# Planning to cosleep with newborn and small, very sweet dog. has anyone done this?



## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Right now DH and I share the bed with our young chihuahua, who is very well-socialized around children and babies. We plan to cosleep with our newborn (first baby) and I was wondering if there are any special precautions we should take before doing this? I've talked to other people who have successfully coslept with babies and a dog but their dog is generally at the foot of the bed, on top of the covers. Ours sleeps under the covers at our feet.

Would love any advice you could give us--thanks in advance!


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## mrsdocmartin (Nov 16, 2006)

We have a French Bulldog and she sleeps under the covers snuggled up with DH and DS sleeps cuddled up next to me. We have never had any problems. Well, unless you count DS seeing the dog and wanting to play now that he is older.







We do have a king sized bed though.


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## IfMamaAintHappy (Apr 15, 2002)

my first slept with me, DH, and 4 cats.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

We have a queen but the dog is maybe 8 lbs. This is very reassuring.


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## zoeyzoo (Jul 6, 2007)

I think it would be fine as long as the dog isn't next to you and the baby or isn't the type to move around all night. Mine will stay put and sleep all night.


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## Red Pajama (Jun 11, 2007)

We've got a sheltie that shares the bed as he sees fit, and have had no trouble with a baby in the bed, too. The dog sleeps on top of the covers, and removes himself if he gets hot or crowded.


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## Norasmomma (Feb 26, 2008)

We slept with our DD as a newborn and the cats slept at the foot of the bed. FWIW the one cat well outweighs a Chihuahua by probably 10 lbs(he weighs at least 15 lbs), the other weighs maybe 10, we all slept fine except the cats on the feet make me hot.


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

I wish our dog was well behaved enough to stay in the bed once our baby comes. He's 25lbs though and all over the bed all night. I wake up with him by my feet, on my legs, curled up with my bump, under DH's feet, etc. He cannot stay in one spot. I'd say if your dog stays in one place all night and won't try to cuddle the baby's head (my dog would) you'll be fine.


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## leerypolyp (Feb 22, 2005)

We did just that, and it was fine! (8 pound chihuahua mix who slept way down under the covers.)


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## Lit Chick (Aug 15, 2007)

Having DS was a big bonus for out 2 cats. Pre-baby, they were banned from the bedroom though they always wanted to sleep with us. Post-baby, they got their way. What with all the getting up, the meowing, etc - it was easier to leave the door open.
My cats are 7 lbs and 13 lbs. No problems at all. The big one likes to sleep up by our heads, but she keeps away from the baby.


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## jaidymama (Jun 18, 2005)

The thing is you and your dh can sleep more safely with your child because you have a unique awareness to your child. It's part of our physiology. This helps keep you from rolling on your child. Your dog does not have the same awareness. While other people have slept with their infants and dogs... its not part of the factors to safe cosleeping. I would say you are taking a risk. To me it's the same as parents being discouraged from cosleeping on the couch where your baby could slip between the cushions, and if you have had alcohol to drink or if you're taking medication that lessens your awareness... like cold medications, etc. Sure people have done one of those things and everyone has been fine... however, the safety of cosleeping decreases when you do those things.

All in all it's your choice, and I personally would err on the side of caution while your baby is young regardless of the size of your dog. But that's just me.


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## atom'smama (Mar 26, 2006)

Two twenty pound terriers, a toddler and a mama and dada in this bed! It was no big deal to transition the dogs to the bottom off the bed when our son was born. They just moved from the top to the bottom. It has gotten a bit more difficult now that our two year old is all over the bed, but when he was a baby it was a breeze.


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## Rogelito's Mommy (Mar 13, 2008)

We have a queen bed and sleep me, dh, ds and our 2 cats in it fine. We have done this since day 1. At first they would only sleep part of the night with us because of all the waking up and crying. Now (ds is almost 8 months) they sleep all night with us again but always say at our feet...they have learned to keep their distance from ds as he like to pull on their tails


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## Stinkerbell (Aug 11, 2005)

1 athletic daddy
1 overweight mama
1 almost 4 year old
1 cocker spaniel
1 big mixed breed (40 lbs or so)

all in a queen bed!

Our newborns came into bed with us and the dog right away and it was not a problem. Obviously, yo know your dog. And personally I think it's good to enforce that the dog sleeps at the foot of the bed and the people sleep at the head of the bed. Dogs live within pack social structure and that helps with safety.


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## battymama (Jan 15, 2008)

yes i sleep with my sookie boy in the space my knees make when i lay on my side, he is a maltease cross, and we have relic who is a staffy x bullterrier and she sleeps inbetween us at the foot of the bed, we also often have druid the cat who is in love with relic so he sleeps with her. So we have a full queen bed, of course DH is in with us as well, cant forget him.


