Safety Concerns of Co-sleeping
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Nov 2006
Our baby is 6 months old and sleeps with us. Before we come to bed she sleeps in our
bed alone for a few hours. She still doesn't roll over but I am starting to be
concerned
that she will learn and roll off the bed. Because of the construction of our bed frame
we
cannot use a bed rail. I am thinking of trying to move her into a crib but but she is
used to being nursed into sleep. If I nurse her and then lay her down she wakes in the
transition. Are the only choices moving her into a crib, putting the bed on the floor
or
bed rails? I would love to hear what others have done. Thank you
jen
Your baby cannot be alone on a big bed. Before they can even roll over they can do
that little scoot on the back of the head and fall off. You can use a crib. My
baby always nursed to sleep and was hard to put down but it just takes time. Sit
there with the sleeping baby an extra 10 minutes and then put her down. Lots of
co- sleeping babies have a crib they use only for alone naps.
anon
We slept this way with our daughter. We didn't have a regular bed frame, just the
box spring and mattress on the floor. I put a pillow on either side of the bed on
an incline, figuring if she rolled off, it wouldn't be a clunk. I was worried
about exactly this same thing and another mom of 4 kids who co-slept as babies
said, ''It's only about 12 inches, she's not going to get hurt if she falls onto
the carpet!'' so I relaxed. She never did fall off the bed.
hope this helps
You could also try pillows lining the sides of the bed. Not as sure-fire, but it
worked for my daughter, who slept in a crib at night but would only nap in the car
or in my bed after nursing.
If your child moves a bit or is not very cautious (mine was), you might also want
to line the floor w/ pads and/or pillows. or get some big bolsters to put on the
bed. Bed rails would be safer, and some of them just go between the mattress and
the frame, and can fold down easily (first need or something like that brand)
Hi,
We have a 6 mo old boy and we do the same thing. We got one of those baby
''Snuggle Nests'' from a second hand store for 15 bucks and we love it. The main
reason we are using it is because he will roll towards me at night, smell my milk
and want to eat...
every hour! So now, he is right there with us, yet contained in his own little
space. BUT... he is only about 16 lbs and barely fits in this thing. If you sew,
I would recommend making one with foam siding. I think that is what I am going to
do soon.
Otherwise, a good ol' pillow on each side of her will keep her from rolling when
she is alone... that's what my mom did :-)
Here is the link for a snuggle nest:
http://www.mommysthinkin.com/snuggle_nest.htm
nydia
Oct 2006
We are wondering what other co-sleeping families do about
safety in the family bed. We have put a side rail on our king
sized bed, but the other sides can't go next to a wall (there
are windows and/or doors in the way). Nighttime seems fine,
but now that our 8 month old is pulling herself up on the side
rail, I am worried at nap time. And a crib is out because I
breastfeed her to sleep during the day. Since I am not always
there while she naps, I am afraid she will go right over. (I
usually hear her the moment she wakes up, but yesterday I
walked by and she was just standing there!) How do other
families deal with this issue once the baby starts
crawling/pulling herself up and later, walking?
Jenny
I co-slept with both my girls but always used a crib too. I
would put my babies down to sleep at night initially in the crib
and then bring them to the family bed when they woke later. I
also exclusively breastfed. I learned to nurse them in my arms
and when they were asleep, put them in their crib or our bed for
naps. It sounds like your baby won't let you transfer her to
another bed after she falls asleep. I would suggest that one
thing you could do is buy a twin mattress for her and put it
directly on the floor. Nurse her to sleep on that for naps and
let her finish her nap there. Put some of the bedding from your
bed or your pajamas in the twin bed initially to make it feel
(and smell) like your bed. If you also start putting her to
sleep there and she learns to like it...it will make it easier to
transition her to her own bed when you are ready. My girls
co-slept until about 2 and a half, then I switched to sleeping
with them in their own twin bed until they fell asleep and then
went back to my bed. Course it was a few years before they
didn't wake anymore later and call for me...but we all grew out
of it slowly.
