Planning for co-sleeping with #2

[northcountrymamma]

So dd will be nearly 7 when the baby arrives, sleeps on her own in her own room at her own choosing since the age of 4. We have a 2 bdrm house, which is fine because our plan is for baby to sleep in our room as long as is required.

My question is...what is a good newborn set up when DP is set on the fact that he doesn't want to put our bed on the ground? (He has severe dust allergies and feels that this would potentially worsen them - which I think is warranted).

Our bed is not terribly high off the ground, but high enough... There is not room to attach a crib to the side of the bed like a sidecar and I don't like arms reach cosleepers because what I have seen of them, there are two different levelled surfaces. We have a queen size bed and is cannot be pushed up against the wall on one side right now due to our furniture and unless we got rid of a dresser (which seems unlikely since we will need more space, rather than less) we can't find a way to put it against the wall.

Any suggestions for co-sleeping with relative ease? Dd and I shared a queen size bed with no problem...add another person, I'm not sure how it would work. I don't think I want to have DP in another room.

I knwo we'll make it work...but I'm just wondering if there are any great ideas out there.

I've thought about having a hammock or bassinet instead of sharing a bed...but I have reservations about not having baby right in bed with me. (though may still do one for nap time)

TIA for any thoughts!!!!

[ErinYay]

Our bed was higher than the Arm's Reach mattress when it was in the bassinet position, and never cause any trouble. There's a lip built into the cosleeper anyhow. If your bed is lower than the cosleeper, you can get little lifts for the legs. If the bed is higher, it works pretty slick still. It's a lot easier to reach down a few inches than reaching up.

I have nothing but great thing to say about the Arm's Reach cosleepers, as you may tell from my other posts here!

For in-bed cosleeping, DH and I currently have a queen, and we do okay in it with a taaaall 7 month old, but we're also both pretty thin. We will be upgrading to a king in the fall, though.

[*~megan~*]

How about guard rails or a co-sleeping pillow, like the Tres Tria or Humanity family Bed? The guard rails, while not as soft as the other options, would not take away any sleeping surface area. We had that setup for a while before putting our box spring directly on the floor.

[Hokulele]

I agree with the PP - sounds like you need guard rails. We have them on both sides of our bed. Our bed is high off the ground and it isn't possible to put it against a wall.

The guard rails not only stop little ones from rolling off the bed in their sleep, but they actually gave us more space on the bed. Many nights there are four of us in bed together. My girls are super snuggly! I can sleep right up against a bed rail and while sometimes it isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, it isn't really that bad. And is sure beats hanging on to the edge of a mattress so I don't fall out of bed!!

[northcountrymamma]

guard rails...like the kind I had as a kid who fell out of bed every night...wonder why I didn't think of these.

Any chance of babe being entrapped between the rail and the mattress? From what I remember of them they were not attached so permanently.

I like the humanity bed, but I think in a queen size bed that's pushing it for space. I want to be able to maintain dp and I sleeping together.

We have however, considered a bunk bed system for dd's room so on the nights when baby isn't sleeping well we can go into the double bed on the bottom to sleep so dp can still get up for work well rested. Dd sleeps through anything and everything.

[Hokulele]

The guard rails we have are attached to a long strap that hitches against the opposite side of the mattress. Then you tighten the strap as much as you need to so that the rail is really flush against the bed. It works well and I never worried about my newborns getting stuck in there.

Funny you should mention your bunk bed idea for your older DD. In my older DD's room, she sleeps in a queen bed. I wouldn't have chosen that, but that was the bed we had (and it is the most comfortable bed any of us have ever been in!) so that's what she got when she moved up from her toddler bed.

The great thing about having the queen in there is that if we're having a rough night DH can go sleep with DD1 in her queen. Then my toddler and I can be as restless as we want to be in my bed without bothering DH. It has really worked out well for us.