38 answers

My Baby Sleeping with Me!

Hi mama's! Okay...I have done the terrible thing! I let my precious little baby start sleeping with me. This has been going on for about 2 months now. My husband sleeps on the couch because he fears that he will roll on our baby or elbow him in the middle of the night. My husband wants to come back to bed...of course. I am a working mom and I feel guilty for leaving my baby all day, so I guess that is the reason I started putting him bed with me, so he knows that I love him. But I also love my husband and he works very hard and I know he needs to know that I love him and he also needs to get a good nights rest. I tried to put my baby in his crib this weekend. He sleeps there for a couple of hours and then cries when he realizes he is not in bed with me. So I went ahead and put him back in bed with me, so I can get some rest. I need your inupt please!

What can I do next?

Featured Answers

I know it will be difficult, but the quicker you can break the habit, the better it will be. I had to let my little one cry himself to sleep, but that only lasted about 4 nights for us. It was extremely hard on me to lay in bed listening to him cry, but better for all of us in the long run, including my marriage!

Hi Jamie,

I have seen in pediatrics magazines or somewhere about co-sleepers,for example www.armsreach.com where they sleep on one side and the hubby can sleep on the other side. Hope this helps.

Hi J.!
i totally understand where you are right now! My son is almost eight months old and I just recently got him out of the bed with me and into his own bed!
The thing that I did was I put him in his own bed to begin with and the first time he woke up I put him in bed with me for the rest of the night for a few nights until he got used to going into his own bed. After a few nights, I would put him in his own bed to start with and after the first feeding would put him back into his own bed and then if he woke up again, would put him in bed with me. Eventually, he started sleeping all night in his own bed, waking up once to eat but going right back into his own bed. It just takes time to get the baby to realize they can self-sooth and they don't need you right there to help them to go back to sleep should they happen to wake up. My son now self soothes himself, and some nights when he wakes up, he will talk to himself and put himself back to sleep! I hope this helps!! It will get better soon!

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My oldest son slept with his dad and I til her was 6. My daughter never slept with us and my youngest son he slept with us for about a month (off and on) and he is now in his crib.

There is NOTHING wrong with having your kids sleep with you...HOWEVER...when it starts disrupting sleep and the love life...that could create an issue.

I too went back to work early with my last child (part time after 3 weeks off with C section) and the guilt nearly ate me alive. I stayed home with my 2 eldest for about 5 years so this going back to work and not "raising" my baby was a hard thing.

I would suggest rocking you baby to sleep so that you can have that mommy bonding time at night. Quiet room, soothing music...jsut you and your baby. And if he is up with you in the mornings...try and get some mommy time in there too.

With the waking up...well...you started it...(and I mean that tongue in cheek) there is going to a transition period in getting him sleeping back in his bed.

But I would try putting his bed in your room for a while and see how that works out. With my older son, he slept with us...graduating to a pallet on the floor...then to a mattress on the floor and then to a big boy bed (after my daughter was born)

Having a big enough bed does help too...as others have suggested.

Smiles to you. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

There's nothing terrible about having your baby sleep with you. Babies have an inate need to be near their parents and you're doing the best you can to meet that need. You don't mention what size bed you have, but my experience was that you really need a king size bed for that to be comfortable for everyone. If you have room, you could put his crib next to your bed with the side down. We ended up getting one of those toddler bed side rails and put that on our king size bed and the baby slept on that side. When our first son was older, we put his twin bed beside our bed and then transitioned that bed upstairs to his room was he was around 2 (before his baby brother was born). By the time his brother was born, we just used the portable crib in our room and he would sleep in there at nite until he woke up for the first time and then he'd spend the rest of the nite in our bed.

You have to figure out what works best for you and your family and I hope your husband understands that you're doing the best you can to meet your baby's needs - this is just such a short period of time where this need is so intense.