Good luck
vic
I struggled with this exact same issue 5 months ago. I did not put a rail on our bed
because I never found ones designed specifically for babies and I figured that the
slats ought to be (but are not) just as close together as they are for cribs to prevent
strangulation. (I wonder if there's a market for a device to turn an adult bed into a
safe crib?) Anyway, if we had the room, I would have put a mat down on the floor
and nursed my daughter to sleep that way. But we don't and finally I decided I could
no longer risk her falling off the bed, so I started nursing her to sleep in the rocking
chair and moving her to a crib. For a week she woke up as soon as I moved her and
cried and it was aboslutley awful. But she learned and now I nurse her and move her
to the crib and she stays asleep. I'm happy I can still nurse her to sleep and even
happier that I don't worry about her falling off the bed.
Sarah
I don't like to send scare messages, and it sounds like you won't be doing this, but I
wanted to caution everyone strongly against putting baby to nap on a bed that is
pushed up against a wall. I have a family friend whose 10 month old rolled into a
space between the bed and wall and suffocated during naptime. It was devastating
christa
We also co-sleep, and had the exact same concerns as you when
my daughter started pulling up and crawling. We basically got
past it over time, where I would check on her frequently during
her naps and at night before I went to bed, just to make sure
she was still sleeping safely. When she would wake up and make
noise, I ran in there right away to make sure she wasn't trying
to get to the bed rail. She never really was, but I see that
your baby is doing that. In any case, she seemed to learn that
I would come in right after she woke up, so she began to just
make a brief noise and then wait for me to come in. She sits
there on the bed looking toward the door for me. Even now, she
knows how to safely climb off the bed below the bed rail, and
she still waits for me to go in and get her. She has heard me
tell her many times not to go near the rail, and she listens to
me. Hopefully your baby will stop standing at the rail once
the novelty of pulling up ends.
co-sleeper
Neither of my children slept in their cribs during naptime until
they were nine-months old or so. And, like you, I nursed both of
my children to sleep at naptime. I stayed in the room with the
girls while they slept in the middle of my bed -- but I have a
very large bedroom that also includes a substantial sitting/den
area where my computer is set up, I have a sofa to read on, etc.
If this is not feasible, then you may want to try nursing your
child to sleep and then placing her into a crib or pack and play.
This won't last forever. I seem to remember that my girls were
around 18-months when they moved back to my bed for naps (I
wouldn't be in the room for these) and were able to safely slide
off a bed and then come find me.
-anon
We have always co-slept with our son who is now two years old.
He sleeps between my husband and me at night. We don't have him
nap in the bed without us. Instead, we have him sleep in
another room on the floor. We fold up a comforter four ways and
it makes a comfortable cushion underneath him. We put him next
to a wall (sometimes a piece of furniture) and put pillows up
against the wall or furniture so he won't hurt himself if he
rolls around. Sleeping on the floor is safe as long as the room
is baby-proofed. He can't fall! We still do this and we've
done this since he was about six months old. Good luck!
Andi
June 2004
Does anyone know of a Bedside Safety Rail that will work on a
California King size bed with a VERY THICK mattress? Most of
the ones we have seen work only up to Queen size mattresses
and/or only on mattresses up to 12'' deep. Any suggestions
appreciated! Thanks.
A co-sleeping parent
One Step Ahead www.onestepahead.com has 17 3/4'' (on sale $24) and 20'' high
rails ($40).
Christina
Feb 2004
We want the baby to sleep in our bed with us, but need some
ideas about how to do it. We have a queen size bed. If baby
sleeps between mom and dad, what are folks doing about the
blankets, since it is said that blankets create a major
suffocation risk. If baby sleeps on mom's side, what are folks
doing about railings or other methods to keep her from falling
out. Is it dangerous to put the bed against the wall?
not quite parents yet
We are pregnant with our first child and want to co-sleep with
our baby. We decided to get an Arm's Reach co-sleeper crib so
if we need more space (or more blankets around us) we can put
the baby in the crib right next to us. And when we want the
baby back next to us, he/she will be right there. We have heard
from others that this is a great set up. Read about the co-
sleeper here: http://www.armsreach.com/product_orig.asp
Andi
Our son has slept in our queen-sized bed since coming home from
the hospital. He is 3 months old now and we haven't had problems
with it. He sleeps around 10-12 hours at night waking every 3-4
hours now (he woke more when he was younger) to have a diaper
change, nurse, and then goes right back to sleep without fussing.