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## Rylins mama (Aug 22, 2007)

Oh yes, we have 3 chis all under 5 lbs in bed with us under the blankets and a 16 month old and will be adding a newborn to that in 3 months and were in a queen! Just recently the dogs have started sleeping on the pillow next to her head when she goes to bed before us. She snuggles up next to them like a teddy bear, its the sweetest thing.


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## FingerLakesMom2B (May 20, 2008)

my daughter is 11 days old and I was so worried about co-sleeping with her and our 30 pound mixed breed dog. He ended up actually being on the bed next to me when she was born! He seemed to "get it" right away that she was fragile and moved to the foot of the bed on his own. You know your dog! I felt like if we kicked him out of the bed and let our baby in, it would only generate jealousy.


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

yep, my old pit bull sleeps at the foot of the bed, under the covers in winter/on top in summer, and i sleep with my 4 year old on one side and my now 3 month old on the other. we've been doing this since the beginning.


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## seaheroine (Dec 24, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thismama* 
yep, my old pit bull sleeps at the foot of the bed, under the covers in winter/on top in summer, and i sleep with my 4 year old on one side and my now 3 month old on the other. we've been doing this since the beginning.

Yeah, 3 ginormous Pit Bulls here, too. They always slept with us until the baby arrived and were then relocated to the couch (my poor couch!). I was somewhat nervous at the very beginning, tho DD slept on my chest the first few months.

Our little alpha female was just heartbroken at the exile, though, and started sleeping in her crate. She was diagnosed with optic neuritis a few months ago and her stress was really exacerbated...we let her move back in. Sometimes the other two do as well but it's rare...they've all stayed away from the baby. Now that her crib is sidecarred there is much, much more space so it is a non-issue.

I agree with the other pp - you know your dog! I have some cute pix of us, babe, 3 dogs and cat stuffed in bed together. What a zoo.


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## NiteNicole (May 19, 2003)

Our small dog has slept in our bed for the past several years. Before that, we had him sleep in a crate in our room, next to the bed. I knew we eventually wanted kids so we were training him to be ok with sleeping in the crate and knowing it as his space. He slept there for about two years before being allowed in our bed.

Before the baby came we did a lot of work with our dog. He slept just at the foot, we worked really hard on making sure he had basic commands down without any issues. I started using the products we were going to use on the baby so that she would smell like "family" and sometimes we had him sleep in the crate. We had a CD of baby sounds, including crying. We just did everything we could think of to make changes BEFORE the baby came so that he would associate the new baby with the big changes. I sent a blanket home for him to sniff before we ever brought the baby in. It's in his crate still.

He thorughly loves her. She is the queen and we are only the people who should make sure she is always happy. It doesn't hurt that we have been letting her feed him and give him treats (and once she could talk, we taught her to make him sit for them) and sometimes she drops whatever she's eating. Who doesn't love a snack machine?

He did fine with having her in the bed and when she moved out, he was really anxious. He is mostly ok now, but will sneak in her room every chance he gets just to check up on her.


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## griffin2004 (Sep 25, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mrsdocmartin* 
We have a French Bulldog and she sleeps under the covers snuggled up with DH and DS sleeps cuddled up next to me. We have never had any problems. Well, unless you count DS seeing the dog and wanting to play now that he is older.







We do have a king sized bed though.

This is our house exactly!! Well, except there's no DH, DS is a DD, and ours is a queen rather than king. Our Frenchie spends a good portion of the night under the covers ON DD. It's so sweet.


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## Katie Bugs Mama (Feb 1, 2004)

Forget "family bed" -- we called it our "pack bed."

We had always had me, DH, DD, Boo-Boo (a 55lb mixed doberman), and at least one cat in our queen-sized bed. In cold weather, we often had Abigail (a 60lb Canaan Dog) and a couple more cats join us.

It was crowded, but the dogs were extremely gentle and careful around the baby. We never had any problems at all.


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## Datura (Mar 18, 2005)

Sometimes our naps are a zoo. It's me, DS2, three cats and a puppy. Occasionally DS1 hops in, too, but he's too wiggly for the cats' taste and the puppy just wants to play with him.


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## Magali (Jun 8, 2007)

In my house we have a pack bed too







. The cats make sure to come inside for bedtime and they head straight to the bed and the dogs are usually sleeping on the bed with ds by the time dh and I head to bed. When ds was a newborn I was wary of the pets around him and never left them alone together, but now that we are one big happy human/animal family I have no worries.


