Sidecar crib to start off?

[AliceMay]

Baby is due in 4 weeks. We have a Moses basket, but haven't figured out what sleeping arrangements will be. My ideal is co-sleeping, with the baby right beside me. (I know I haven't done it yet....it's just what my instincts are telling me will feel right.) DH is  concerned about safety/space in the bed, and I sort of think he may be right, that there isn't enough room for us to do this and feel safe. However, I've read everything people have said about how great it is to be able to nurse and have the baby right beside you rather than in a bassinet, even right beside the bed, where you have to lift the baby out. Not that lifting the baby out would be a big deal, and I know we will be up and down a lot at first, but I figure there would be times I wouldn't put the baby back and then I would worry about safety. Seems to me it would be better to plan for having the baby in bed than end up doing it without all the safety in mind. Also, bed is not very low - dh finds it hard to get out of a low bed so though I know it would be safest to have mattress on the floor I don't think that's a great option for us.

I read about turning a crib into a side car and that sounds like it could be great - then we'd essentially just have a bigger bed, and I wouldn't worry. Could we do this from the start? Any concerns about a newborn in this situation? We don't have a crib yet - what should I be looking for if we want to make it a side-car? Anything to watch out for?

Sorry for all the details but I'd love any advice you have. It's starting to feel like we should have this organized by now....

[CherryBombMama]

we did it from the start. it was great :) the only concerns would be to make sure baby couldnt slip through the crack between the mattress and the crib, but there are ways to fix that. we folded a really thick blanket that essentially covered all of the crib, covered the crack, then covered most of the top of our bed, so the crack was never an issue in the beginning. 

[AliceMay]

Thanks! Glad it worked for you and hope it works for us!

[Sfcmama]

We started with an arms reach cosleeper and then moved to a side car crib and I would HANDS DOWN go directly to a sidecar the next time!!! DH wouldnt go for the bed on the floor and I was really nervous about dh being a heavy sleeper so dd didn't sleep in between us for the first 3 months or so... I really wish we'd had the extra space of the side car crib then!!! We bought a piece of foam to fill the gap (against the rail) and wrapped it with an extra crib sheet. There are some great websites with pictures.
We also had a boppy lounger (http://shopboppy.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_37&zenid=78ddbeb692301f0dcb72eb11620a841f) the first few months because dd needed a bit of an incline. Other than that, it's been easy breezy!!! Love it to death!!! Now, dd often sleeps cuddled up next to dh and I use the side car for a bit of extra room for myself (an arm or leg).
Thank goodness the cosleeper was a hand me down or I'd really regret having bought it! Hope this helps. Good luck!

[gemasita]

We haven't done the side-carred crib yet but I wish we would have gone ahead and set it up before DS was born. We have a soft mattress so we set up a co-sleeper but DS is almost never in it - he's in my arms instead. I would love to have a separate sleep surface flush with mine. If I could do it over, I would go ahead and set up the side-carred crib beforehand.

[sachakcollins]

With my first child we ended up co-sleeping out of necessity but I started out co-sleeping with my second baby from day one, in the bed with me. I say it would be a good idea to feel it out first. If you don't feel comfortable with your baby in your bed after you try it then maybe do a side-car crib setup? I would do lots of research on safe co-sleeping. For me, I did lower my bed a little and I pushed it up against the wall. I always laid the baby between me and the wall and I used a body pillow behind her just to make sure she didn't end up with her head bumping the wall or something in the middle of the night. In the early months you have to be very careful about fluffy bedding and anything baby could get trapped or entangled in. Never put baby in between you and your spouse as Dad's aren't as in tuned with baby's presence as Mom. I personally feel that they are safer next to you than in a crib because at any moment you can see exactly where baby is and what's going on. I used a convertible crib to make a side-car setup at around 6 months. After you push the crib mattress flush to your mattress there is inevitably a space on the other side of the crib mattress. I simply used my body pillow to stick in there which also acted as a bumper. Which with a younger baby you want to be careful because of suffocation. If you google it, you can find lots of great images and tutorials on how to do this. I have seen people who have done it form day one, but it's all about your comfort level and what you think is going to be safest for your baby. The early weeks are mostly survival mode when it comes to sleep, you eventually find what works best for you :) Best of luck!