I have him on a small flannel receiving blanket that I can use
to shift him from side to side depending on which side he is
nursing from. That way, I can doze back to sleep while he nurses
and I know which side is the next to be nursed when he wakes up
for the next feeding. The flannel also catches any ''accidents.''
When he is between us, I fold the comforter down across his mid-
chest, and I use a small, down-filled throw blanket to keep my
upper body warm. When he is on the outside of the bed, I use the
throw-blanket to cover his lower body, tucked under him a bit.
This has worked very well, and has been safe for us. I have a co-
sleeper on the edge of my side of the bed, and he sometimes
sleeps in it, but it seems that the cat spends more time in the
co-sleeper than he does. This arrangement has allowed us to get
quite a bit of quality sleep. We will have to change things once
he starts crawling and scooting, but for now, this works for us.
Good luck and enjoy the cuddles with your baby.
lou
We have now had our two babies sleep in our bed with us,
our son until he was about 2 1/2. Despite varied advice for
and against, it just seemed! for us the natural thing to do. An
added bonus is that it makes night-time nursing incredibly
easy. But, you have to feel safe and comfortable with it, or
there's not point.
The two things I was always worried about were bed covers
and the edge.
We try to avoid heavy bed covers by warming the room as
much as possible (the dryness we counteract with a
humidifier), and dressing the baby warmly, so there isn't
any need for heavy bed covers on her. One other thing I
notice myself doing is pushing the baby closer to the top of
the bed and moving us further toward the foot, so that more
of her is sticking out the top of the covers we have. Does
that make sense? If the baby is in the middle, make sure
there aren't pillows above her, but to the sides.
As for the edge, we have pushed the bed to the wall. The
main thing to watch - and it's exactly the same principle as
for a crib - is that there isn't a gap or anything too soft (ie
pillows, covers) that the baby can get their face stuck down
into. I don't see why a railing like on a toddler bed wouldn't
work as well. At Alta Bates when I had my baby, the beds
had those pull-up sides on them for just this purpose. They
assume that you'll have the baby in the bed with you then.
Hope this helps. I have to say that we have always found
the baby-in-the-bed option a wonderful one. Enjoy!
Penny
We co-sleep with both of our children. Both slept with us from
birth. When our son was born, the pediatricians from our
practice were still making home visits in the first week. We
had our doctor check out our bed and the comforters and he
deemed it safe. He said his main concern is mattresses that are
too fluffy. We had bought a firm foam queen mattress and kept
the pillows a safe distance ! from the baby. While our babies
were very young (under 2or 3 months), they slept between me and
a co-sleeper that my husband built. When they got older, I felt
secure in letting them sleep between me and my husband. I've
read that fathers tend to sleep a lot more soundly than mothers,
so I wanted to wait until the babies were a bit more robust and
turning themselves over on their own to put them between us.
I do still worry a bit about the comforter getting up over the
baby's head (#2 is now 6 months), so if it's cold at night, I
dress myself as if I'm wearing a fleece sleeper plus a onesie
undershirt and keep the comforter down around my chest, which is
at the baby's waist. If I'm warm enough, I know the baby is too.
On the rare occasion that my husband has had alcohol before
going to bed, he does not sleep with us. When it's just me and
the baby, the baby is actually fine on either side of me.
Either she's between me and the co-sleeper or in the very middle
of the bed with me between her and the co-sleeper. I'm very
conscious of her all night long and I've never had a problem
with either of my kids falling out the bed.
Sleeping with babies is so great for you and great for the
baby. I hope you can find a way to make it work.
Alisa
My ultimate advice is to wait until the baby is born and see what
works for you.
We wanted to co-sleep initially, but we realized that it wouldn't
work with a newborn, I couldn't sleep comfortably with her in my
arms and we weren't aware enough of her prescence in the bed when
we were sleeping to feel 100% confident that we wouldn't roll
into her. So we had her first in a bassinet and then in the crib
right next to the bed. We also tried a Snuggle Nest (see
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005BYE5/102-1579651-5344928?v=glance).
We are both large people so it wasn't comfortable for us, but we
used it the many nights when she wouldn't go to sleep otherwise.
I'd suggest you give it a try. When she was in the snuggle
nest, we had her at the top of the bed, so that her body wasn't
covered by the blankets.
