Futon safety for 7.5 mo??

[annemoonstar]

Hi all,
This is our sleep situation:

We have a twin futon mattress that is currently on wedged between our matress (which is on the floor) and the wall. At the head of the futon is my end table and the end is open. There is a window on the wall also. Our bedroom has the basic baby proofing (electric plug covers, blind cords put up and cut, etc), but is not excessively protected.

For the last few months I have put DS down on the futon sometime between 6:30 and 8. We have a video monitor and watch him while we eat dinner, watch TV, etc. until around 10 when we go to bed. He usually wakes up and comes into bed with us sometime between 10-12.

So far this has worked for us because while he has been crawling for a while, he has always made noises for us to come to him as soon as he wakes up, and maybe will sit up but hasn't been crawling away. I've also been trying to teach him to crawl and climb up to our mattress when he wakes up, which he has done several times.

However, the last few nights he has woken up and immediately started crawling toward the end table or the window to climb up it. When I say something to him, he immediately comes towards me and wants to get into bed.

I would LOVE for him to ultimately sleep most of the night on the futon and just be able to come into our bed whenever he wakes up, but right now I am afraid to go to sleep with him not right next to him because I no longer trust that he will wake me up before trying to crawl away. I put some baskets at the end of the bed so that he would have to move those to get out into the room, and am thinking I could just move the end table somewhere else (although then there is a second window to deal with).

Does this just sound like an accident waiting to happen, or am I being overly concerned? Any ideas about other ways we could make this work? He has a crib, but will not sleep in it (LOVES to play in there though).

Thanks!

[Louisep]

What is it you are worried about? Your DS banging into the window? Does the window have window treatments? If so, I would think they would protect him from harm. As long as there's nothing small and choke-able on the end table, I wouldn't worry about that. Or is it easy for him to topple it over? If so, get rid of it.

Are you a heavy sleeper? I always wake up when DS starts crawling away but we do have the room situated so that I don't have to worry and we have tables and windows he can reach.

[annemoonstar]

Well, I guess I worry mostly about the things I don't know to worry about!
I am not a deep sleeper, but there were a couple of nights where I fell asleep and woke up to him climbing up the end table or the window. I do worry about him banging his head, but I realize that is probably going to happen no matter what I do at some point.

I've made a few changes to the set up and I think I feel more comfortable with it now. I moved the end table to the wall opposite our bed and pushed the futon mattress all the way up to the corner. We have a co-sleeper mini that he never slept in. However, it makes a great end-of-the futon barrier so he can't get out and explore the room without coming onto our bed first. And there is a zippered storage unit on the co-sleeper where I am putting some of his soft toys--so we'll have toys to distract him. I feel more comfortable with this situation--at least until the next stage of movement (I'm sure he will be walking shortly!).

Thanks for your reply!