ways to expand family bed ? need ideas.

[BellaClaudia]

For now we are doing this:

one kning size bed. one crib with open side. crib is touching my side
of the bed. we sleep in the bed, (me and DH) and our DD sleeps
in her crib with no side so she has totally free access to me
and she can get in and out of it at will.
She starst sleeping cuddly and nursy and then she either rolls
into her crib or sleeps on the border

she loves her crib as it is not "so hot"

in any case problem is as follows:

Crib is called 5 year bed for a reason our not quite yet 5 year old is soon
going to be too tall to fit in it so we are looking for creative ways to
extend the family bed within our limitations.

The problem is that hte bedroom is tinny and as is now, with king size bed and crib there is only about 10 inches space left as to squize through itno the closet so we will have to get rid of crib and put something longer for
her so she can continue to be next to our bed.

detaching the bed is not an option. we need and want - everyone
to continue this way.

we calculated that king size plus full or twin size is not an option because there will be no room to get into the closet.

so the question is:

do any of you have any ready idea of how to solve it
we probably will have to bild some simple bed and if any of yo
did such a contraption or seen such a thing

could you be so kind and attach some pics or kindly post link
where we could find some ideas as how to build very simple child
platfor mbed prefferebly with one side like in a day bed - so she won't
spill over and I don't believe in the store bought sides as she tends
to seat up at night sometimes and then falls down so she could hit her
face on the metal side. I want it to be taller , as in crib so she owuld
not hurt herself is she seats at night and then lies down again.

if you have any ideas or plans or can suggest something..
as to how to build something, what to use and what not to do
and what to avoid.

I know it must have some substance to be able to funciton
safely, yet I don't know what to use to build it.
are the home depot planks safe for this?
what kind of foam to padd the wall?.. etc...

any suggestions will be helpful

[morgainesmama]

How tall are you and your husband? We can't fit a bed beside our king, but when we need it to be bigger, we just all sleep with our pillows along the side of the bed.

However, we're pretty small people.

Also, can you expand your bed at the head or foot instead of at the side? Perhaps by building a cot, so your little one's own bed can be at the end of the bed, rather than beside?

[lili-chan]

Two free/cheap ideas:

1) Buy cinder blocks and a piece of 1" plywood cut to the right size for the space. Make a makeshift bed with this.

2) Put your bed frame in storage and put your mattress on the floor. Put a mattress next to yours for DD to sleep on. If there's not enough space try a futon mattress folded over. Or a nice thick pile of blankets on top of a foam pad.