# Help, please!! Advice for newborn co-sleeping in winter



## Gailmegan (Apr 29, 2008)

My first two were summer babies and we had no air conditioning, so they slept next to me, but we were all wearing very little clothes and no sheets/blankets. This time around the little one is due soon and will be a newborn all through the winter. In this economy we have been keeping our house around 60 and sleeping with lots of blankets. Not only that, but we have bought a new bed since the others were babes, and it is pillow-top which most co-sleeping proponents warn against. I do have a bassinet that has sides exactly the height of my mattress, so the baby would be about 9 inches lower than the mattress, but I could reach right in. Another option is to go to the guest room with a queen size, non-pillowtop mattress, but dh doesn't want us to leave him. Either way, how do I keep the baby and myself warm without risk of suffocation? Do I have no choice but to raise the thermostat and shell out the $$$ for heat? Oh, I do have a sheepskin that my second slept on from 4 mos until 3 years and I think it's supposed to be very good at regulating temperature, but I've never tried it with a newborn in the winter.

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!


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## hparsh (Jun 12, 2008)

I had a baby in the dead of winter too and coslept. Have you considered getting a Halo sleep sack? That would keep baby warm without a blanket, and they can't be smothered by it.

I slept next to baby but just kept the blankets off him or on his legs. I think you will reduce the risk of suffocation if you keep the baby on his/her back too.

You could definitely try the bassinet if you're really worried. Our LO would not sleep in the cosleeper that we had though, so we had to cosleep.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

We have a Humanity Family Bed cosleeping bumper on our tempurpedic, pillow-top mattress. The baby sleeps between us most of the night although I sometimes put him on my other side (between the bumper and me) when we're side-nursing off of that breast. I try to keep him on his back although sometimes we both fall asleep while nursing and then he's sleeping on his side. It doesn't seem to bother him at all and any time he so much as breathes weird I snap out of sleep and readjust us both.

If we were keeping the room as cool as you do we'd definitely use a sleep sack every night. As it is we have steam heat radiators and the room is too warm more often than not, enough so that we have to crack a window. In that case, a light, loose sheet just over his feet and legs is enough. We also took the down duvet off our bed and use a thin summer-weight blanket just to be safe.


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## annie_noah (Jun 13, 2005)

I also used a sleep sack for my newborn on top of her pygamas.

For myself, I wore a long-sleeved top with a low cut tank top underneath. I would pull the shirt up and the tank top down to nurse and still stay warm. I also had a light blanket over my legs and wore PJ pants and socks to bed to keep warm.


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## AnnaBananaBelle (May 28, 2008)

Could you sway the mattress form the guest room to your room for a while? I've been keeping our thermostat at 68 degrees (which I read is ideal for babies) but it doesn't cost a lot to heat our townhouse. I dress her in footsie PJ's and if it's really cold out I add a cotton sleep sack. I don't use covers, and I keep my pillow on my back. To keep myself warm I wearm fleece PJs, and, this is the best idea: I cut holes in the fleece PJ tops so she can nurse without me having to lift up my shirt and get cold.


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## LolaK (Jan 8, 2006)

we sleep under a down comforter and have never had a problem. we also keep the heat very low - down to 50 at night, or totally off. never had a problem with the blankets.


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## skeegan23 (Apr 28, 2008)

Co-slept w/ a newborn in winter here too... Our house is waaaay too cold. lol. Another reason why I couldn't imagine having her in another room! Anyway, we have those fleece sleep sacks as well... we also have a small electric heater we keep plugged in our room. Our house is in construction so when I say cold, I mean pretty damn cold. lol. So the electric heater was a neccessity and we only keep it on over night on cold nights. For us, the cost of electric vs propane was a huuuuuuge difference.







:


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## zoie2013 (Mar 31, 2007)

nak
we have the heat off at night. we're in northern ca, but originally from boston. so, we like it chilly at night. for really cold nights, we have sleep gowns that have the little fold-over-the-hands flaps to keep the hands from getting chilly. my ds2 often sleeps with his arms above his head. other than that, as long as his head/ears don't feel cold to me, i think he's okay. he's always snuggled up against me, so he stays nice & warm


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## ElsieLC (Dec 28, 2007)

I have a pillow-top mattress and a cold room, and I like the covers pulled up high. DD wakes me up to nurse and I sit up to feed her. When I put her to sleep I slide my pillows off to the side a bit and put her head at the same level as mine. The covers were never a problem.


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## MoonWillow (May 24, 2006)

Another pillow top mattress person here. Ok a disclaimer: I think its imperative to sleep safely. But I think that our instincts play a huge part in that. I have never had a problem with pillows, my mattress or blankets. Its because I have never not been aware of my child. And the warmest place for your baby is up against you. Your breathing syncs up and helps protect the baby from SIDS.
That being said, please use your best judgement, do what you believe to be safe and comfortable (maybe that includes increasing the temp).
For my second child I used a nursing nest (sometimes).
HTH


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## ~savah~ (Aug 24, 2008)

My daughter was born in the winter also and here's what we did. I would put her in a sleeping gown, swaddle her in a swaddle me (so she couldn't get out) and put a hat on her head. DH and I would scoot down a little and we would place her between us at the top of the bed. So if our comforter was on her it was only the lower half of her body. To nurse I would scoot her down and then scoot her back up when she was done. When she was that little she would stay where we put her. If it was really cold, snowing one night, I would put little blankets on top of her. We always slept with a night light so we could keep an eye on her.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MotherWren* 
I think its imperative to sleep safely. But I think that our instincts play a huge part in that. I have never had a problem with pillows, my mattress or blankets. Its because I have never not been aware of my child. And the warmest place for your baby is up against you. Your breathing syncs up and helps protect the baby from SIDS.
HTH

ITA. Humans have been sleeping with their babies forever, under animal skins, in a variety of bed types, as a family or just mother and baby. As long as you take common sense precautions and aren't inebriated, I think it's okay to do what works for you, even if others wouldn't make the same choice. And it's okay to naysay the experts if their advice feels wrong or unsafe. We had a HCP try to convince us that it's okay to leave a baby sleeping in a Boppy pillow. Never mind the HUGE tags on the pillow warning against this, or the fact that babies have smothered that way.


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## crosscat (Mar 18, 2008)

We put DD in a sleep sack over her jammies. I wear pj bottoms and a bed jacket. I don't pull the covers any higher than my waist, but the bed jacket keeps my top half warm and it's easy to open it up and nurse.

This works well for us, though we keep our house warmer. Our heat was out for about a week during a cold snap recently, however, and we used the fleece sleep sack instead of the cotton one.

Good luck!


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## ShivayaMama (Jan 23, 2004)

You could always dress the baby in natural woolens, and then their pajamas. Body temperature would be regulated and the baby would be nice and snuggly warm without having to use a blanket.

We co-sleep with both of our children, and we have always used woolens, and then kept them above the covers, while we slept with the covers over us. Either my husband or I held them in the crux of our arms, and they slept prety well through the night that way. If you do not feel comfortable with using a blanket, you could try wearing adult sized woolens and pajamas as well


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## SimpleBean (Mar 2, 2007)

This is our 2nd baby to have slept with us from birth, in the same pillowtop bed, both being born in fall (September & October). I dress the baby in a long-sleeve onsie with nothing on bottom (except diaper, of course!).

We turn the heat off at night, it gets down to around 55 in our house at night, and we've never had a problem.

ETA: Baby sleeps cuddled up next to me, sleeping on her side, with her lips resting on the breast and her body next to my stomach. We stay toasty all night!


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