Well, I’m going to get this out quick and just say it – Yes; I co-sleep with my baby for the time being. Pheew! That was a huge weight off my chest!

When ever I used to get asked the dreaded question of “So, does your baby sleep well at night?” I used to panic and say “Yes, but I’m being a bit of a bad mummy and letting her sleep with me,” blah, blah, blah. I always felt I had to explain myself and justify my actions. The amount of people that used to tell me how wrong it was was unbelievable so now I just tell them that she sleeps fine. The way I look at it now is that I’m not lying; she does sleep well and ultimately so do I. It’s just none of anybody else’s business what the ins and outs are. Not to mention the fact that I like not feeling like the walking dead every day.

Now, I’m not going to be ignorant to the negatives of co-sleeping just because I do it and enjoy a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, as with most things, there is a down side.
• You have to be EXTREMELY careful if you decide to use co-sleeping. Our duvets can overheat a baby (the recommended tog being 4 for a baby in a sleep suit). So with your body heat added to a duvet of over 4 tog, if your baby seriously overheats, it could cause them to fit. As I’m sure you agree, that would not be good.
• Then we come to the risks of suffocation. A baby’s cot or moses basket mattress tends to be breathable (I advise that you check at the time of purchase) and usually, ours aren’t. The same goes for our pillows. It is a very bad idea to give your baby one of your pillows.
• Another possible bad point of co-sleeping is that it is most likely to be a little more difficult to get your baby to accept their own bed and room when the time comes, which will probably result in the first week or so of the change, involving many wakes during the night and therefore, many trips for you to comfort them.

I can’t sit here and recommend co-sleeping as it is a matter of fact that the best and ultimately safest way to encourage your baby to sleep is in their own bed with the correct bedding.

I am very confident of my baby’s sleeping habits and it just so happens that I like to sleep with a 4 tog duvet anyway (I hate overheating and being sweaty in the night) and I have never given my baby a pillow. In all honesty I think that the only reason I started co-sleeping in the first place is because I breastfeed, and it was much easier to do the night feeding without the getting out of bed malarkey – yes, I’m a lazy sleep beast.

I have no intention of it staying like this forever, as I’m sure that any of the rest of you that co-sleep or have done in the past wanted it to. This is just how it’s working best for me and my baby for now. We both sleep very well every night and I feel more comfortable having her right next to me where I know she is ok. I believe that co-sleeping is a very personal choice that only the mother can make.
To finish, go things at your own pace and in the way that you feel is best, but don’t forget the caution. I bet I would be hung, drawn and quartered if my health visitor read this! Ahh, the price a mother pays.