# No one mentioned co-sleeping hurts!!



## New_Natural_Mom (Dec 21, 2007)

Mostly I love co-sleeping. It feels right to have DS with us; however, I am SO SORE all the time. My back, neck, & shoulders kill me. We got a new KS mattress when we started co-sleeping to give us all more room. In order to night nurse I have to sleep in a less than comfortable position & 7 months later it is really taking its toll. What does everyone else do?


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## ~savah~ (Aug 24, 2008)

Sometimes I also wake up so tired and sore, but that is mostly on nights that DD nurses a ton. I guess that I just try to switch up my nursing positions, like lean my top shoulder towards her so she can nurse on my top boob, or I will switch side with her so that I am not sleeping on the same side all night. One thing that I have noticed is the bigger she gets, more comfortable the positions become.


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## New_Natural_Mom (Dec 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sweetdaughter* 
Sometimes I also wake up so tired and sore, but that is mostly on nights that DD nurses a ton. I guess that I just try to switch up my nursing positions, like lean my top shoulder towards her so she can nurse on my top boob, or I will switch side with her so that I am not sleeping on the same side all night. One thing that I have noticed is the bigger she gets, more comfortable the positions become.

I have little boobs, but nursing from the top is an idea to try! Thanks.


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## blueridgewoman (Nov 19, 2001)

I nurse from the top too and it seems to help. I also try to consciously relax when she pops off. So I roll over and relax everything from my toes to my head in sequence.

It damages my hair too-- I end up sleeping on my back and the back of my hair is all tangled in the morning and ridiculously dry. Sigh.


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## gumby74 (Jan 2, 2005)

I think I have just gotten used to the cramped feeling. Our 2.5 yr old DS likes to lay on his back and take turns kicking DH and I in the head as he spins. The nights when this doesn't happen makes us feel as though we had a great nights sleep. I like to just put everything into perspective. There will come a day when he no longer wants to sleep with us and I know I will be sad. The good news is that I am single handidly supporting my chiropractor and her family


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## Ellen Griswold (Feb 27, 2008)

I can "top nurse" too, but lately, that's what is causing my aches and pains. When you "top nurse" where do you put your upper arm? I keep arching mine up onto my pillow and I'm so sore.


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## ~savah~ (Aug 24, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ellen Griswold* 
I can "top nurse" too, but lately, that's what is causing my aches and pains. When you "top nurse" where do you put your upper arm? I keep arching mine up onto my pillow and I'm so sore.

I bend my arm in half so that my forearm rests on my pillow and my hand on my head. I guess it forms kind of a "wing" over DD, but most of the weight of my arm is on the pillow.

*Sorry if that doesn't make any sense, sometimes it's hard to explain things without demonstrating.


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## Shaki (Mar 15, 2006)

I used to lie on my back with pillows on both my sides and then DD would lie on top of the pillow with my arm around her and sort of lie on her side to nurse. It helped my neck and shoulder pain (from side lying) to be flat on my back and sort of make her come to the "Nursie" rather than bringing the nursie to her. This was after she was a year old--I would not do this with an infant or a babe younger than a year for safety reasons. DD is almost 3 and still nurses in the morning (but not in the night) and now I just tell her to "climb up" and she climbs on top of me for nursies, lying on my back has really helped the neck and shoulder pain.


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## Mama Poot (Jun 12, 2006)

Co sleeping hurt bad when I had back problems, but thankfully those have all been resolved! My boobs are kinda big and floppy, so I just nurse Fleur on the side and I can stay comfortable most of the time. We also have an Arm's Reach that she doesn't mind sleeping in most of the time, so if I'm feeling stiff I can move her over there. Some nights she sleeps all the way through and I never have to bring her into the bed...boy I wish there were more of those!


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## Tinker (Mar 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sweetdaughter* 
Sometimes I also wake up so tired and sore, but that is mostly on nights that DD nurses a ton. I guess that I just try to switch up my nursing positions, like lean my top shoulder towards her so she can nurse on my top boob, or I will switch side with her so that I am not sleeping on the same side all night. One thing that I have noticed is the bigger she gets, more comfortable the positions become.









:

Quote:


Originally Posted by *New_Natural_Mom* 
I have little boobs, but nursing from the top is an idea to try! Thanks.

Me too, but it works for me.


