Any Recommendations on Setting Up a Family Room?

[landofoz]

Our son is five months. He has a room with a crib, but he has never slept there. Our room has a king size bed and a pack and play. I try to have him fall asleep on his own in the pack and play. That happens about 50% of the time, the other times I lay down with him in our bed. When he falls asleep on his own, he usually wakes up around 4am and I bring him into our bed at that time. I don't mind having him in our bed when he wakes up, but I do want him to fall asleep on his own without someone laying down with him every night because I don't want to have to go to bed with him and i like having time alone with DH in our bed.  I do like him being in our room, though. We have a split level and our room is on a different level than all the others so that makes me way less likely to put him in his own room. So I am considering maybe a family bedroom, but our room is maybe 16x20, but with some cutouts that limit some of the space so not huge. We hope to start trying for baby number 2 maybe in January so I also want to be keep it open to accommodate another kid in the future.  He seems much more comfortable in our bed than his pack and play, even when I don't lay down with him in our bed so I am thinking a mattress would be nicer for him than a pack and play.

If you have a family bedroom, what is your setup like, especially if you don't have a huge space?

Do you keep a bed for your child in their bedroom so they have a place to go whenever they are ready to sleep on their own?

Any recommendations in this situation? If I can figure out the layout I am considering either a twin with bumpers (we use bumpers in our bed, but he has never come close to needing them, but he is also just now learning to roll from back to front) or a crib.

Thanks for any input or suggestions!

[mamaforever]

There are a lot of different options out there, so it just depends on what's going to work for your whole family.  Here are a few options:

1) Setting up his crib in your room as a "sidecar crib" may be a good option for you because it allows for bed sharing, but you and DH still have your own "space."  Here is a link to pictures and instructions on setting up a sidecar crib:

http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/turn-your-crib-into-cosleeper.html.  I plan to do this when we have baby #2 (we are going to starting trying this summer).

2) Put a twin mattress on the floor for the little one.  Or if you want to have his twin bed up higher, you could put it snug between the wall and the king bed.  Just make sure you fill any gaps with blankets or other material.  Or use bed rails or bumpers like you mentioned in your post.

3) Put your king mattress on the floor AND the twin mattress on the floor side by side.  So then it's one big HUGE family bed, but baby has his own space and mom and dad have their own space.

4) Have the crib in your room next to the bed without sidecarring the crib.  Crib mattresses (and twin mattresses) are probably a lot more comfortable than pack and plays.

I know there's a lot more options out there.  I would just suggest to not worry about accommodating baby #2 yet.  Sleep arrangements can change depending on the child's changing needs and/or adding another baby to the family.  Our sleeping arrangement at the moment (my son is 2 years old) is that he has a queen bed mattress on the floor in his own room.  I have been sleeping there with him because my husband works nights so isn't home anyway during the night.  I'm not in a rush to have my son sleep by himself yet, but when the time comes, he will just continue sleeping on his queen mattress on the floor and I will move into my and husband's bedroom again!  But I will make sure that my son knows that he is always welcome to come into our bedroom and sleep with us, but he will be encouraged to at least start the night in his own room.

I hope you find an arrangement that works best for your whole family!

[newlyminted]

I think you may have to try a few things to see what works for you. At the moment we have our little one in bed with us and I don't forsee moving him anytime soon (he's only 9mo). When I do feel like it's time, I plan to try to transition him to his own bed in our room first, so kind of what you are thinking of. Have you ever looked into the Montessori floor bed concept?

Sorry I don't have any links for you but the theory is (broadly) to control your child's environment rather than your child. You would set up a matress on the floor (crib, twin, futon, even a thick pallet) and baby proof the room. Baby won't get hurt if he rolls off because it's already on the floor (with twin you may want to use blanket to cushion the floor since it's a little higher) and since the room is baby-proofed you don't have to worry about him getting into things he shouldn't (he's probably fine for now but you won't have much longer until he's mobile!).  Also, a matress makes it easier to comfort/nurse the wee one as opposed to a crib or playpen. I am in favour of a futon/pallet type arrangement for awkward rooms because crib/twin matresses are a lot bigger than they need to be and you could set up something shorter to accomodate your space.

we have completely done away with Finn's own room. It's a office/guest room now. Finn is super mobile and LOVES standing up so I am a) afraid he's going to try and climb out of a crib--and succeed b) fairly certain he would stand up in a play pen and scream bloody murder until I let him out if I tried it! Floor bed seems like a good theory for our situation. Hopefully you find something that works for you.

Whatever you do settle on, be prepared to have to change things a bit when the crawling/standing/walking begins!