Co-sleeping with babies.

[Yeoman Randi]

We never had them sleep in our bed with us but we did keep the bassinet in the room with us until they were big enough to go into the crib. Then they went into their own room with a baby monitor. My first child didn't sleep through the night until he was 2-1/2 years old. The morning after he did, my husband and i woke up and looked at each other, and said, "did you go up??" and when it was discovered neither of us did we thought for sure he was dead. We both flew up the stairs and there he was, still sleeping. BLISS! 2-1/2 years old!!!!

Which is why there are almost 10 years between my kids.

My daughter started sleeping through the night at 3 months old.

Go figure.

 

[Kirby]

I flop around so much when I sleep I was terrified that I would roll over our baby. When my son was born, my wife brought him into bed from time to time, and I scrunched myself way over to the side of the bed to put as much distance as I could between myself and the baby.

I was a little better with my daughter, but still, I didn't like having a little one in the bed.

 

[Brolan]

No, I'm a big believer in not letting your baby sleep even in the same room with you. Why? Because it ruins both their sleep and yours. Babies wake and fuss often during the night and given the chance they can learn to comfort themselves and put themselves back to sleep. If they are in the same room with you will waken easier and feel the need to intervene. That teaches the baby it can't get asleep without you to comfort it and breaks up your sleep cycles, turning you into a zombie.

 

[HighteeHeller]

^But thats what babies need. Your comfort. They are babies after all.

I found co-sleeping, and breast feeding so much easier when all i had to do was roll over and feed. They rarely ever completely woke up. They fussed a bit, boob in the mouth, then right back to sleep. No crying in the night, no rushing to their rooms, no getting a bottle, just boob, done. Loved it. And i never had to get out of bed.

Neither one of my kids used a soother, neither one had issues sleeping through the night when they finally moved into their own rooms.

If i had to do it over, id do it exactly the same way.

 

[scotpens]

We never had them sleep in our bed with us but we did keep the bassinet in the room with us until they were big enough to go into the crib. Then they went into their own room with a baby monitor.

Getting a bit off-topic for a moment, but what's with these baby monitors? They didn't exist when my brother and I were sleeping in cribs, and somehow we survived infancy. In fact, our entire generation did.

According to Wikipedia: “Although commonly used, there is no evidence that these monitors prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and many doctors believe they provide a false sense of security.”

Are baby monitors really necessary, or were they just invented to make a few bucks off the paranoid fears of over-worried, over-protective parents?

 

[RoJoHen]

Are baby monitors really necessary, or were they just invented to make a few bucks off the paranoid fears of over-worried, over-protective parents?

People survived without cell phones and computers and cars. Doesn't mean you shouldn't use them.

I think baby monitors are more for when a baby starts crying so you know that they're up and they need to be changed or fed, not to prevent SIDS. Depending on the layout of your house, you might not be able to hear the baby crying without a monitor.

 

[scotpens]

^^ It's been my observation that most mothers have no problem hearing their baby crying -- unless they live in a house the size of the Clampett mansion in The Beverly Hillbillies.

 

[RoJoHen]

Do you observe many mothers with newborn babies in the middle of the night?


My godson slept with a baby monitor because we literally couldn't hear him from the other side of a one-bedroom apartment. He never really cried, just wimpered.

 

[Kestra]

Getting a bit off-topic for a moment, but what's with these baby monitors? They didn't exist when my brother and I were sleeping in cribs, and somehow we survived infancy. In fact, our entire generation did.

I'm not posting to comment on the use of baby monitors, but I can't stand the whole "we survived without them" argument. Obviously infants who did not survive into adulthood are not here to be posting today. I'm sure that an "entire generation" did not survive with a zero infant mortality rate.

 

[KimMH]

We never had them sleep in our bed with us but we did keep the bassinet in the room with us until they were big enough to go into the crib. Then they went into their own room with a baby monitor.

Getting a bit off-topic for a moment, but what's with these baby monitors? They didn't exist when my brother and I were sleeping in cribs, and somehow we survived infancy. In fact, our entire generation did.

According to Wikipedia: “Although commonly used, there is no evidence that these monitors prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and many doctors believe they provide a false sense of security.”

Are baby monitors really necessary, or were they just invented to make a few bucks off the paranoid fears of over-worried, over-protective parents?

Our younger son has severe special needs and required all kinds of monitors when we were able to bring him home. After a couple years of no "Incidents" i.e., he didn't stop breathing and his heart did not stop beating - we were able to scale back to a regular baby monitor. I lived and died by that thing. He's now 12 and we have even let the regular monitor go by the wayside but it was the only way for the longest time we could leave him in his own room without an anxiety attack.(us)

btw many monitors pick up cell calls and such - so be careful - you never know who could be hearing your really really bizarre phone calls at 3a.m.!

 

[Yeoman Randi]

We never had them sleep in our bed with us but we did keep the bassinet in the room with us until they were big enough to go into the crib. Then they went into their own room with a baby monitor.

Getting a bit off-topic for a moment, but what's with these baby monitors? They didn't exist when my brother and I were sleeping in cribs, and somehow we survived infancy. In fact, our entire generation did.

According to Wikipedia: “Although commonly used, there is no evidence that these monitors prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and many doctors believe they provide a false sense of security.”

Are baby monitors really necessary, or were they just invented to make a few bucks off the paranoid fears of over-worried, over-protective parents?

As new parents we were really glad baby monitors were around (not the telly kind, just sound) because we could hear him (his room was upstairs, ours is downstairs). So if he woke up (which he did 3, 4, 5, times a night until he was 2-1/2) i could hear him and attend to him. It had nothing to do with SIDS. It was there in case he woke up and needed cuddling, changing, whatever.


ETA: OMG yes. We picked up all kinds of conversations over those things. Cell phones, other monitors. Which was why i refused to use a cell phone or cordless phone up until only very recently when our old phone died and we had to get a new one.....cordless. Eeek!

 

[Shatnertage]

Because if you are an anxious parent, the alternative to a baby monitor is running into the kid's room every five minutes "just to make sure everything's all right."