Safe cosleeping before we are ready for bed

[gavada]

We have been sleeping with my 10 month old since the night he was born. I seem to be at a loss of how to safely have him in our bed now that he is quite mobile. When we are in bed with him it's not a problem. However he goes to bed at 7pm and I'm usually not tired until hours later. I dont like leaving him in our bed alone and so typically just hang out and read. It would be nice however to get some stuff done downstairs or whatever else we may feel like doing. He won't sleep anywhere but our bed or I'd park him in a pack and play or the crib (his loving grandparents insisted we have. It's a dust collector ). How does everyone else handle the time between when the child sleeps and when they go to bed?

[newmamalizzy]

Ah, you've hit the "mattress on the floor" stage

[katelove]

Yep, mattress on the floor and make the room baby safe.

[gavada]

I've concidered this but our mattress is pretty thick on its own. I suppose maybe with extra blankets and pillows on the floor in case of a tumble? I was hoping there was some great secret to cosleeping at this stage.

[lovemylab]

I use to just go to bed at 7 with my little one.... I'd take a book in with us. It stunk but worked.

[katelove]

Ours is pretty thick too. We still have the bedrails on and she never actually fell off. It's probably more about making us feel better than anything else.

[gavada]

I may throw the crib mattress on the floor in "his room" and try putting him to sleep there until we are ready for bed? That room is child proof and crib mattresses are pretty thin.

[MichelleZB]

Okay, judge if you want... but I just put my kid in our bed when he was that age. I'd sort of put a pillow or two around him so that he'd encounter blockage if he rolled too far. We never had a problem. I worried about him when he started crawling, but then my husband taught him how to get in and out of bed by himself, so when he woke up he'd just sort of crawl out of bed and come find us.

[element2012]

OP I had more or less the same issue, DD won't sleep anywhere but in our bed.  When I put her to sleep in "her room" on a crib mattress on the floor, she won't sleep long at all. I put my mattress on the floor about that time.  It's pretty thick too, and you could put some pillows to catch the LO if he rolls off, but my DD never rolls off.  The issue is when they wake up and try to get off the bed.  My DD would just cry for us to come get her until she learned how to get down (we coached her through it until she got it).  I would just lay the little one down where he sleeps (by the wall) and maybe put some pillows where you've seen him attempt to get down, and then sneak in quietly when you're ready to sleep too!

[azzeps]

I'm not here to judge anyone, but just to relate my experience.  I was co-sleeping with my son when we were away from home, and he rolled off the bed, hit his head, and we had to stay a night in the PICU because they saw a small hemorrhage in his brain in the ER.  Everything turned out okay for him, but we learned our lesson not to mess around with safety when sleeping.  I had pillows next to him (instead of the bed rail we used at home) and he still managed to fall.  It's really really scary, and I wouldn't want you to be in my situation. Ever.

OP, I would see if you can transition baby to going to sleep in his own room in a crib (or on a mattress on the floor, if the room is childproofed), and then just bring him in bed with you when he wakes the first time (after you've gone to bed).  This is what we do with our son now, and it works pretty well, as far as giving some balance to the night's time.
 

[petersac]

We start our 14 month old in his crib and then bring him in with us when he wakes (which, coincidentally, seems to be not long after we turn in for the night - it's like he knows).