My 7 tips to sleep with baby safely

I want to sleep with my baby but is it safe?

La Leche League Safe Sleep 7

Contrary to popular opinion...

If you want to maximize your rest while breastfeeding then co-sleeping is the answer.

It is the number 1 strategy I discuss with all new Mom's.

Babies wakes up in the night, you slide them closely, open your bra strap and they feed. Minimal disruptions and they can feed back to sleep- often called a dream feed.

Whereas, if you make a Mom get out of bed in the middle of the night for EVERY feed. You’re putting a barrier up. You are waking that Mom and baby up. Forcing her to move to an even more unsafe surface, in case she does doze off. Then she has to manage wiggling herself and baby back to bed without waking up. It’s near impossible and setting Mom’s up for the feeling of failure.

I hear it too often, my baby doesn’t want to sleep alone. NO! Of course NOT! Your babies survival instincts tell them that if they are alone, they are unsafe. They may be eaten by a wolf. So of course if you put baby next to Mom they are going to sleep better.

Research has proven that with a safe sleep environment (follow the safe sleep 7 guide) that you in fact reduce the risk of SIDS.

Your baby next to you is going to keep them in a light sleep preventing them from getting in to that deep sleep which is associated with higher risk of SIDS.

Co-sleeping has been happening for years.

It is time we take the fear out of parents and help them make informed decisions about their babies safety.

Not make them feel guilty for their choices.

Ohh... I've been there- well the recommendations are- blah blah blah.

I’ve definitely changed my tune. The first 2 I struggled with sleep, getting them to sleep, staying asleep… then with my 3rd and 4th I embraced co-sleeping and we were all much happier. In fact, I no longer felt like I needed to rest in the day, even when baby was waking every hour or 2. I felt better.

So why aren’t we talking about this more?

For fear that if we recommend it to Mom and something happens to baby it would be on us.

BUT if you read the guidelines and follow them you are creating the safest place for them possible. Each environment is going to look a little different and you will have to adapt as they get older.

Every sleep environment is different and Mama's need to do their own self assessment.

For more information check out the La Leche League International website.