1 mom found this helpful

First off... Cosleeping is NOT a terrible thing. It's actually very common and considered normal in many cultures. There are a lot of benefits to it. Here in America though, it's not nearly as accepted and, as a culture, we have a bias against it.

Get a guard rail on your mattress and put the baby between the guard rail and you. That's probably the safest way to cosleep other than getting a side car crib. That way, your husband can sleep next to you. Also, at 8 months he's probably a bit more hardy than a new born so I think your husbands fears could be a bit exaggerated.

My advice is to do what works to get you and your family some sleep. If that means cosleeping then, so be it. If this causes a major rift in your family though, then try transitioning him to his crib. You might try getting a crib and putting it up next to your bed for several nights. Check out Elizabeth Pantley's book -- No Cry Sleep Solution. There are suggestions on how to do this.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

I have a 2 year old that I have been trying to get out of my bed for about a year. I would transition your baby asap. I have a 3 month old that we make sure sleeps in her own bed so we don't have a repeat.

I believe the best gift we can give our children is happy, loving, well-rested, in-love parents.....if you're honest with yourself, you and your baby are probably not sleeping all that well either, you're probably subconsciously aware that you might roll on him also! You have a very sweet and understanding husband to actually give up his sleeping place, and partner for his baby - you're a lucky girl! Don't push it though, you need to transition the baby to his own bed, it might be a little difficult at this point but it should be done soon I would say. Doesn't he take naps? If he sleeps in his crib for naps he should be able to take nights easier, he may have to cry a little (which I am not a big fan of - letting babies cry to sleep) but it may have to happen at first....don't delay.....the baby is old enough to cry a bit sometimes to sleep though.....good luck to you! and I understand your hating to be away from him all day, but sleeping with him really won't make up for daytime interaction, you know? Don't feel badly....it will be ok soon.

I am not against co-sleeping but I think it is important for a child to self sooth and be able to put them selves to sleep with out you. I allow my children to sleep with me from time to time and always if the weather is bad. I was a working mom when my son was 8 months so I do understand the guilt but I established a routine at night a warm bath, a book, and then I rocked him. At first it was like a mercury switch he would wake up as soon as i layed him down so then I made him lay down and I would pat his back until he fell asleep. It took about a week to completley get him used to his bed. when he woke up at night my husband would answer the wake up the same way rock him and then pat him to sleep. Both my children we did the same way and they both sleep well in there beds. I then moved my son to a daycare right by my office and then picked him up for lunch 3 times a week my husband would go out of his way to pick him up early whenever possible we really worked hard at spending time with him during his awake hours which was healthier than creating dependencies that were not in the best interest of our son. It made a big differnce even though it took a little extra effort. Good luck It is such a sweet age, I loved it!!

I know exactly how you feel. My husband and I were no different than you with our first born. She was a premie which made us even more on edge and aware of her every need. Our daughter kept us in a routine of getting up at 3:00 am every morning when she was 9 months old. Our pediatritian told us to "let her cry". He said in 3 days she would stop. He was right! The first night it was 50 minutes of crying - of course, at the time, we didn't know it was going to end at 50 minutes so that time was exhausting. But, the 2nd night it was only 30 minutes, then 10 the 3rd night. We all slept better after that! I know you love your wonderful new baby boy, but, don't forget, your husband comes first!

Plus, remember, baby won't remember any of this -- hubby will. : )

Best of luck to you and congratulations on your baby boy.

I am going back many years here, but I recall sleeping in a crib in my parents room next to the side of the bed my mom slept on. And later moving to my bed in another room. So if I were you, I would get a crib and put him 8 months old in a crib. He can see you. Put a nightgown or shirt of yours in their so he has your scent and he should be fine. He can hear you and he will be safe. You may avoid unpleasant resentment from hubby sleeping on the couch and not getting a good night's sleep because of this. Besides you are man and woman before you are mother. Remember that in that order. When baby(s) grow up and leave who will be with you? You'd better work on that relationship first even though it seems hard.

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