Help with co-sleeper side car

[lilikoi]

I am expecting my first baby in a couple months and I am still reluctant on what type of sleeping arrangements to make. I was hoping someone in the forum would be able to help me out.

I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment and my bed is small. There is no way we can get a bigger bed because we wouldn't be able to open our closet door. I thought the best option would be to get a Arms Reach Mini Co-Sleeper and have that right next to our bed, so if things get too tight, I can put the baby right next to me. However, I can't find any information online on how long can a baby sleep in a cosleeper for. I want to get something that will serve us until the baby is at least 1 year old (and can be placed there for naps without constant supervision) and it seems like this cosleeper has really low sides and when the baby starts to move around I will need something else. I am a minimalist person and hate buying things that I don't know they will actually work. I wish I could get a bigger bed so I wouldn't have to get a side car, but oh well!

Does anyone here have experience with side car cossleepers? Would you mind sharing your thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[Sfcmama]

Our DD outgrew the cosleeper when she started rolling over at about 5 months, maybe sooner. The directions say (if I remember) that the cosleeper is safe until they can get onto hands and knees but dd was able to hook a leg over the side shortly after she started rolling over. We switched to a full-sized side car crib and could have easily done with just that from the beginning. We also have a 1 bedroom and it takes a lot of space but makes our lives sooo much easier. If/when I were to do it again, I'd go straight to the full sized crib.
Hth!!

[colsxjack]

We had the Arm's Reach co-sleeper. But the regular sized one.
Our DD used it until she was about 6 or 7 months. We were a little nervous about her trying to climb out of it and flipping over the side. She was already crawling. But she wasn't a very active sleeper at that time and always makes noise when she first wakes before trying to get out of bed. So we used a moniter and just went in to her after a nap as soon as she woke.

Another option if you want something until they are a year or so would be a mini crib. It is smaller than a full sized crib but still has higher sides. But by a year your baby will be crawling or walking, and so you always have to do something (like put mattress on floor) to keep them from flipping off the bed.

We had a small room too. We opened our closet door and kept it open and moved the dresser out of the room. The co-sleeper/crib was on that side of the bed and there was enough room between it and the wall to walk sideways around it and get to the closet. We couldn't close the door but got used to it that way.

[Snapdragon]

we used the arm's reach sleigh bed style co sleeper for ds - and now we have a side carred crib. I Love our sleeping arrangement. I am a 1st time mom and I didn't know that my baby would out grow the arms' reach co sleeper after 3 months! I guess he could have stayed in it a little longer but it was getting small. So then we got a crib and side carred it. But the arm's reach was great in the beginning because it was small- so it was cozy for a newborn. But if you are looking to save money and not buy two things, I guess you could start right with the side carring crib. We have a queen sized bed and dh and I really like to have the space to ourselves- and then ds is right next to me in the sidecarred crib so it works really well for us! I liked the sleigh bed version of the arms reach, but I did have to get a different mattress for it, as the one it came from looked really uncomfortable!