Living Peacefully With Children discusses how the symbiotic cosleeping relationship benefits not only children but also parents.
• Co-sleeping Barriers: What’s Stopping You? – Kelly at Becoming Crunchy shares how she was almost prevented from gaining the benefits of co-sleeping her family currently enjoys.
• Co-Sleeping with the Family Humanity Sleeper – Erica at ChildOrganics shares a way to make co-sleeping safe, comfortable and more convenient. Check out her post featuring the Humanity Organic Family Sleeper.
• Why We Cosleep – That Mama Gretchen’s husband chimes in on why cosleeping is a benefit to their family.
• Adding to the Family Bed – Darah at A Girl Named Gus writes about her co-sleeping journey and what happens when a second child comes along.

A big thank you to all of the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival participants!