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## sleepybear1 (Aug 17, 2008)

My dd is now almost 16 months. I have slept & not slept in a variety of terrible positions. I have been more tempted to take IB profin since co-sleeping. I have found that some weeks are tough and others are easier. I have played around with a variety of pillows (one between my knees or under it). Sometimes I use a folded towel instead of a pillow for my head. I also have noticed some weeks I can not leave the bed - even for a potty break- or she wakes up, sits up, and attempts to follow.

Just think that we will be able to console our daughters when they are stiff from co-sleeping.


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## faithful2 (Feb 11, 2008)

Top nursing (keep my arm on my leg), and switching sides works for me too. I find that the more tired I am the more uncomfortable I tend to be. If I'm not over tired I am more likely to move into more comfortable postitions throughout the night. I put my hair up and wear a satin sleep scarf to keep hair out of lo's face and from being a dry tangled mess in the morning!


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## anyalily (Oct 23, 2008)

My shoulder and arm are sometimes sore in the morning, particularly when she is too close to me. I like to have her in the middle of our king bed and roll to her to nurse her and then roll back when I'm done. This works as long as I don't fall asleep before she's done!

I also mix up the pillow situation.


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## capagrl (Jun 15, 2006)

I feel your pain on this - literally. I take an Aleve almost every night before bed to help keep the pain down and also do as much moving around as I can. If I'm on my left side, I alternate him nursing on my left & right boob and support myself with my "between the legs pillow" (which is such a standard in our bed that it literally has been named that) and either prop my back against DH or put a small pillow behind me (a rolled towel also works well). My top arm either goes over my head, across my LO (now that he's bigger - I won't do this until they're at least a year old b/c I worry my arm may be too heavy) or I tuck my hand into the waistband of my jammy pants like Ed Bundy. When I become far too sore & achy for this to work, I climb over my baby and lay on my right side. Since this is the outside of the bed and my LO often pushes into me as I subconsciously scooch away from him to gain some space, I run the risk of falling out of bed. So, to counteract that (and to keep him in when he's on the outer edge as well), I have a bed rail and, between the bedrail & bed, have stuffed a body pillow in there. This gives me something soft to prop myself up against and has also become a favorite snuggling spot for my LO when he's not draping himself over me.

Hang in there - once the night time nursing and co-sleeping ends, the aches & pains will disappear and it's one thing you won't really remember (I say this b/c my kids are spaced out really far, so by the time my new baby would come along, my oldest was long past co-sleeping and all I'd ever think about was the sweetness of it all, not the pain).


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## medmom7 (Nov 5, 2008)

I've found that yoga really helps. If I manage to get past the guilt (time away, money spent) and go to yoga once a week, the soreness disappears and I am a better wife/mom/human being. Very worth the $12 I pay. (Most YMCAs also have yoga classes.)


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## katmtb (Jul 21, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *blueridgewoman* 
I also try to consciously relax when she pops off. So I roll over and relax everything from my toes to my head in sequence.

Consciously relaxing helps me, too. I roll over onto my back and stretch out after DS s done nursing. I've also found that getting exercise during the day helps alot with the achiness.


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## BlessedEarthMother (Nov 6, 2008)

I use a lot of pillows for support. One behind my back, one behind my butt, one in between my legs, and one above DS head to hug onto when top nursing.


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## JustMeAmy (Nov 6, 2008)

I sleep mostly on my stomach babe on left and left breast in his mouth, arms bent at the elbows and up on my pillow head on top of arms. Did that make sense? I have rather large breasts though.

Wanted to mention I see a chiro once a month because sleeping in strange positions does funny things to me too.


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## Leisha (Jan 16, 2008)

Oh yeah... I wake up sore pretty much every morning too










I sleep with my bottom arm bent and my head resting on it (no pillow), but I always involuntarily do something with my wrist that, when I move my hand then again after a few hours, really hurts!!
And my shoulder too.

Ah well I still love cosleeping







lol


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## es1967 (Oct 31, 2007)

Ds is now 25 months and we are still cosleeping. I noticed that the first year was really tough and I felt like I was hit by a truck every morning. I'm not sure when it changed but I think my body adapted to it. Maybe its just me but I it doesn't bother me anymore. For a while I put pillows behind my back so I would have some support sleeping on my side.


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