Co-sleeping with Your Baby/Toddler 101

Almost two years since the sweetest, craziest, silliest and bossiest little being in my life was born and he's still sleeping in our bed.

Yup, I said it. Well, wrote it. We're a co-sleeping family. 

It's how I've managed to stay at least somewhat same over the past couple years and what I feel is best for Jack and our family.

Is co-sleeping for everyone? Of course not. There is rarely a one-size fits all to parenting and sleeping arrangements are no exception. 

Done families start baby off in the crib first night and that's fine if it works for them. 

But if you're like me and that giant crib looks too spacious and cold for a newborn - and hey, maybe you'd like to get some sleep without waking up to check on your new bundle every five minutes, co-sleeping might be for you!

But just like some aspects of parenting, there is a "right" way to co-sleep with your baby safely. 

Let's review some of those dos and don'ts in this brief rundown of co-sleeping. 

Safety first:

Just like with a crib or any sleeping space for your baby, there must be a clean, roomy, obstruction-free zone. Babies under a year don't need a pillow. And if you're a blanket cuddles, keep the blankets at your waist level or below. Wear a sweater to sleep if you get cold. 

It's best to position baby against the wall followed by mom in the middle and dad on the other side. Most convenient for breastfeeding moms and it makes it so baby won't roll off and dads who are heavy sleepers or are less likely to be "in tune" with baby don't risk rolling over in them. 

If you are an abnormally a heavy sleeper, are severely sleep deprived, use sleep aids, drink or so drugs before bed DO NOT co-sleep with your baby. There are some baby deaths each year from co sleeping and with new info linking to the increased safety behind co sleeping, Id imagine a lot of the co-sleeping accidents are from impaire parents who didn't create a safe sleep space for baby. 

Consider upsizing: 

We started co-sleeping with Jack when he was about 4-5 months old because he was outgrowing his rock n play and I could get himself to stay asleep very long in his crib. 

I also briefly purchased an arms reach co-sleeper bed but he didn't sleep great in that either. So I sold it. $$$

So we upgraded. We decided now was the time to get that king size bed we'd been talking about forever. 

I never thought two years later we'd stl be here but we are. Some nights are tough. Really rough, but in my situation I do think co-sleeping has helped a lot especially since we don't believe in any sort of sleep training. 

A lot of people are concerned with the risk of SIDS and co-sleeping but if you are following safety guidelines there is no scientific evidence co-sleeping is a higher risk factor for SIDS than crib sleeping. 

And some have voiced the concern over intimacy time with your spouse. TMI ALERT: our solution has been to get creative. Beds aren't the only places where that sort of thing can happen, you know ;) 

For us, it's worked out 98 percent of the time to co-sleep but I do recognize its not for everyone. 

Going forward... 

I'm currently in the early stages of night weaning Jack and hope that by summer we can start transitioning him into his own bedroom. I hear two is often the turning point for kids sleeping heavier because they are finally producing melatonin and can sleep more deeply I sure hope that is our case. 

As much as I have enjoyed sleeping next to my sweet boy these two years, it would be nice to have some space back especially in the eventuality of a second baby. 

I think next go around we'll stick with the rock n play for the early months but by the time he/she outgrows it, we'll co-sleep again. 

It just works :) 

Not a co-sleeping pic because I don't have any recent ones but I snapped this during nap today :) ❤️