Sidecar questions

[Mariposa40]

Hi folks, we have been co-sleeping with our 6 month old son since he was born and let us know that first night that he didn't want to sleep in the bassinet. But he is a BIG 6 month old, and our bed is starting to seem very small. So, we are thinking of side carring a crib. My parents have sweetly offered to buy us a crib.

My first question is what crib to side car. I'm leaning towards getting a convertible crib since it would be designed to work with only 3 sides. Has anyone had luck with this?

My second question is how to keep DS safe when he is in the bed without us (i.e., when he goes to bed earlier, or for naps). How do other parents keep their baby from crawling out of the side car and then rolling off the big mattress?

Thanks,

[haurelia]

Hi there!
We did a side-car setup when our son was around your babe's age...maybe a little older. He was already crawling, I remember that (it wasn't that long ago, but things sure do get fuzzy!). When considering the side car setup, I used this website as a guide. We just used a regular, non-convertible crib with one side removed. Our crib frame is lashed to our bed frame with thick plastic zip ties and we used high density foam to make a bumper to push the crib mattress flush with the big bed. We didn't do the bungee cord step that she shows on her the website, and we don't have the crib pushed up next to the wall...our bed is in the center of the room, and we've had no problems with movement or shifting.

To guard against crawling out we put a bed rail on DH's side of the bed, and usually put a body pillow between the crib and the bed proper for naps or bedtime before we came in to sleep. But, that was a pretty weak defense. Basically, we could count on him making some noise when he woke, and get to our room in time for him to roll over and start crawling. He did fall out of bed once though, which was entirely my fault for not going up to him right away (just had to get those last few dishes into the dishwasher...). Now, he can get himself out of bed safely on his own, so I don't worry about it.

The other thing we've tried in the past was to put the crib mattress a bit lower than the big mattress, to create a sort of "pit" for the babe, so he'd have a harder time rolling/crawling out. I didn't like it, because I like to nurse him off to sleep and I couldn't do that on uneven surfaces. I'd have to move him from the big bed to the crib once he was asleep, which was sure to wake him.

We still use a side car for DS at 19 months. It's nice, especially now that he likes to sleep sideways, although he still usually crawls in with us toward the early morning. It's all good though-even if he's not in it, it gives us extra room if I need to sleep on the very edge of the big bed and put arms/legs/whatever into the crib. The only downside is not being able to have a bedside table, although if you were to secure your crib a bit down toward the foot of the big bed, you'd have room for a little table, I'd bet. Best wishes!

[Sfcmama]

The website mentioned above was helpful to us too. We already had a crib but I would have bought a convertible one if we were starting from scratch. For naps and early bed, I use pillows to block and run to dd at the first signs of waking. (I wrote an earlier post about how getting a used video monitor saved our family bed ;0) DD isnt crawling yet so this system may need revising at that point...
At any rate, I love having the extra space! Good luck!

[CherryBombMama]

we had a body pillow in place of the missing rail. the only time ds fell out was when i forgot to put the pillow there

[Mariposa40]

More Questions -- keeping sidecar safe

Thanks everyone for your responses. We bought a crib (well, my parents bought it for us), and it has arrived. We plan to set it up this weekend. Just in time! Our DS is really starting to move. He's still not officially crawling (at least i don't think so -- I become less and less certain of what is official), but he can scootch very effectively on his tummy. This means that he can now get over the pillows we have been using as barriers around him when he naps. Yesterday while I was at work DH had him napping in the bed, with pillows all around, and came running in when he heard wails of despair. DS had crawled/scootched right over the pillows and the edge of the bed and fallen to the floor. Fortunately he does not seem to have been seriously hurt -- just scared, but it scared us, too. And now I am once again wondering what to do.

I want to sidecar the crib. I love co-sleeping. It allows me to get sleep, DS to get sleep, he feels secure and loved, and after a long day at work it allows me to reconnect to my little one. But I won't always be able to be in bed with him. If he is napping or if he goes to bed earlier, I won't be there, and I need to know that he is safe. We don't have room (or money) to set up two cribs. I wish there were a way to add the fourth side of the crib just for naps. Some enterprising crib company should make a side car crib that does that, but perhaps that would have the same problems as drop side cribs.

Anyway, I am now concerned about using a body pillow as a barrier for nap times or the mythical early bedtimes (getting DS's sleep schedule adjusted is another goal, but that's a topic for another thread). Based on his recent activity, he can climb right over that pillow, and we might not hear him in time. Any other ideas?

maybe I should attach bells to the pillow, like the type you put on cats so the bird hears them coming.

If you have suggestions of how to keep my little escape artist safe, please share.

[haurelia]

Sorry to hear about the fall...it happens to lots of folks though, so don't feel too badly about it.
You had a good idea about putting something noisy on the pillows. I remembered that we would put a noisy toy (crinkle or rattle or bell) on top of the body pillow to alert us when he was getting ready to go over the pillow.

I remember thinking that there should be an invention like you described, too, with just adding a 4th side for naps or early bedtimes.

I also thought that maybe you could try putting some laundry baskets in place of the body pillow, maybe with some weight in them, like big books, or heavy pans or something? That way, it's not something that he could easily move, but it's something that air can flow through and will keep him contained. Just a thought.

I hope you find something that works well for your LO. Keep trying!

[Mariposa40]

On my drive to work a thought came to me. I was thinking there ought to be something like a baby gate for sidecar cribs. Then I thought about how they make crib tents to keep babies from climbing out of cribs, and I thought maybe I could make a sort of baby gate out of fabric. I'd use a loose weave, like the mesh that the sides of playpens are made out of, and create loops that would snap or velcro around the sides of the crib, and somehow snap or velcro it to the mattress, too. It would be breathable material, so not a suffocation risk, and it might work for now to keep him in the crib. It wouldn't be a permanent solution, I realize, but I don't need something permanent. Once he is old enough to learn how to get in and out of bed on his own, safely, I'll be less worried. But right now he is just learning how to move and he hasn't begun to learn that there are sometimes negative consequences of leaping without looking.

What do you think? What have I overlooked? does what I'm describing sound safe? Useful?

Donna