[tatermom]

So, we've finally given in to the all-night co-sleeping arrangement that seems to work best for us (we've been trying having ds sleep in his crib (right next to our bed) for the first part of the night before joining us so we could get some decent sleep :LOL but ds insists on joining us for the whole night and we've discovered that we love it

)-- but we need more room in the bed, so I'm trying to attach his crib to our bed in a sidecar arrangement.

I've got the crib in the corner, with the fourth rail (sliding one) removed, with our bed pushed up against it, and our mattress is level with his. My question is, how do I make sure that our mattress does not separate from the crib mattress during the night? I can't figure out a way to connect the two, and there's not really a way I can ensure that our mattress is jammed up against his from the other side, either (if that makes sense). I don't want to end up with an unsafe gap between the beds! I'm new here, but I thought I'd check with you guys, the co-sleeping experts! Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

 

[hvl25]

You could put a piece of plywood under both matresses, tie the beds together at the legs?, roll up recieving blankets and put them on the other side of his mattress thats against the wall so it pushes his matress up against yours. I also used to partially sleep on the crib matress, i would kind of curl up and lay with my head on the crib matress, if that makes any sense.......LOL

Heather

 

[mom2jasper]

We have the same arrangement (corner, side off crib) I rolled up a blanket inside of a sheet and wedged it in the space furthest away from the bed, at the far side of the crib. The crib mattress doesn't budge, even when DS jumps up and down on it. It's really more of an elaborate safety net/toy box/play space than somewhere DS sleeps, but it does make the bed feel really huge as we can use every inch of it. I sleep in the crib more than DS does (well at least part of me--head, shoulders, sometimes my butt!)

 

[slacker_mom]

I have a yoga mat lying on top of the frames, under both mattresses - half is under our futon, half is under the crib futon. It's the length of the crib futon. It keeps the mattresses from sliding around, and there's no way anyone can fall through.

 

[slacker_mom]

Also, if the crib has wheels, take them off. That makes it much less likely to shift.

 

[tatermom]

Thanks for all the suggestions! So far it has been working out great!

 

[jjsexton]

Does anyone recommend their particular crib for ease of side-car-ing, and if so, could you share which one you have? I've wondered which cribs are best suited for this (i.e. you can easily remove one side without impacting the sturdiness of the crib).

We are all in bed together with a co-sleeper sidecar, but it's so tiny and we really just use it to put ds down in the evening before we go to bed, at which point he joins us. Reading your descriptions of your arrangements makes me think a crib would give the three of us a good amount more room...our queen bed is already feeling tight!

TIA!

 

[FillingMyQuiver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjsexton Does anyone recommend their particular crib for ease of side-car-ing, and if so, could you share which one you have? I've wondered which cribs are best suited for this (i.e. you can easily remove one side without impacting the sturdiness of the crib). We are all in bed together with a co-sleeper sidecar, but it's so tiny and we really just use it to put ds down in the evening before we go to bed, at which point he joins us. Reading your descriptions of your arrangements makes me think a crib would give the three of us a good amount more room...our queen bed is already feeling tight! TIA!

I think getting a crib that has multiple features works well (becomes a toddler bed/ settee (sp)/ full size bed). We have a crib that we side carred that's designed to become a toddler bed so one of the sides HAS to come off for that to happen. I think they tend to be a little sturdier b/c they;re designed for those functions. Just my opion though.

 

[allgirls]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zack419 I think getting a crib that has multiple features works well (becomes a toddler bed/ settee (sp)/ full size bed). We have a crib that we side carred that's designed to become a toddler bed so one of the sides HAS to come off for that to happen. I think they tend to be a little sturdier b/c they;re designed for those functions. Just my opion though.

This is what we have as well...it was very easy...I tied the crib legs to the bed with those plastic ties you get at the hardware store! You have to cut them off to get them off when you are done...they will not slip!

 

[jjsexton]

Thanks for the input !

The crib we were looking at did convert, but we would have had to buy a 'conversion kit' (to turn it into a toddler bed) for it to be stable without that fourth side. Given that I can't really see a toddler wanting to sleep in a converted crib (does anyone have one who does? Am I wrong?) rather than a new, 'big kid bed', I'd hate to spend the money on the kit. So I was hoping someone could recommend a specific crib that was sturdy and which would allow the 4th side to be removed without requiring any extra accessories.

Anyone?

 

[tatermom]

Well, so far our crib seems sturdy enough without the fourth wall, and it's just a regular crib, not a convertible one. When I looked at it closely ahead of time, the sliding side really did not seem to add much in the way of structure to the crib, and it came off really easily (it only attached to 2 metal rods on either side, if that makes sense). I left on the bar-thingee that you are supposed to kick to lower the side-- that was the part that seemed important for the structure. Our crib doesn't wiggle or anything, and I've been sleeping with a good portion of my weight on it, too. We just check it frequently to make sure it's safe. It might be worth checking out the one you already have to see how stable it looks without that sliding side before you invest more money in a new one (JMO). Good luck!