At 8 months, once the baby started rolling over, she moved into
our bed. She was much larger AND mobile and we were much more
aware of her so we didn't have a problem sleeping with her. I
pushed the bed against the wall (the only problem was that I was
left without a night table) and we slept with her next to me or
in the middle ever since. We now use blankets that cover her,
but she rolls all over the place in her sleep often uncovering
herself.
anon
We had my son on my side with a bedrail. I used one blanket
for both of us. Another option is a sleepsack for the baby
(and no blanket) if that makes you more comfortable. My son
has moved to his own bed now, but co-sleeping worked
wonderfully for us.
another co-sleeping mom
Both our kids (now 5 and 2 1/2) slept in the bed with us when
t! hey were infants. We usually had them between us. The head of
our bed was at the wall. Since they usually pushed themselves in
that direction, we kept a rolled up baby blanket there for
cushion. Our blankets were generally on the lower half of their
bodies (if at all), so we tended to dress them warm and not
worry about the covers, or, put a small baby blanket over them.
I nursed (''on demand'') through the nite, so when we were ready
to shift them to the crib, we just put the crib next to my side
of the bed and raised the crib mattress to match the height of
ours. We took off the side of the crib that lifts up and down so
all I had to do was turn over and nurse !!! There was no gap in
between our bed and the crib mattress. The other side of the
crib was against a wall. GOOD LUCK !
annexmom
Our teeny baby slept with us for the first 4 months.
She slept in between my partner and I, and I moved her up next to our
heads,
so that our blankets only came up to her waist. I'm a light sleeper so
any stir
she made, I would wake up. I think most mothers are.
I think sleeping together is wonderful, and I miss it, so please enjoy
and don't
worry.
Sarah
Congrats on your baby! Both my children slept in our bed. The
best part, aside from the snuggles, is that you don't lose as
much sleep as other new mothers do. My daughter moved into her
own bed at 2 years old, but still jumps in my bed around 6:30 AM
for a snuggle. My son moved out at 2 years old too.
Safety you can look up on the internet. We did use a comforter
with no problems. I would sometimes wake in a panic, but
neither of my children's faces were ever under the covers. We
also had one of those blue nightlites so I could see my baby if
I woke up. My daughter would sleep in my arm pit. My son was a
little more independent and just slept next to me. The wall-
this is dangerous. You need to move the bed away from the wall.
I do know someone with a trageic accident with this senerio.
Water beds are also unsafe for babies. My children don't move
much while sleeping, but it's not always the case. Some move
alot. The exception is while staying in hotels my daughter fell
off a few beds. Only once did she really wake up though. You
can buy bed rails if you child is a mover. I think the only
other saftey concern is for smokers, dru! g users or the severly
overweight.
a co-sleeper
There are many ways of dealing with the covers. Experiment to
find the one that works best for you.
Baby can be on top of the covers. This is simple and requires
no new purchases nor much change to your own sleeping habits.
But it's not the best choice for ease of nursing access, and it
can sort of pin the adult down (or cause the adult to 'roll' the
baby by lifting or shifting the covers).
Parents can use separate covers, with baby uncovered in
between. In other words, you put two twin size top sheets and
two twin size blankets on your queen or king size bed, so that
each parent can cover up separately, and baby is in the gap in
the middle. This solves the pinned-down problem, but it can be
a hassle to make the bed this way, and you do have to be a bit
more careful of keeping the blankets away from the baby.
Adults can keep the covers at waist level, with baby's head at
chest level. This is probably the most common, as it makes for
easy nursing access and doesn't require any changes in how you
make the bed. But if either parent isn't comfortable without a
comforter tucked under the chin, it may not be easy to keep the
covers low enough to be well away from baby's face. It *is*
possible to arrange the covers so that they come up higher at
your back and around your shoulder, and then get tucked down
further in front, but it takes some practice. And the adults
can just wear warmer pajama tops if necessary.
