It has been a couple of (sleep deprived) years since I have bedshared with a newborn, but I only remember changing his diaper at night if he had pooped, which happened a few times when he was brand new, but tapered off after a few weeks.

As for laying down and BF, my answer to your question is absolutely yes; you do get much more sleep!! I remember a friend teaching me how to lay down and BF when my son was about 5 weeks and it was the best thing that could have happened! Of course you are still woken a little bit when the baby cries/fusses, but it is so much nicer to be able to continue to lay down and go right back to sleep while nursing, and the baby does the same. Before I bedshared, I would take my DS out of the bassinet, sit up to feed him, wait for him to be completely asleep, and then put him back in the bassinet, only to wake up about 45 mins to an hour later to do it all again. BF laying down did take a little bit to get the hang of it, but it really was a lifesaver for me.

I couldn't agree with LLMom more - bed sharing has been a wonderful experience, being able to lie down & not wake too much is great & really helps to conserve energy BUT above all it has meant that we have had so many special close times that we wouldn't have otherwise had. I have a healthconditin which makes me very tired & bed sharing has been an enormous help:-) I would recommend it to anyone, assuming they do it safely.

I do not change my daughter at night unless she has poopd. If I get up to visit the bathroom (because I try to drink as much water as possible to help feeding) I change sides so that I don't wake in the morning with one breast fit to burst! I did not swaddle even when she was newborn as they need to be able to move a bit to learn to find the breast on their own. At first I used a baby sleep bag & we never shared covers as she was so very little I wanted no chance of her getting stuck underneath. Now we share covers too but I am very careful to sleep in a trident position & to bed share safely.

I am from England & there is new research here which has amazing things to say for bed sharing (including it's safety) - it isn't widely practiced here but is becoming more popular in certain groups.

Good luck & enjoy.

swaddling is not a MUST:-) it really depends on your baby. we swaddled our first son for 6 (!) months because that was the only way for him to sleep and not to wake himslef up. my younger son is a starfish baby and we gave up swaddling after only a couple of weeks! (we co-slept with both but we used a co-sleeping cot)