Should I move from co-sleeping to sidecar or toddler bed?

[Sharon, RN]

DS#2 is 9 months old. He has co-slept since birth. Thing are ok, but not great. When dh is at work, it's better, since ds will sleep on one side of the bed, and I'll sleep on the other. :-) When DH is home, its ok, but DS wakes up much more often at night. I'm tired. My DH also just told me (after, oh, 9 months!) that he doesn't sleep real well either, because he's nervous with the baby in the bed. :-( So, I'd been considering side-carring a crib for a while now, but I'm lazy.

Anyway, I need to have surgery next month, which will involve a somewhat painful recovery. I know I will be on pain medication, and this makes me not want to sleep with the baby. So I figured now will be as good a time as any to figure out a sleeping solution.

My dh suggested getting a kid-sized air mattress next to our mattress. Our mattress and boxspring are on the floor. I'm not thrilled with this idea because we have dogs and I'm sure they are going to either pop the air mattress or think it's a dog bed. :-)

So, I'm thinking either side-carring a crib or getting a toddler bed and putting that next to our mattress. I'm just not sure if he's too young for a toddler bed? Too old for a crib? I don't know. I co-slept with DS#1 and he was much easier.

WWYD? Thanks ladies and gents!

[Artichokie]

i like the sidecared crib b.c it is contained on three sides so no worries about the kid falling out or crawling away in the niddle of the night. Of course that would involve putting your mattress at the same height as the crib and not on the floor.

With the surgical recovery (depending on what part of your body it is), you may find it hard to get into bed when it is that low to the ground, anyway and may need to put your mattress on a bedframe just so it is easier to get in and out of.

[Sharon, RN]

Applesauce, thanks for the reply! I decided to go with side-carring a crib, and I was able to score a nice crib from Craigslist today.

I need to have surgery on my ear and part of my skull. My balance will be affected for a while, so maybe raising the bed WOULD be a good idea. I'll talk to my dh about that.

Thanks again for the advice.

[josh&davesmomme]

our crib was origninally side carred to our bed on the frame, but when we rearranged our room we decided to get rid of the frame we are still able to have the crib side carred with just the box spring and mattress on the floor- our crib has a low enough setting, so *if* you want to keep your mattress/boxspring on the floor you may be able to -check your crib's settings