Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Question for those who co-sleep?

22 replies

MaryShelley1818 · 23/09/2018 09:50

Sorry - I know it’s not an AIBU but I’ve had the most stressful and horrendous few weeks with baby DS poorly and in and out of hospital so hope I’ll be forgiven.

DS co-slept with me from being born. At around 6mths I successfully got him to sleep in his cot for most of the night (in our room). He’s been very poorly - several viruses/bugs over the last 6-7wks and of course has been back in our bed. Poor DP is on the sofa again!

We’re considering buying a Super Kingsize Bed and just accepting it.
But if you co-sleep what do you do about bedtime? At the moment I’m going to bed with DS at 8ish and me and DP get no time together. Obviously I can’t leave him alone on our bed as if he wakes he’ll just crawl straight off the edge.

OP posts:
NeffSaid · 23/09/2018 09:55

We always just had a video monitor set up and I went upstairs to resettle DCs as they started to wake. Plus bed guards!

claraschu · 23/09/2018 09:56

We had a superkingsize mattress on the floor, with an additional single mattress for night time visitors (3 kids). 20 years later, we still have a mattress on the floor- very comfortable. We had a monitor on, so baby would go to sleep with one of us usually, and then we would come downstairs and put the monitor on. It never felt unsafe.

Now they are all grown up and 2 of them studying abroad; it's almost hard to remember those lovely days.

HatingTheBigShow · 23/09/2018 09:56

Take one side off a cot and belt it on to your bed. Cushions in your bed for the time between baby sleeping and you going to bed.

NeffSaid · 23/09/2018 09:57

Sorry and I put them to bed at 7/8 and then went downstairs. Honestly no issues ever with crawling or falling off the bed in our own home, they have both fallen off the bed at my ILs but just kept on sleeping Confused

PlayingForKittens · 23/09/2018 09:58

It's been different with each child. One would settle in his cot and come in with me after waking. One screamed a lot. One would just insist on staying up with us and would pass out on the sofa so we kind of had time together.

NoNoCharlieRascal · 23/09/2018 09:58

We have a mattress on the floor. Settle ds and then leave him to it. We live in a small flat so don't need a monitor. He comes and gets us if/when he wakes or if he needs something. He's 15 months.

CassandraLamontaigne · 23/09/2018 10:00

I go yo bed with the baby at 8:30 or 9 then stay with him reading. Dh potters about doing stuff for himself and comes to bed at 9:30 or 10

LooksBetterWithAFilter · 23/09/2018 10:08

Dd started off the night in her cot then came in with us when she woke up and stayed there all night.
Ds1 took the side off the cot like a pp said and the cot was up the side of the bed there were instructions on the net to do this safely.
Ds2 was a mixture of own cot, falling asleep on the couch or just popped in the bed.
Tbh never had any issue with falling out or crawling off the bed.

FrameyMcFrame · 23/09/2018 10:11

Oh god you need to get up after putting him to bed!!
Get cot sides or bed guards. I always put thick sheepskin rugs by the bedside
Or get rid of the bed and have mattress on floor for a while...

Tweakanddashi · 23/09/2018 10:17

Double mattress on the floor in baby's room for us. Then get yourself ready for bed at then same time in case you fall asleep while they're going to bed. But if you manage to stay awake then you can get up for a bit after they're asleep.

Also it's much more dangerous to get wedged between the mattress and the wall than it us to fall from mattress height to the floor. So unless the mattress is a very good fit to the wall and doesn't creep it is better to have a big gap.

BertieBotts · 23/09/2018 10:28

Had a bedside cot, a baby monitor and a rustly mattress protector.

DS1 fell out twice - both when I left him too close to the wrong side of the bed. Once I was actually sleeping with him - I just fell asleep having intended to move him back to the other side.

He didn't go exploring when he woke, he'd cry first.

BertieBotts · 23/09/2018 10:30

See if your cot is sturdy with 3 sides and attach it to your bed. Make new holes for the mattress support to match your mattress level. Push mattress across, plug gap on far side with something not fluffy.

IABURQO · 23/09/2018 10:32

We have the safetots bed guards; just can't open them because our mattress is too tall. We also use a video monitor so if he wakes up one of us will go to him.

Flatasapancakenow · 23/09/2018 10:35

I know this doesn't properly answer your question, but I would just go for the superking now. My DC are 9, 3 and 2. The 3 year old and 2 year old are in and out of our bed constantly (although they go to sleep in their own bed they wonder in a lot). I've come to accept that with them teething/bugs/starting nursery/bad dreams there will often be something that makes them crave that night time reassurance, and now we have enough space to cater for everyone in comfort.

PedroLostHisGlasses · 23/09/2018 10:35

We've had a few combos:

mattress on the floor
bed pushed against the wall, baby slept against the wall side, bed guard on the other side
cot attached to bed (this was pre-crawling to be fair)

always a baby monitor so we'd hear if the baby woke up

CanYouHearThat · 23/09/2018 10:35

I dismantled her cot (she was never going to use it!) and tied one side to the bed and used a wall of pillows for when i wasn't the other side of her.

Fireworks91 · 23/09/2018 10:36

They've always just been put up when asleep and then we join them whenever we go to bed.

Jent13c · 23/09/2018 10:44

We had a small double mattress on baby’s bedroom floor. Room was pretty well baby proofed (drawers MUST be anchored) and had a baby monitor set up and always closed the gate on stairs just in case. I put him to bed in there at 7ish and just went through when he woke and called for me in the night and we both went straight back to sleep.

It meant we still had our bedroom to ourselves without heaps of baby paraphernalia in it.

When he was about 18 months old we got a low small double bed base and he’s never actually fell off. Don’t bother with the monitor now as long as gate is shut. He shouts loud enough!

Cel982 · 23/09/2018 12:26

Video monitor, cot sidecarred to bed, pillow barricades. In over four years of co-sleeping with two kids, they've both fallen out of bed once in this scenario not counting the many many falls while messing around on beds etc

Zippetydoodahzippetyay · 23/09/2018 13:20

Side rails and baby monitor - it will save your sanity! I did what youre doing for a long time and it really wore me down emotionally.

claraschu · 23/09/2018 20:07

As I said before (really sorry to repeat myself, but it is one of the few things I feel I got right))- superking on the floor. It is such a perfect solution, really and truly. No trouble, no fuss, very safe, and easy to add more beds if necessary!

Kidneyvback · 23/09/2018 21:01

We bought a super king. Dd 18 months sleeps with us and her older brother aged 3 gets in at some point. And our other ds aged 5 occasionally joins in too so dh goes to the spare room. I put dd to sleep in our bed and go back down stairs when she's asleep. Done this from about 6 months. Same with all of them

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread