how to safely let 8 wo DD sleep on me

[SanneSannes]

8 wo DD ha decided she doesn't sleep in mosesbasket anymore but only on me.

am really concern about safety and hence have not closed my eyes once in the last 4 nights when she slept on my tummy. i have a 2 year old ds and hence cannot catch up on sleep much either during day. needless to say I'm very sleep deprived by now and need to find a way how i can sleep with her on me. any advice pls much appreciated. by the way, just to co-sleep with her doesn't work as she will not sleep like that either....oh boy, i really hope this is just a phase!!!

[BabyLabyrinth]

I let DD sleep on me for the first few weeks, too, as it was the only way I was going to get some shut-eye. I slept at a 45-degree angle propped up by pillows (which was easier anyway after a c-section). I had her in just a sleepsuit, then put her on my chest/tummy, and wrapped a sheet around us both (but not over her head obviously). Kind of like you would a sling. I sat/lay on each end of the sheet and pulled it quite tight, so she couldn't slip. I then put my breastfeeding pillow (it's like a long sausage pillow thing) over my stomach/scar (under DD's bum) and up like a horse shoe to under my arms. My arms were then supported so I could hold on to DD comfortably. We also have a big bed, and I have her bed up against my side, so there was no way she could fall anywhere. I would sleep like this quite well for a few hours, and then DH would take her and do a similar thing early morning, so I could stretch out a bit.

That sounds kind of complicated - I hope you understand what I mean! I was worried about it not being safe for DD, but my midwife said it looked perfectly fine when I showed her. I never slept deeply, but it was better than nothing.

[SanneSannes]

Many thanks Babylab, this is very helpful. Can I also please ask how you managed the transition to the mosesbasket/cot? How did you know that your DD was ready to move to the basket' or did you continue to try to put her down in he basket during the nights when she slept on you as well? Again many thanks!

[BabyLabyrinth]

Hey Sanne and Lane. Sorry for getting back to you so late!

I can't remember ever making a conscious decision to make her sleep in her bed, rather than on me. I think that as my scar healed (it burst, annoyingly) and I wanted to start lying flat again, I started trying to put her in her bed (attached to mine) after every feed at night. This was probably between four and six weeks, I guess. She would always fall asleep on the boob still does if she thinks she can away with it and then I would just gently put her down next to me. If she woke up and started crying, I would feed her again lying down until she was asleep. After a little while, I only fed her lying down at night, so the transition to her bed was really easy. Feeding like this is also much easier for you, as you can doze easily, although some of my friends say they've never got the hang of it. Try it if you never have!

We started off with a Babybay but she grew out of that by about three months. We now have a normal cot that has the bars taken off one side <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=w1oN8xywi8FY2M:&imgrefurl=www.alvi.de/kinderbetten.html&docid=9WmfrF0UXD9q7M&imgurl=www.alvi.de/tl_files/moebel/kinderbetten/ALVI_Kinderbett_Jens_Buche_natur.jpg&w=300&h=312&ei=C7-vULisFIK0tAbo2oGICQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=701&vpy=283&dur=1162&hovh=229&hovw=220&tx=115&ty=130&sig=109584120653933806501&page=1&tbnh=146&tbnw=140&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:118" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">like this one pushed up next my side of the bed. Our bedroom is just one big mattress.

I never had a Moses basket. We had a beautiful cradle that DH made in the living room, supposedly for those early naps, but DD never slept in it, just played. She's now 6.5 months and always sleeps in her bed, and most of the time will fall asleep after a short feed and then a hand stroking her chest/tummy. We're working on the four night wakings.