How to safely sleep with 10 month old

[HonoluluMom]

I am a single mom to a 10 month old DD. She still nurses once or twice in the middle of the night. I usually sit up in bed to nurse her and when she finishes, I take her back to her crib. Lately, I've been super tired and I lay down to nurse her and of course, I fall asleep. DD likes my bed because the mattress is not as firm as her crib's mattress and she absolutely LOVES to roll around on my down comforter and pillows.

I was hoping for any tips on how I can safely sleep with DD. Do I get rid of the down comforter and pillows? How do I make sure she doesn't roll off the bed?

[larig]

My SIL slept alone with her DD from infancy, with nothing fancy added. I'm not sure what she did about the blankets.

I've seen these mentioned here (snug tuck pillows) to be used instead of bed rails, which might work for the side of the bed that you're not on.
http://www.snugtuckpillow.com/theproduct.html

[Katigre]

I have coslept with both my babies from birth and DH and I love it :). With an infant the safest way to cosleep is next to the mother in the C position (mother's body forms a C around the baby - mother lays on her side, upper part of the C is mother's upper arm, side is her torso, lower part is her thigh which is bent). This creates a safe space for the baby protected from pillows and blankets.

I would NOT use a pillow with the baby - it is fine for mom to use a pillow as long as baby is kept away from it via the C position noted below and is positioned against mom's torso (as if she were nursing).

I would also NOT use a down comforter - she should switch to lighter sheets/blankets that are not pulled higher than her waist (baby's upper legs).

In addition, the others rules of safe cosleeping apply as well (each of these things increase the safety of cosleeping, not doing them increases the risks to the baby - though since her daughter is 10 months old she is already at reduced risk due to being older/mobile):
1. Breastfeeding (the sleep patterns of nursing mothers and their infants are very different than non-nursing mothers, this has been documented numerous times and is an important safety consideration)
2. Intentional cosleeping (vs. accidentally falling asleep with the baby)
3. No sleeping in an impaired state under the influence of alchohol/drugs (Rx or otherwise)
4. No cushy pillows or heavy blankets near the baby
5. Safety for the edge of the bed - you can sleep towards the middle so the baby won't roll off, sidecar a crib to the bed, or use a bedrail (but make sure it attaches at the TOP of the mattress and not on the side so the baby can't get stuck in the gap)

She might like Dr. James McKenna's work on the topic - http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/.