As for when the baby is between mom and the side of the bed,
it's best not to use a bedrail -- small babies can too easily
get trapped between the rail and the mattress -- nor to push the
bed against the wall -- again, babies can get trapped in
between. It's not very likely that a young baby will actually
roll out of bed; they simply don't move that far very fast, and
mom's arms are probably around the baby anyway. (You will be
amazed at how aware you are, even when asleep, of where the baby
is when you sleep together.) An older baby can certainly roll
or crawl off the edge before mom wakes enough to catch him, but
as long as there's a soft surface (put thin pillows on the floor
if necessary), a short fall isn't too likely to do any harm. At
any rate, it's happened to almost every baby I know, some of
them more than once, and none of them have suffered any serious
injury.
anon
Sleeping with the baby in the bed is a sweet, wonderful and
practical experience! I have a two-month old who sleeps in
between my husband and I in our bed. We have a king size
bed (because we also have a cat who HAS to sleep in bed
with us) but could have done it w/a queen size bed. Our son
sleeps in a ''snuggle nest'' in his swaddling blankets. This
protects him a lot from our blankets and pillows. I was
anxious at the beginning but it seems very safe. We sleep
with a down comforter but don't pull it up high--because his
snuggle nest is at the level of our pillows, it doesn't get on
more than his feet. My husband and I are not really deep
sleepers, so I don't know if someone else's sleeping
patterns might make them pull up blankets real high and
thus cover baby. We debated over having him in between !
us, as opposed to just on my side, but I LOVE having him in
between. This allows my husband to help out at night with
getting the baby back to sleep after feedings--he puts his
hand on the baby and sort of jiggles him. He can also help
baby keep the pacifier in his mouth. Aside from these
practical means, my husband says he loves being able to
look at his son at night and in the morning and to
occassionally kiss and touch him. It's really sweet having
him there. For a couple weeks, the baby slept better
cuddled up to me--during this time I had him wedged on his
side between the snuggle nest and me. I slept on my side
too. This also worked fine for baby--he loved it, but it was
harder for me. I didn't sleep too deeply and my arm would
fall asleap. But the baby felt safe.
Happy co-sleeping! Oh, and of course, it makes night
breast feedings so much easier.&! nbsp; No need to get out of bed,
I hear the baby start making sounds with his mouth
indicating his hunger way before he emits a cry, or really
wakes up. It's so much easier than getting out of
bed...Happy sleeping
ann
We put the mattress on the floor to mitigate fear of falling.
When your child is older you can teach her to get off the bed
(and go down stairs) on her tummy ,''feet first''. We also
pushed the bed against the wall for containment, and we
added a single mattress to make a really big bed.
cozy co-sleepers
We used a bed rail, with towels stuffed tightly into any gaps.
We kept the house fairly warm and used blanket sleepers so lots
of blankets were not required. I strongly believe in the safety
of the family bed, as long as the parents are not drunk or
medicated to sleep extra soundly. The family bed made life so !
much more natural, nurturing and easy for us.
Hi, there,
We have co-slept with out son and daughter, 4 and 10 years old,
respectively. We continue to sleep with our son (our daughter decided
to ''ditch'' us when my son came home from the hospital), and we have
had no problems with near suffocation, etc. Both children slept
between
us, or, on occasion, started out the night, in a crib, open on one
side,
pushed up against our bed.
In asking my pediatrican about the safety of such an arrangement, he
had zero qualms and cited the little that he knew about the literature
pertaining to family beds. He told us, when my daughter was an infant/
toddler, that scant cases of a baby suffocating had occured around
either an exogenously obese parent or inebriated parent suffocating the
baby. Neither my husband nor I fell into the foregoing categories.
I had read in a parents magazine that co-sleeping with an infant
actually
provided for a kind of pacemaker effect for the neonate's heart;
whether
this is anecdotal or not I do not know.
Ironically, I am more concerned with my getting a foot or fist to my
eye
and sustaing a detached retina. Both my children have hit me in the
eye
while tossing and turning, and I have considered getting raquetball
goggles on occasion.
