co-sleeping and settling

[red crayon]

hi everyone, i've wandered into this thread to ask a co-sleeping question. my ds usually happily sleeps in his cot but when he is sick or very unsettled we will co-sleep. generally he comes into bed and goes to sleep. there are times - like this week - when he's just as unsettled in our bed - eg crying, tossing and turning. are there any settling techniques that any of you use when co-sleeping? thanks for your help.

[drewid]

Hi :)

When Andrew is having one of those no-good-terrible-very-bad nights and we co-sleep, usually the only thing that will settle him is the boob. Takes a bit of coordination to get into a position where he can suck, and we can both then fall asleep, but its worth persisting with.

I try to keep co-sleeping and feeding to sleep as my last trick, when everything else has failed.

Andrew has never responded to patting so other than shushing, dummy and boob, theres not much else we can do!

I think there are homeopathic calming remedies, but I haven't tried any of those except for the teething one. Maybe worth a try?

I would also be interested to hear anyone else's methods! :D

[JanetF]

Cosleeping and breastfeeding are my only "methods" if you can even call them that. As a misguided new parent I tried patting and rocking but why bother when it's what boobs are designed for? He can go to sleep without the boob quite happily now at 2 but it's still nice and easy and quick! I can't imagine that the idea of settling "techniques" has even cropped up in countries where bf and cosleeping are the norm and that is 70% of the world :)

[red crayon]

at this point, breastfeeding is the technique i have been using. i was interested in knowing if anything different had been helpful for other people. patting seems to make things worse.

[JanetF]

Go the quiet life, I say ;) I've found as he gets older that he rolls off the boob while awake and then goes to sleep lying next to me. Sometimes he even lets his dad put him to sleep but only if really tired and after a big breastfeed. I figure that every time he goes to sleep a different way he's learning it's possible. :) I think they lie down together and tell each other stories until one dozes off - sometimes it's even ds...

[Foxymoron]

Sounds like you are doing everything I'd be doing... boobie and co-sleeping, if your son is still unsettled maybe he just needs to let off some steam :) We all get a bit emotional at times, my DD can wake quite cranky during the night, or go to bed a bit cranky when she has been up late. Just being there for them and letting them have that release knowing that mama and boob are close by is great!