Do we really need a larger mattress?

[paintedfire]

My DF and I were talking the other day about buying a king-sized mattress before the baby is born. We're currently in a heavenly-soft queen. I love my bed.

I don't see the two of us (I'm 5', DF is 6') co-sleeping with a baby as being too much of a problem, but even my crunchy friends keep telling me that we'll need more room.

So, I'm here seeking the wisdom of those who have gone before us - buy a bigger mattress now (we're hoping - fingers crossed! - to have more children relatively soon after this one) or wait?

ETA: Money isn't an issue here, just the hassle of getting a king-sized mattress up two windy flights of stairs of the brownstone we just moved into.

[fruitfulmomma]

I love my king and actually would love more room sometimes, but no I don't think it is absolutely necessary. We only got the king after #4 was born. Before that we had a futon couch which is smaller than a full and we also had a full at one point. We could do 2 adults and 2 kids on those, though it was a tight squeeze.

[ciga]

We sleep in a queen with our 3 month old.
It works fine and we've even managed it in a full size when visiting family but I have to say I would LOVE more space. I end up not being able to move very much. I can just barely sleep on my back and as I'm staring down the reality of a soon to be more mobile baby I wish the edge of the bed wasn't so close. I have a barrier set up but still...
DH was out of town last week and having all that extra bed space was lovely. I missed him and everything but wow

I would say that if money is not an issue and you plan to have more kids soon just go for it now. Unless, of course, you plan on moving out of that brownstone before more babies come.

[Nicole730]

I don't think it is necessary, but I would love a king bed. We don't have room (or money) for one though.

[annmartina]

Our queen was perfectly fine for the three of us (DH, myself and DD) for quite a while. It started feeling small when she was somewhere in her second year. Since we wanted to continue cosleeping, we pushed a twin bed against the queen and now have a gigantic and very comfortable bed.

I think that you will be totally fine in a queen for at least baby's first year. If you plan to cosleep beyond that, you can revisit the issue when things start to get cozy. If you do have more little ones soon, there's no guarrantee that even a king will be big enough - it's all about preference and sleeping styles. Adding a twin to the side gives a lot more flexibility and offers additional options in the future, such as slowly moving the beds apart in order to gradually transition to separate spaces if you decide.

[Chloe'sMama]

DH, DD and I were in a queen for a year without a problem.... now that we have a king though, I can't imagine a smaller bed. #2 is on the way, and we are adding him or her to the mix, so 4 of us in the king should be interesting.

[LiLStar]

huge king fans here! When we visit family and sleep on a queen, dh usually ends up on the floor. What tends to happen is, if at any time there's one adult and a baby in the bed together, invariably the baby will position himself perfectly centered between parent 1 and the edge. Parent 2 comes back and finds not enough room on either side of baby! Then must choose between being so squished they're nearly falling off the bed, moving the baby, risking waking him (eek!) or sleeping on the couch.

once at mom's, dh was on the floor directly next to the bed and ds and I had the bed. Ds rolled off, his fall gently broken by dh's back. Rofl. Funny thing is, dh fully expected that to happen when he cose to sleep on the floor!
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[LiLStar]

oh... And we bought our king when I was pregnant. There simply was not enough room on the queen for dh, me, my belly, and the pillow nest required to support that belly!
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[paintedfire]

Thanks for all the replies.

I think we'll go ahead and order a king now seeing as we just moved here and have spare bedrooms without beds so our bed now can just go in one of those. Economics, really.

[JamieCatheryn]

We slept in the Full with our first til he was 6 months, then went up to the Queen we have now and have slept in in with our second. A king would be a luxury but by NO means needed. Babies sometimes kick in the middle of the night, many mornings DH complains he was being kicked all night long, a king would be good for that.

[Marsupialmom]

IMO, when you need more room you should go out and get a twin/full set and push it firmly up against your bed. That way it can be moved out when and if needed it.

When we started a queen was more than enough. Then we bought a king because the queen was old and needed to be replaced. Sometime between child #2 and # 3 we got twin mattresses up against a full. Then moved the twin out when the child wanted to move out.

[wombato]

We have a king, and we still get kicked all night long. And my son sleeps on my head sometimes!

I love my king, mostly because of the type of bed (a latex mattress, with some firm layers and some softer). It's pretty firm, was GREAT when I was pregnant, and I love the room. Then again, the 3 of us have survived sleeping on a queen and a full. The full was most miserable because it was also hot in the room.

Another aspect of our particular bed is that the overall height of mattress and support underneath is way lower than a regular bed. We don't put the mattress on the floor because we need it to "breathe." My son ended up falling off the bed a few times, but now doesn't do that (1 yr). He climbs down off the bed after a nap, sideways or backwards, legs first.

[JudiAU]

I did. In fact, I need a king for me and the baby. Dh sleeps in another room. I get much much more sleep this way and (this) baby is much happier with room to roll around. Dh sleeps better too. We all slept together when the toddler was little and there was never enough room. We all would have been happier if we had made the adjustment then.

The key? Be flexible and give yourself options when you understand your needs and the baby's needs.

[russsk]

I was so glad we had a king when DS was born. Now that DS is two and we have another on the way I'm REALLY glad. I have no idea what to do when the baby comes, though, as it seems like there is hardly enough room as it is, and our bedroom is really small so there's no space for another twin.

If getting a king into your house is an issue, look into latex. We got a Savvyrest and it comes in four big boxes that I had no problem hauling up the stairs and putting together by myself. Getting our old mattress our of the house was not nearly as easy. We moved that bed into a tiny apartment and a small house, both with narrow, winding staircases, and I'm sure we took a few years off it's life by doing so. To get in and out of the first place we had to use rope to fold it nearly in half. That couldn't have been good for the springs.

[wombato]

That was not true of my latex mattress. It had been assembled into a standard king size mattress. The man at the mattress store sewed the covering on himself. So...it was a big heavy blob of sand!

[paintedfire]

Originally Posted by russsk

If getting a king into your house is an issue, look into latex. We got a Savvyrest and it comes in four big boxes that I had no problem hauling up the stairs and putting together by myself. Getting our old mattress our of the house was not nearly as easy. We moved that bed into a tiny apartment and a small house, both with narrow, winding staircases, and I'm sure we took a few years off it's life by doing so. To get in and out of the first place we had to use rope to fold it nearly in half. That couldn't have been good for the springs.

Originally Posted by wombato

That was not true of my latex mattress. It had been assembled into a standard king size mattress. The man at the mattress store sewed the covering on himself. So...it was a big heavy blob of sand!

Thanks for the help girls, but kind of moot for me: I'm allergic to latex. I'm allergic to most things, actually.

Your descriptions of your mattresses made me laugh, though - I, too, have wrangled a mattress up tiny stairs and shortened it's life by doing so. And "blob of sand" is just funny.

[Artichokie]

we cosleep on a queen. We did sidecar a crib to it about 6 months ago because dd (who is 2 and 3 ft tall) has started sleeping sideways in bed and I was sleeping at the foot of the bed like a dog. When we sleep in a hotel a king is a wonderful luxury and we enjoy the room, but it hasn't been necessary. You might also consider adding a twin mattress next to your queen for extra room if you need it at some future date.

[rightkindofme]

My daughter has wiggled completely horizontally since she was about 8 months old. I sleep like the dead and defend my space when encroached upon. My husband wakes up when he is shoved at so we have really appreciated the extra space in a king. Now that #2 is almost here I suspect I will move to the queen with the new baby for the first few months before coming back once the new one is sturdier.

Man I love having a big bed.