Co-sleepers

[HomeOnTheRanch]

Our older 3 kids ended up in our bed (Queen) for their first 2-3 months. DD (now 6) was in a borrowed bassinet beside my bed. We still had the boys clambering in our bed in the middle of the night and I thought that would be safest for her. I did not like holding my arm over the side at night when she just wanted to touch.

I've been looking at something like this (http://www.babybunk.com/whatis.htm) for DH to make. It shouldn't be that hard if he makes the height unadjustable, just to fit our bed. We have a Cal-King bed now, which is lower than any other bed that we've had.

We don't have any kids in our bed in the middle of the night now, so I'm not concerned about safety. It's just the past few years I've really enjoyed sprawling in the bed and I think everyone would sleep better if the baby was close, but not directly in the bed with us.

Does anyone have experience with this or something similar? I'm thinking I would prefer the height of the crib to be closer to the bed mattress height. Thoughts? Space isn't an issue. What size is a standard bassinet crib mattress? That may be easier to get bedding for.

[clwcain]

We've used the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper (http://www.armsreach.com/) since our first was born in 2003. At the time we had a Queen bed. When we moved into our house, we upgraded to a King, and kept the Arm's Reach.

We're happy with it and would recommend it. We went for the Arm's Reach Mini, due to space concerns when we first bought it, but it's spacious enough (and compact enough) that we'll probably get another one whenever the kids finally wear this one out. :)

We've been very happy with the Family Bed approach in our home, and the co-sleeper is a big part of that positive experience.

[Julie in CA]

I had 5 babies in 7 years, and for many of those years we had wee ones sleeping with us. I took the side off of my regular crib, adjusted the height of the crib matress to the same height as my bed matress, and pushed the crib up right next to the side of my bed. When we were done with that sleeping arrangement, we put the side back on the crib and it went in the other room again. I didn't see the price of what you were looking at, but it might be better to buy an inexpensive crib and give this a try. Then you could sell the extra crib afterwards if you didn't need it.
Blessings,
Julie

[Melinda]

If you want a lot of room for sprawling and don't want to invest in a co-sleeper, what about side-carring a crib up against your bed with the mattress as close to level with your bed as possible?

[Melinda]

hahaha, looks like we were writing at the same time. :)

[susie in tx]

I had a co-sleeper and I hated it. It didn't fit evenly against the bed. Well, it did, but the mattress in the sleeper was slightly lower. This resulted in the baby freaking out due to the startle reflex every single time I put her in it because I couldn't just slide her across into the sleeper. I had to set her down into it. Hope that makes sense.

We're trying to figure out what to do with this new one. I may get a crib and side car it just to eliminate the startle reflex issue, or at least try to.

I know some moms are trying the Amby bed,

http://store.babycenter.com/product/left+nav+pgroups/shop+by+brand/a+-+f/amby+baby/motion+hammock+bed+set.do?asc=false

I'm thinking about trying this as well,

http://store.babycenter.com/product/nursery/cribs+-+portable+beds/portable+beds+-+play+yards/deluxe+snuggle+nest.do?asc=false

Or just a Moses basket in between dh and I.

[HomeOnTheRanch]

the mattress in the sleeper was slightly lower.
Do you think it would have worked to put something under the mattress to lift it up higher so it would be even with the bed?

I showed the one that I linked above to DH and he laughed at the price. I know he could make a custom one for our bed with wood we already have. I think I'm going to ask my dad. He would love to do it, and if he made the sides not facing the bed higher, it would compensate for the mattress being raised. Right?

It looks like I can buy standard bassinet mattresses/pads/sheets that are 16 x 32. Even though space really isn't an issue, I don't want our huge crib next to the bed. DD has already called dibs on having the crib in her room!

[cowgirl]

I had 5 babies in 7 years, and for many of those years we had wee ones sleeping with us. I took the side off of my regular crib, adjusted the height of the crib matress to the same height as my bed matress, and pushed the crib up right next to the side of my bed. When we were done with that sleeping arrangement, we put the side back on the crib and it went in the other room again. I didn't see the price of what you were looking at, but it might be better to buy an inexpensive crib and give this a try. Then you could sell the extra crib afterwards if you didn't need it.
Blessings,
Julie

We did the same thing for both of our dc. It worked great!

[clwcain]

Do you think it would have worked to put something under the mattress to lift it up higher so it would be even with the bed?

Not on the Mini. I don't know about the full-size. The mattress straps to the co-sleeper.

I don't recall us having much trouble with the startle reflex, but my wife may have a different recollection.

The difference in height is by design, so once infants start rolling they can't roll themselves out. It's a safety feature that some people find an obstacle to enjoyable use.

The advantage to the Mini was that it's portable. It traveled cross-country with us 3 times in 1 year. I would have pitched a "normal" crib under those circumstances.

We're a very satisfied Arm's Reach household.

As always, YMMV.

[GreenKitty]

We've co slept with all our children. I have never seen anything like the baby bunk! How adorable is that! Also looks like it would def be easy enough to make!

[susie in tx]

Do you think it would have worked to put something under the mattress to lift it up higher so it would be even with the bed?



I don't think it would be safe. It was at least a 3 inch or more variance. YMMV.

There are places online that give directions for building a sleeper. If you had a handy person to help you with it, I think it would be relatively easy.

[sailmom]

I have an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper that I bought many years ago, and honestly, I never used it anymore than I used my crib. :D We co-slept with each of our kids, who all moved out around 3. Only the youngest is still in bed with us.

I *might* have used that baby bunk though, if I could have made it flush with the bed!! That's adorable! We nurse while sleeping all the time, and my problem with the cosleeper was that there was a little edge between my bed and the sleeper. (The sleeper has that little wall on the bed side, and it was higher than my bed.) It was just too high to nurse over, so the baby just ended up in bed with us. I didn't want to have to get them in and out of the sleeper at night. I need to be able to nurse without it disrupting my sleep (too much! ha!).

With that bunk though, it looks like I could totally have nursed and still kept them in there. :)