Yet another safety precaution we take/took was to make sure that the
head of the mattress was flush with the wall so as to obviate the
baby's
migrating and being trapped between the bed and the wall.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Co-sleeper parent(s)
My husband and I slept with our son until he was about 5 months
old (when we began sleep training and wanted him to go to bed
before we did). It took us until he was about a month old to
work up the nerve to do so, as we were scared about the
blankets, too, but once we did our sleep improved
significantly. I had a bad scare one night when I realized that
I had fallen asleep with the baby nursing, and I had let the
blanket get up over my shoulders. When I woke up our son was a
little sweaty, but there were no other problems. Needless to
say, after this I wanted to create a better solution than
relying on my own wakefulness to push the baby ''up the bed''
(his head about flush with our heads) so that he would be
safely out of the covers. What worked for us from then on was
for me to nurse ! on my side, with the arm of the side I was
nursing on crooked around the baby (with baby's head resting on
my upper arm) and that hand holding down the blankets, between
my thumb and fingers. I never had another problem. As to the
question of where to place the bed, ours was against the wall
at the head, with the baby always between us. Our bed is on
rollers, So I bought some of those rubber cups at a hardware
store and it never budged (so no worry of a gap between the bed
and the wall).
Anonymous
My baby has slept with us in our Queen size bed since birth (this
is my 2nd child...my first slept with us from 3 months...which is
when I decided it was crazy to keep getting up all night to go
nurse the baby in the nursery).
I have a toddler bed rail on my side of the bed (you can get
these at toys r us). It is not supposed to be used for babies
because a baby could slip down in the crack between the netting
and the mattress, but I solve this problem by putting a couple of
rolled up beach towels in the crack. You have to check it every
few days to make sure the towels are slipping down.
Also, I put a rolled up towel down the center of the bed to help
my husband remember that the baby might be there. He said that
he always felt the towel and stayed on his side of the bed.
My baby sleeps on either side of me...depending on which side we
nursed on last.
Then I put a flat (not fluffy) pillow at the top of the bed
(where your head would go, to make sure the baby can't fall
between the bed and the wall at the head of the bed. The baby
would sleep in front of this pillow (i.e. her head was below the
pillow...not on it). I would use another pillow which I turned
lengthwise so that I had some pillow below the other pillow...my
head would be level with the baby's head. Then we used only thin
blankets (no comforters)...we have a fleece one for warmth and a
cotten thermal one too and a couple of others as needed. Since
my head was level with the baby's head, I could cover myself with
the blankets without them covering the baby's head.
Once the baby was bigger (around 5 months), I stopped using the
rolled up towel in the middle of the bed.
Another thing I do, is always put the baby to bed in her crib in
the beginning of the night. I bring her to bed when she wakes up
to nurse the first time during the night. This way, my husband
and I get some alone time, and as she nurses less at night, she
sleeps longer in her crib. With my first, by 14 months, she
would spend some nights in her crib all night. However, even
after she was weaned, she would still wake up at night sometimes
and come sleep with us sometimes.
anon
We've been co-sleeping since day one (18 months now). We have a
queen size bed with a crib butted up on my side of the bed. The
crib is against the wall. we wedged a towel between the crib
mattress and ours so that there was no crevices. For quite some
time, my husband and I slept with separate blankets so that it
didn't go across our baby when he was in between us-- and I
actu! ally did not use mine as I was quite cautious about that.
Our child has spent minimal time in the crib, itself; he likes
it but sleeps more soundly in the big bed. He mainly sleeps in
the bed but the crib allows us a bit of flexibility and extra
space. As he has gotten more mobile, we have propped pillows to
keep him safe.
I have always felt that my baby is far safer with me than in his
own room-- and nothing beats the snuggling and waking up all
together!
LogicalMama
We love having two sets of covers (no stealing) and the
baby should be bundled up with out covers at all. Our 21
month old is just getting into having some cozy blankets of
her own.
cozy cozy
Our little guy sleeps between us. Our daughter slept either
between us or alongside me with the crib pressed up against the
bed. The blankets can be a problem. My daughter slept on top of
the big people blanket with her own small person blanket. Our son
sleeps way up high in the bed or I just remember to pin part of
the blanket under my arm to keep it off of his wee face. I think
when the wee ones are really tiny it is probably safer to do the
seperate blanket thing.