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## llamalluv (Aug 24, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
Right now DH and I share the bed with our young chihuahua, who is very well-socialized around children and babies. We plan to cosleep with our newborn (first baby) and I was wondering if there are any special precautions we should take before doing this? I've talked to other people who have successfully coslept with babies and a dog but their dog is generally at the foot of the bed, on top of the covers. Ours sleeps under the covers at our feet.

Would love any advice you could give us--thanks in advance!

I saw the title and thought, "I have!" I coslept with my baby sister and a dog that HAD to sleep under the covers by our feet.

And he was a chihuahua*, too!







(Does yours LICK your toes?!







)

I have to say that it worked out very well, though during the first few months of Chylar's life, she actually slept in the bookcase headboard of the bed, because I was so nervous about her being so tiny (my mother was prematurely induced into labor by a doctor who had planned a vacation and was not going to miss his flight, by gawd
















We did have ONE problem - the dog snored so loud he woke Chylar up several times.









*Kind of: he was a chihuacapooier 1/4 chichuahau, 1/4 yorkshire terrier, 1/4 cocker spaniel, 1/4 poodle. Ugliest dog you ever saw.


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## hrsmom (Jul 4, 2008)

I love hearing these stories! My Chihuahua puppy (one year old) sleeps at my feet under the covers, no problem with the baby. Sometimes my cat sleeps at my feet, too, on top of the covers, depending on if he's in the mood.


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## Elecampane (Mar 12, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *atom'smama* 
Two twenty pound terriers, a toddler and a mama and dada in this bed! It was no big deal to transition the dogs to the bottom off the bed when our son was born. They just moved from the top to the bottom. It has gotten a bit more difficult now that our two year old is all over the bed, but when he was a baby it was a breeze.

Hey, this is exactly us, too! Except we managed to transition one terrier completely off the bed into his doggie bed and the other one sleeps at the foot of the human bed. However we did not begin cosleeping regularly with DD until she was 7 mos. old. Part of the reason I did not feel comfortable cosleeping much before then was because of the dogs to be honest. Jack (now the doggie bed sleeper) used to sleep right up between DH and I under the covers with his head at pillow level and I was sure he would kick the baby or something.


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## jenr (Apr 13, 2006)

When DS#1 was born it was me, him, DH, an 80lb German Shep/Rhodesian Ridgeback and a 160lb Great Dane.

The GS/RR passed away 3 weeks after DS#2 was born so it was just me, DS#1, DS#2 and DH with the Great Dane for about 6 months until we got the cat, then when DS#2 was 13 mos we got another Dane.

When DD was born, the original Dane passed away 2 months later (animals quake in fear when I am pregnant), but before that we had the two Danes, the two boys, me and DH, and the cat, and sometimes our ancient cat who rarely gets out from under the bed.

Well, lo-and-behold, when DD was 11 mos old we got a new puppy and a new kitten, so now there is the 150lb Great Dane, the 90lb Great Pyrenees, the two (sometimes 3 cats) the two boys and the baby, along with DH, and me. Don't have any idea what we will do when the new one arrives. We are trying to transition the boys to spending the whole night in their own beds, but with little success so far. And honestly it is really hard because they all like to snuggle together like a little pack and I would hate to take that away.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

This thread is so amazingly encouraging. Thanks everyone!


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## aurora_skys (Apr 1, 2008)

i think its fine (ive got two chihuahuas, one of whom is a foot of bed snuggler too) but remember your dog might not like the noise/movements involved with new baby. Go ahead and give him a nice bed (if he doesnt already have one) and start training him to sleep in it for naps and stuff. When our bed gets too rowdy or hot, both of my dogs move to their crates on their own so they can sleep undisturbed. So i think you should just make sure the dog has a nice alternative in case he doesnt like sharing bed with the baby.

as far as the person who compared it to sleeping drunk on the couch with the baby... sorry but i just fail to see the similarities. and dogs definitely know what they are sleeping near, most seem quite well aware of their surroundings, even in sleep. :>


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## slf (May 2, 2008)

our 110lb husky/lab cross weasles her way into the bed with DH, DS & I almost every night and we're in a queen (she felt she was not about to be down-graded to the couch jsut because a baby was here and managed to work her way back in!) it can be a bit squishy, but she tends to spread out along our feet


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## ladylove (Mar 6, 2006)

Our Boston Terrier sleeps with us too, usually under the covers. DS is sleeping in his own bed for most of the nights now and I send the dog in with him. The dog curls up at DS's feet.

If your dog does sleep under the covers and comes in and out, just make sure the dog doesn't disturb (ie, step on) the baby.

Also, when DS wakes up and if he cries, the dog cries too. They are so in tune with each other.


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