co-sleeping--what to expect w/ toddler and new baby

[lotusma]

nak'ing...

i've always co-slept, but this will be the first time a new baby will make an arrival before current youngest toddler/child transitions to big-kid bed. (which, ime, happens between 3 and 4)

my youngest atm is newly 2 and very much prefers to sleep w/ his entire back side nestled against me in bed. we have a very large california king size bed, but unfortunately, it sits in a (beautiful) frame (that i'm not willing to get rid of) very high off the ground, so butting mattresses on the floor is not an option.

having toddler-child "nestle" w/ dad is not an option because dh is an unpredictabe insomniac--never knowing where he'll choose to sleep on a nightly basis.

anybody btdt and can share successful arrangements? i'm currently looking for a craigslist toddler bed to put in my room, but i just don't think he's ready for that yet. and tbh, i'm not really sure how i would even go about helping him to get ready since he's still so little.

how are we going to do this?

[Katie T]

DS was 21 months when DD was born. We have a different set up so I am not sure you would be comfortable with this but I will share anyways.

We have a mattress and box spring on the floor and then we had a guard on the edge then DD then me, then DS and then dh. It was crowded but worked just fine. Now that we have a 3 1/2yo and a 2yo we have moved dh to the couch (he is fine with it) and I have taken the guard down and we are all huddled in the middle of the king size bed. It went much smoother than I had imagined before I had dd so I was pleased.