anyone do a montessori floor bed?

[tzs]

i don't know if this belongs in "nighttime" because i'm not talking about a family bed in any sense of the word. not even a family bedroom.

i've been reading about the montessori floor bed and it sounds just right for my 10 m/o babe. she sleeps in her own room and usually goes to sleep pretty easily after some rolling around. i'm thinking since she's pretty good at sleeping and falling asleep independently and also at entertaining herself for short periods after waking up in the morning (she either babbles or dumps out a small toy basket) that a bed on the floor in her room might be great for her as she could crawl out when she awoke. i guess i just don't see any point of her being confined to the crib since she just starts screaming when she's ready to come out anyway.

but we haven't done this from day one, obviously, so i imagine there might be some adjustment.
any other experiences with this out there?

[carmel23]

This will probably get moved to the Montessori subsection of "Learning at School" (yes! there is a Montessori subsection) and you can search there, too for other threads about floor beds.

But I am going to do a Montessori floor bed, as I did with my Daughter around 1 year. But I am going to set up my little one's bed now, sharing a room with my 3 yo daughter. My little one currently co-sleeps, but is crawling very well and ready to be on the floor, or at least have the option of his own bed.

It will be more complicated, since he will share a room with a preschooler, but the room will be baby proof (I just have a doll house with little pieces to relocate!).

A twin mattress on boards on boards is what we'll do.(simple slats). The twin mattress is big and sturdy enough to not need a floor bed (like the beautiful but impractically expensive ones in the michael olaf montessori catalog).

Then just make it like a bed with a bottom sheet and a light safe quilt.

It is handy to have a baby gate to put in front of the door for when baby does wake up, and you can hear baby but baby can't wonder-- and the gate can be easily removed for when it is okay to wander. Our bedrooms in our house are very close together, and I can hear all the kids talking in their beds.

A twin mattress will also afford us the opportunity to continue nursing and some capacity of co-sleeping

[ann_of_loxley]

With a baby so young - no. We happily co-sleep in our divan.

But I clicked on this post because at the moment - this is exactly what is happening with our four (soon to be five) year old. I NEVER encouraged it. It just seems to be the natural progression he has made!

I never had (and still don't) any interest to dictate when my children should be sleeping independently. I always figured that they will come to that in thier own time! (when my son was at your childs stage - he would get up before me and could safely get off our bed to play on the floor with his toys) Especially as I was expecting another baby! He is now 11 weeks old and obviously in our bed! We mostly have a divan (and not a matress on the floor) because our house is small and we can put things under it in the drawers! hehe But it has been so hot lately that our son has started to sleep on the floor. I woke up one morning and there he was - he had made himself a little next with a pillow and a few blankets. Apparently he told me it is much cooler there for him. That nest is still there and it has been a few weeks now!

I think its a brill idea if your child is ready for it! For us it has been a very natural thing to do - or so it seems!

[Ilovesunshine]

We haven't done a Montessori style floor bed as such, but we co-slept with my son (2yo on Saturday) up until about 2 months ago. We have an Arm's Reach co-sleeper that turned out to be an expensive laundry basket So he was in bed with us, which was lovely, but I'm pregnant with babe #2 due in Sept, and was starting to need more space, and not get kicked in the head etc.

So what we did was put a single (twin) mattress on my side of the bed, wedged in between our bed (which is quite low anyway) and the wall. He now sleeps there very happily, and I expect he will transition easily to his own room when he is ready.

In your case, as you aren't co-sleeping, I'd do what Carmel23 suggested, and gate the room until babe is okay to wander around on her own. And if it isn't working for you, just go back to the crib and try again in a few months. With my son, I think we transitioned him into his own space at the perfect time, as he obviously wanted his own space, and was starting to get quite restless at night. After the first couple of days adjustment, when he got back into bed with us every time he woke up, he was sleeping right through.

Just follow your daughter, and do what feels right for you

[mom2happy]

I dont know anything about Montessori , but dont like cribs.
As my babies transitioned out of my bed I put them onto twin sized mattresses on the floor. It worked very well. I felt much better with them closer to the floor.

[vulnerable]

I just set this up yesterday for my soon to be 11 month old. I have been cosleeping with her since birth but I thought this might be a better idea for me. I am pregnant and had back surgery in March and she crawls and turns and kicks all night long and I was tired from having a bad night sleep or having a backache the next day from sleeping on the edge of my bed.

Last night was the first night we tried it and worked out great. She slept all night and so did I. When she woke up she just climbed into bed with me. It was actually pretty cute lol.

[russsk]

DS has been in a floor bed since he was 8 months. He still sleeps most of the night in our bed, but he does naps and starts the night off in his bed. It's worked very well for us.

[dancingflower]

Hey, I haven't used it yet. So, not much help. But I super support your initiative because in theory the floor bed seems like a perfect arrangement to positively foster exploration and independence. I love Montessori.

DS is 5mo. We cosleep and are planning to continue. Our own bed is on the floor. We didn't have a nursery but now that my Mom just moved out we are setting his bedroom with a floor bed. We mean to use the bed for naps, reading time and maybe beginning of the night before me and DH go to bed. The good thing is that you can nurse him on the bed.

But what really hooked me up on the concept was the whole bedroom set up to support the floor bed. The idea that it's a baby-friendly room, not just baby-proof. Where everything is in the child's hight and free for exploration.

