Sleeping Arrangement Solutions for Babe #2

[Nantucket]

Hi everyone! Need some thoughtful mamas to give advice, share experiences!! We have a crib sidecarred to our bed and DS sleeps in there many nights but also sleeps with us either because we just want him to cuddle with him or because he scooches over during the night.... We're needing some ideas/plan on what to do in March when Baby #2 comes along...

Concern #1: DS's flopping around at night. he sleeps horizontally sometimes and just flops around ... don't want to endanger newborn...

Concern #2: I sleep on the side of hte crib now and DS usually cuddles with me more... DH and I were thinking of switching sides in the next soon so that when newborn comes, we address concern #1 this way.... good idea? bad idea?... how hard to be separated from cuddling with mommie at night... he does love his daddy too though...

Concerns #3: Will crying newborn in the middle of night wake DS?.... THe last thing we need is a newborn and a tired sleep deprived toddler!!

I'm (and neither is DS, nor DH truthfully) not ready to be separated from my babies yet; we're just wondering how it will all work.... we do have a king size bed.... and the last resort would be to have DH sleep with DS and me sleep with Babe #2...

Thanks Mamas!!

[balancedmama]

Not sure how old your #1 is. My DD was 22 months when DS was born. We had moved her to a full futon mattress on the floor by that point, right next to the bed. She slept most of the night there, but if she needed someone, my husband would go to her and either just comfort her or sleep down there with her. We have a queen-sized bed though, and frankly even cosleeping with 2 adults and a newborn isn't super comfortable for either of us in that size bed. I have back problems so I just need a little more space.

Surprisingly, DS's night squeaks didn't bother her that often. Generally speaking I would wake up before he even cried. If he got to crying or needed a diaper change, I would take him out of the room to settle and bring back in when he was ready to sleep.

[chi_mama]

ds1 was three when ds2 came along. About 5 months before I put a twin mattress between the wall and our bed. I moved ds1 there. He moves around a lot at night but this way he can't fall off the bed on either side and b/c the twin is about 2 inches lower than our bed he doesn't end up in ours.
Then about 2 months before ds2 came dh and I switched sides. Dh also took on more/most of ds1 bedtime routine. I still do most of the nighttime parenting.
I slept mostly on the couch in the living room for the first 3 weeks while we got the hang of nursing again. The baby doesn't cry much but unless its prolonged it doesn't bother ds1 at all. The few times ds1 has woken up I've just let him cuddle while I nurse ds2 and then we all go back to bed. So far so good.

[kriket]

we have the crib sidecarred also. I didn't catch how old your LO1 was, but if I were to have a baby tomorrow with my 8m old I would take the crib out get another mattress (twin probably) and put our full and the twin on the floor. I'd have DH sleep on the twin, LO1 in the middle and the newborn on my far side.

My boobies are scared just thinking about night nursing 2 babies! DS has always been a mega night nurses, I couldn't imagine 2!

[ChristyL]

Oh, very thankful for this thread! We're expecting #2 in June, DD will be 24 months, and I'm dreading moving her out of the bed! I was speaking with a potential doula today and she mentioned some of these things (putting a mattress beside the bed for #2 and keeping our rail up between the two, or seeing if #1 will sleep on a mattress beside the bed. Now I just need to work out the space issues associated with all this!

[Nantucket]

Thanks everybody! I didn't mention how old Baby #1 was... he's 24 months old, so not a baby anymore i guess....

if anyone else has other thoughts, please chime in... thanks for the helpful thoughts!

[cinderella08]

We are going through the same thing right now, only my DD is only 1 and I'm expecting in late August/early September.