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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To make my 5mo sleep on a mattress on the floor

52 replies

Dandelionrarrrr · 09/08/2019 20:42

DS3 is currently in a Moses basket, he is outgrowing it.

From my experiences from my other two sons I hate cots as did they. My biggest issue was my back absolutely kills at the age where I need to lower them into cots. They woke for feeds, which I don’t begrudge. 😊. Just hurt me a lot to put them back in. This was made worse by the fact they both didn’t want to be in the cot so the lowering happened more than I wanted.
Anyway, I gave up on cots at around one year old both times went to a mattress or a cot bed. Would IBU to go directly to a mattress at 5mo.?
My biggest issue is our room is small and DS3 potentially could roll under our bed. If anyone could give me a safe way to prevent this, that would be great. I realise I could research this myself but I know i would just come back to mumsnet for a quick and sensible answer

OP posts:
Jent13c · 09/08/2019 21:29

I put my little boy in his baby proofed room on a double mattress on the floor with baby monitor and then joined him for the night when I was ready to go to my bed. He interestingly never got out of the bed until he was 2 (by which time he was no longer on the floor) he just cried for mummy rather than go explore.

SAHM2019 · 09/08/2019 21:33

@CherryPavlova was about to say the same thing. First thing that came into my head actually. Stuff the space under the bed with whatever you can safely and theres your solution.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 09/08/2019 21:35

Surely you can get cots with adjustable mattress heights and even drop down sides.

ElstreeViaduct · 09/08/2019 21:46

OP look up Montessori bedrooms for babies.

The key is you need to childproof the whole room, which probably means putting your mattress on the floor too unless you're also putting the baby in a separate room.

I'm sure you're not in the habit of falling out of bed but people do, occasionally. Absolutely don't put the baby to sleep where you could fall on them. I think you'd need to be on approx the same level, or a good distance away, to be safe.

ElstreeViaduct · 09/08/2019 21:48

Incidentally we just secured a normal cot to the side of our bed and kept the side down when we were there.

thecatinthetwat · 09/08/2019 22:00

We did the whole mattress on the floor thing. Brilliant if you can take your bed apart and pop it in the loft.

tolerable · 09/08/2019 22:01

baby box ? #scotgov

Knoxinbox · 09/08/2019 22:06

First thing that came into my head actually. Stuff the space under the bed with whatever you can safely and theres your solution.

Well no because whatever you stuff under there has to be suitable for a 5 month old to faceplant!

OP what I have done is just cosleep on a firm double mattress on the floor until about 6 months. Then put a cot on the lowest setting open on one side firmly up against the double mattress on the floor so we continue to cosleep but baby can roll into own space

bathorshower · 09/08/2019 22:15

We took one side off the cot entirely; one of its mattress heights matched the bed next to it, so we strapped it to the bed. That gave an almost continuous surface for us to share. At 5mo, your DS should be OK; I absolutely wouldn't do this with a newborn as they can get stuck on the join. We did this at 8mo; unusually DD couldn't roll, so she didn't join us in bed. That might be an issue for you!

ColaFreezePop · 09/08/2019 22:45

Buy a new cot.

New cots have at least 3 different heights so you can lower the base as the baby gets bigger.

SAHM2019 · 09/08/2019 22:45

@Knoxinbox hense the word 'safely'... come on, a 5 month old can also 'faceplant' the side of his/her cot. 'Faceplanting' does happen with sleeping, rolling, wriggling babies we know this.

EarringsandLipstick · 09/08/2019 23:07

I'd be agreeing with emelsie I'm afraid.

I'd be very cautious about these DIY sleeping arrangements.

I agree you could do mattress on floor for all (I'd hate it myself though) but things like attaching a cot that you've made 3-sided to your own bed ... no!

Baby is only 5 months. Get a different cot that doesn't affect your back so much, and with a side that you can let down - so no stopping / bending required.

crispysausagerolls · 09/08/2019 23:14

I don’t think the cot with adjustable mattress is helpful because randomly, one day, your baby might decide to stand or pull up and topple out before you’ve lowered it.

If you don’t want to co sleep then the idea of the cot with sides which drop down sounds good.

Waveysnail · 09/08/2019 23:17

I ended up with travel cot for dc2 and 3 as mine are cot haters. Worked much better and babies dint hate it

Purpleartichoke · 09/08/2019 23:22

We coslept with a mattress on the floor and then got dd a twin mattress on the floor when she graduated to her own bed. Then we added a box spring and finally an actual bed frame. But I can’t recall the ages we did each height increase.

Happymum12345 · 09/08/2019 23:53

I wouldn’t think it’s that safe to leave a 5 month old baby on a mattress on the floor. Raise the cot.

Eledamorena · 10/08/2019 01:18

I wouldn't use the highest level setting on a cot for much longer than 5 months, as the baby will start pulling himself up. I can't remember the age they can start doing this but once they're sitting I guess it becomes a risk?

My youngest was on a mattress on the floor from about 9 months til we got our hands on a cot at about 1. (We moved abroad and were a bit all over the place!)

The room was babyproofed, we also slept in there. Sometimes when we went up to bed he had rolled into the middle of the carpet. I just left him there!! He was obviously happy enough if he was still asleep!

Now he's 2 and I tried moving him from his (very big, playplen-type) cot and he was appalled. Back in the cot for now.

As a PP suggested, if you're worried about him getting under your bed could you put your own mattress on the floor as well? Until he's in his own room.

Nomoremilk · 10/08/2019 02:47

Look up the Lullaby Trust for evidence based safer sleep advice. This all sounds v dangerous.

SAHM2019 · 10/08/2019 08:23

@Waveysnail snap with the travel cot. We've done it with our last 2 and its brilliant in terms of being able to transfer it to different rooms without hassle. It wouldn't work for this mum though as she's talking about not being able to lift baby in and out due to her back. But worked for us and will probably do it again with no 4 as I tend to go back to what's worked before

Hannahmates · 10/08/2019 09:46

Put pillows by each side of your baby so he won't roll under the bed.

StCharlotte · 10/08/2019 09:56

And picking your baby up off the floor will be better for your back how?

Surely a drop-side cot is the way to go?

MRex · 10/08/2019 10:20

We put safetots barriers alongside the mattress on the floor; we have a wooden bed with drawers so it was to stop him banging into the wood rather than rolling under, but it might work for you. Once he got bigger and mobile we got the baby padding along all the hard edges of the bed and filled in to the wall with a mattress topper so he could roll safely onto it; could you put a mattress topper, spare duvets or something under your bed to block it from a crawler? DS still sleeps on a mattress on the floor, when we put it up into a bed we'll get the barriers back on because he still rolls off a lot onto the mattress pad next to it (and just carries on sleeping).

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 10/08/2019 10:44

May not be relevant at 5m (bit young) but when we moved the 2 yr old into a single bed we put a sponge wedge under the sheet along the side of the mattress to stop him rolling out. Same concept as a toddler sleepy head but fraction of the cost (I think about £15 on Amazon). Is baby going to be moving into their own room at 6m? I don't know if maybe you could hold off, then move them at 6m into a totally baby proofed room on mattress on floor if necessary?

YobaOljazUwaque · 10/08/2019 10:49

Get one panel from the cot in the loft and screw it to the side of the bed (perhaps upside down if there are attached legs - you want the bit with bars to be touching the floor) to bar off the under bed space.

SinkGirl · 10/08/2019 10:51

Sidecar a cot to your bed? There’s an Ikea one lots of people use for this.