MG
Dec 2001
I have a second question regarding safety. Eli is learning crawl and I'm
concerned about how to leave him sleeping alone in the bed (for a nap or
before I go to bed at night) safely. He usually wakes up when I get up, but
I've been able to get up a couple of times recently, and am hoping this will
become a pattern. Our mattress is too thick for bedrails (13 inches, and the
tallest bedrails we can find are 17 inches). His crib is in a side-car
arrangement. If we put our mattress on the floor, we'd lose the extra space
provided by the crib. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Wende
I don't mean to be facetious but have you thought about putting the
baby into a crib? Lots of families out here put the children to bed in
their own beds, in their own rooms, for the express purpose of getting
them a quiet place to sleep without interruption. You could always
try that if your baby is not sleeping well with you. I do love
snuggling in the morning when my daughter wakes up and we bring her
into bed with us, but I personally do not get a good night's sleep
when I am sleeping all night with a baby or child, and probably the
reverse is true for the child. And when I don't sleep well, I am not
a happy mommy the next day. Another nice thing about a crib is that
the baby can't fall off the mattress....
we have a set-up that has worked really well. We
have the crib in a sidecar arrangement with the non-sliding side removed.
When our daughter is sleeping alone in her crib, we insert the detached side
between the crib mattress and our mattress and attach it with string at the
top to the crib frame. I moved our mattress slightly off the box spring and
slid cardboard under both mattresses to make a bridge to hold the crib side
up. Then when we get into bed we just take the crib side off or slide it
down toward the foot of the bed (which is nice because it blocks the open
side between the foot of the crib and the foot of the bed). This can be done
easily and quietly. I usually nurse or pat her down to sleep lying on the
bed while she's in the crib, and then once she's fallen asleep I slide the
crib side into place.
Good luck!
This response is for the question on preventing a soon-to-crawl baby from
falling off the bed, and not wanting to lose the extra space provided by a
side-car crib by putting the mattress on the floor.
How about putting both the crib mattress and your mattress on the floor? We
put our queen size mattress on the floor in the corner of our bedroom, and
put a twin mattress on the floor next to it. So far the sleeping
arrangement has been mom and baby (5 months old) on the queen and dad on
the twin. We hope to switch dad and baby once he (baby) stops nursing so
frequently at night.
July 2001
Our 8 month old is still sleeping in our bed (by choice) and we just bought a
new headboard, bed frame, etc. that raises our King mattress a good 4-5 feet
off the floor. We had a scare recently when she fell off the bed when we were
on vacation at our hotel, and that was only a 2 foot drop. I am terrified of
the thought of her falling off our new bed. Does anyone have any
recommendations on bars, etc. to purchase for a king bed and know where I can
find them (so far I have only been able to find the ones to fit a toddler
twin bed!) Any other suggestions you may have would be very helpful as well..
thanks so much! --Margie
we put our king size bed in the corner, so that the head end and one side
are flush against the wall. it's a little bit of a pain for the person in
the middle or on the side, so we take turns. toys r us also sells a
mesh-civered railing that you cput in between your mattress & box spring and
then sort of flip up, if you don't want to or can't move the bed itself.
Jessica
Our baby is only 7 weeks old but it works for her: she sleeps with us in
our queen-size bed
on the side of the bed (not between us) and we put a bed-rail that we
bought at Target for $20
(mesh, made by Safety 1st and you need to have a matress + spring box to
use it) it is supposed
to be for toddlers 2-5 years old, so I figured if it holds their weight,
it will hold a baby's weight. of
course this is only useful for a sleeping child - if your child sits up or
stands and bends over, it is too low to prevent a fall. hope this helps,
Effie.
When our 4 year old was small, she also slept with us. By the time she was
8 months old, though, we had created a "side-car" arrangement with her crib
by taking off the drop side altogether, and putting it flush with our
queen size bed (this involved a certain amount of supports under the crib
to make it high enough to match the bed, and padding between the two.).
This meant there was much less room for her to fall out of, since to do
that, she'd have to fall over me!
OTOH, since you have a King size, you might want to consider a drop
bed-rail for both sides of the bed, and possibly the foot if you don't have
a footboard. (You can get these many places, including Toys R Us).
They slide between the mattress and the boxspring and provide a soft
"wall". If your new frame won't allow something to be installed in this
location, you might consider putting the bed against a wall, and putting
pillow barriers up on all sides, at least until you get into bed with your
child. That worked for us for a while, but there will come a point that
your child will be able to crawl over them, and then it's back to the
drawing board. But maybe your child will be over the worst of falling out
of bed by then! Good luck!
Dawn
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