Well, I heard that the child will eventually learn the borders of the mattress, but only after falling from bed a few times. A low mattress is appropriate. Our mattress is higher than I wanted so we got these cushions in an asian store that are made of straw and kind of flat (look like japanese tatami) to place around the bed. They can be pilled up to make a floor seat.

Google search never got me to enough results on people who are using it in practice. But theory itself is encouraging enough.

[Blueone]

We started with one, but when he wakes up he gets into everything. We also share a room right now because I'm staying with family while my husband is deployed so as much as I'd like, I can't fully baby proof the room. So we use a crib for naps and when he wakes in the morning I put him in it so that I can take a few moments to wake up. I also put him in it for the start of night, otherwise we still co-sleep.

[hildare]

this is a great thread!
i actually posted on mdc a few weeks back about putting a twin size mattress on the floor in dd's room to start off the night (we still cosleep) just for a mommy and daddy break. we haven't done it yet, but i LOVE what i've been reading about this. i especially love the little rooms with art at the child's eye level. what a great idea! <3 (and i'm no stranger to montessori classroom ways, i just never knew about montessori-style family life!)

[kismetbaby]

Not sure this quite counts as the same thing, but instead of a crib we put a toddler mattress on the floor next to our bed when DS started crawling (and therefor falling out of our bed). We still co-sleep for most of the night, but for naps he sleeps on his mattress. And he likes it actually b/c when he wakes he can just come crawling out of the room. He also currently loves to pull up to standing against on our bed while on his mattress. I am really liking the way it gives us options for both bed-sharing and having our own spaces (i.e. DH and I sometimes get the bed to ourselves for the first part of the night). And I don't worry about him falling off the bed during naps and I see it as a nice first step in him having his own bed.

We plan to avoid cribs altogether. When he is ready I would certainly consider keeping his mattress on the floor in his own room. If we had the space I might even try having him nap in his own room, but we have a tiny house and no "nursery". But we set-up that side of the bed as his own little nest. . .he has access to books and lovies.

[Mamabeakley]

What a cool idea! I have mold/dust issues if our mattresses are on the floor, but it's a neat concept!

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by Mamabeakley

What a cool idea! I have mold/dust issues if our mattresses are on the floor, but it's a neat concept!

We have it on slats, so it isn't just on the floor, and I weekly change the sheet and vacuum under the bed. So far, so good

[tzs]

i think i want to at least try it. she has her own room and it's pretty bare already since i've been meaning to paint it etc... i'll just have to take out some extra junk that doesn't need to be in there and then she could crawl aroudn as much as she wants when she wakes up.

the extra matresses we have are too high for the concept although at 10 months i think she could handle it but we do have a foam matress topper that i could use for a test drive before actually buying a futon matress or whatever.

i'm really into it. i've hated our hand me down drop-side crib from day one.

i found these cool looking examples
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Oh wow.

So DD has slept on a double futon on the floor in her room for the past 3.5 years. I co-slept with her at first but now she sleeps independently. We also have small baskets for her stuff and much of it is on the floor. I had NO IDEA I could call this a "Montessori bedroom" rather than "a futon on the floor with toys strewn around".

I joke about this, but we've always figured if ain't broke...

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by tzs

i think i want to at least try it. she has her own room and it's pretty bare already since i've been meaning to paint it etc... i'll just have to take out some extra junk that doesn't need to be in there and then she could crawl aroudn as much as she wants when she wakes up.

the extra matresses we have are too high for the concept although at 10 months i think she could handle it but we do have a foam matress topper that i could use for a test drive before actually buying a futon matress or whatever.

i'm really into it. i've hated our hand me down drop-side crib from day one.

i found these cool looking examples
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

I lovelovelove that example! Funny, I'm (still) making that same mobile for my lo. Most of the mamas in my DDC made them.

[tzs]

Originally Posted by Perdita_in_Ontario

Oh wow.

So DD has slept on a double futon on the floor in her room for the past 3.5 years. I co-slept with her at first but now she sleeps independently. We also have small baskets for her stuff and much of it is on the floor. I had NO IDEA I could call this a "Montessori bedroom" rather than "a futon on the floor with toys strewn around".

I joke about this, but we've always figured if ain't broke...

oh yeah...apparently you are totally montessori. nice to know you were following a method, eh?

[Bellabaz]

Originally Posted by Perdita_in_Ontario

Oh wow.

So DD has slept on a double futon on the floor in her room for the past 3.5 years. I co-slept with her at first but now she sleeps independently. We also have small baskets for her stuff and much of it is on the floor. I had NO IDEA I could call this a "Montessori bedroom" rather than "a futon on the floor with toys strewn around".

I joke about this, but we've always figured if ain't broke...

We did something simlar for dd1 when she was a little over a year. I had no idea there was a method behind it. We are thinking of doing it soon with dd2 as well.

[BeckyBird]

We cosleep, and a few days ago, I woke up because something was tickling my ankle. It was Arianna! She can crawl now, and she was on a fast track to crawling off the bed! So that same day, I brought a small mattress into our bedroom. I put it on the floor, and babyproofed the rest of our bedroom. So now, she has her own little bed on our floor, and I can lie there with her if needed. She is asleep there right now, and I don't have to worry about her rolling off. It is a great relief. I still have the monitor in there, so I'll know when she wakes up.

So OP, I recommend a floor bed!

[cocoanib]

This is a wonderful idea. Seems like the natural way to go to keep baby safe.
I also like the idea of having their things close to where they can get them and interact.

I will definitely be doing this when and if we get more room. Right now we live in a 1 bedroom and DD sleeps with us. There is no room for another mattress in our room, even a small one.