Logistics help! Big DH, small bed and room

[cedarwoman]

We're moving to a new (smaller-but-nicer) place just before the baby is born, and I can't find a crib that will fit in the room with our bed! We sleep in a queen bed and DH is quite large (he has to sleep kind of diagonally to fit on the bed) and we can't put the mattress on the floor (he has really bad allergies and the 'trial run' of mattress on the floor was a disaster). We can't afford a king sized bed.

I'm wondering if anyone has any brilliant ideas so that we can cosleep maybe at least some of the time? I was thinking of getting an Arm's Reach Cosleeper to start with, (until the baby is more mobile) then having the crib in the other room. We could start with putting the baby down in the crib at first then maybe take him/her to bed with us when he/she wakes for the first time, and when DH has hopefully stopped tossing and turning... but I'd like to have the baby next to me and I've heard that it's not safe to just push the bed against the wall or have a railing.

Has anyone else had this issue? I really want to have the baby in the room with us and I'm so disappointed that the side-car thing doesn't look like it will work, it seemed so perfect for our situation :(

[gitanamama]

I think your idea of an arms reach co-sleeper is a good one, if that will fit. Or maybe a pack and play in the room? It's not as convenient in terms of being able to just roll over and nurse, but it might be another option. And honestly, I think it's hard to know what will work for your family until the baby is born. I got really worked up before my son was born about all the different options, but things sort of fell into place once he was with us. We've also gone through a lot of different sleeping situations in the past 15 months! When my son was an infant, my husband slept downstairs because he was super sensitive to the nursing noises my son made and was also nervous about having the baby in bed with us. We transitioned to sleeping half the night all together in bed, with my hubby usually moving downstairs when the noise woke him up. When my son was 6 months old, we spent a few months traveling in South America and had no choice but to share some very small beds. I was super nervous at first, but we made it work.......the three of us even shared a twin bed for a week!

You probably won't know what situation will work best until your little one arrives...and then it may take some experimentation until you find your sleeping groove. 

Congratulations on your pregnancy and your new house! And make sure you get lots of sleep now--cosleeping or not, it tends to be rare in those first few months (or in the first 15 in our case!)

[Honey693]

Why can;t you use a bed rail?  We've done that for both kids, we just bought a no gap one.

[lifeguard]

We use a bassinet for the first few months - I don't sleep well with lo in the bed with me but like them to be close. After that you'll get a better feel for what can work & can't work for your family.

As for dh - is it because he is tall? Do you have a bed with footboard? My dh cannot stand to sleep with a footboard 'cause of his height - without one he lets his feet hang off the end of the bed, but otherwise he would have to sleep diagnally or with his knees in my thighs.