"The Family Bed'. What are people's experiences of this?

[lauren84 11]

My little one (5 weeks) comes into our bed in the morning for a cuddle but that is it. Although I have started to wake up in the night holding onto a 'baby' shaped bundle in the arm nearest to the edge of the bed which i find strange.

[Suffragette1 10]

Someone who was in my sister's antenatal group killed her baby accidentally by smothering him when she fell asleep whilst feeding him when he was a month old.

 

The risk may be small, but I don't know how I would ever live with myself if I'd done that so it's a risk that I wouldn't choose to take if I had the option.

 

Oh God, how DREADFUL. We had both ours in bed with us as it was the only way either of us was likely to get any decent kip. That said, I was always terrified of rolling onto them and suffocating them so didn't sleep much myself.

 

This went on for years. In fact it's a miracle we ever managed to conceive a 2nd child as my son was in bed with us most nights. Then when they came out of cots they would just wander in in the night. Now my daughter, who's 6 has just stopped getting up and into bed with us most nights.

 

They both pile in with us when they wake up in the morning.

 

I guess it's whatever works for you. But seeing as mine pathologically hatred of their Moses basket and would scream the house down you minute you lowered them into it, even if they were fast asleep, and were breastfed on demand, it worked for us.

[SpeedDemon 10]

Someone who was in my sister's antenatal group killed her baby accidentally by smothering him when she fell asleep whilst feeding him when he was a month old.

 

The risk may be small, but I don't know how I would ever live with myself if I'd done that so it's a risk that I wouldn't choose to take if I had the option.

 

I have a similar story, only the baby girl was 5 months! I would have thought the risk would have been significantly reduced by that age, but that little girl died, and her poor mum (who I think was only 17 / 18 and a lovely doting mummy) will never, ever get over it.

[haylic 10]

I have to say logan started to sleep in our bed purely because he was a very mucusy baby and used to find it much comfier laid on his sidebut i was scared he would roll onto his front in his crib so he came in bed with me where he can sleep on his side next to me.

im a strong believer that just as many babies die of cot death than they do by there mothers smothering them, it really just comes down to choice and what works best for the family.