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Parenting

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Original poster

co-sleeping advice

14 replies

delilah88 · 09/05/2013 09:57

Hello,
We have decided to cave in to clingy 6mo tot who will only sleep in our bed. We plan to either buy a huge king size bed or a sidecar cot. Have you got any suggestions for making this work? Assuming it will be from 6mo to age 1 or older.
Thanks,

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Original poster

delilah88 · 09/05/2013 09:58

p.s. We already have a normal cot put right next to the bed but she hates it and cries when she's put in it.

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Nicknamefail · 09/05/2013 12:03

Stopped co sleeping now but did it for some time. We have a king sized bed and dd stayed in my half with my arm around her. Dh had the run of his side and had a great night sleep.
I took away my pillows and I either slept without a pillow or I took a very small flat cushion for my head. Dd slept level with my head and the duvet over her feet, but be careful about this obviously for heat and covering head reasons.
I loved it for the closeness but did miss cuddling dh at bedtime. It was the right thing as she would cry in her cot and as soon as she came in with us she would sigh and instantly sleep- until the next feed that is.
I did find I sometimes woke up achey as I was quite flat and didn't move much but this is a good excuse for getting a massage from dh!

dyslexicdespot · 09/05/2013 12:14

We converted our cot into a co-sleeper, an easy an inexpensive solution!

convert a cot

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dyslexicdespot · 09/05/2013 12:16

Opps...sorry, I didn't see your second post!

Andcake · 09/05/2013 12:33

At 6 mo we converted ours into a side car cot. You say your cot is right next to the bed- have you also taken a side off. This saved any real expense for us and I have faint hopes that he is getting used to his own mattress.,it works for us as a ds does start off on his bit he comes to find me and cuddles in. At night it also means if he stirs I can put my head into his bit. I have ended up sleeping at some v funny angles. Also and I do think this is important as he has his own area we have managed to retain marital relations as I move over to oh side and ensure ds is fast asleep in his cot bit. We now use a movement monitor we have to spot if he has escaped onto our bed in the 2 hrs before ds's bedtime and mine.

rrreow · 09/05/2013 13:22

We co-slept until about 1yo (at which point DS loved to lie horizontal in the bed.. so something had to change). We have a king size bed and had a bed guard on my side. It would've been nice to have one of those cot things that is exactly the same height as the bed, just to have a bit more space, but they're quite expensive. Although I guess you might be able to achieve something similar with a regular cot with a drop side but it would be trial and error with the height.

ChunkyPickle · 09/05/2013 13:30

We have a super-king - DS (2.10) has occasionally deigned to sleep in his own bed (sometimes for months at a time), but we've decided to just give in and get a big enough bed that we can all sleep comfortably together until he decides he's a big boy and will stay in his bed the whole time (path of least resistance parenting )

He does go to bed first and we join him later - but he's wise to being put in his own bed rather than ours and about 2am there'll be an indignant 'HEY!' and he'll clamber into ours for the rest of the night (winkling little cold feet under our warm bits) - we figure it's easier to all sleep through, and have him in ours the whole time rather than muck about with him in the middle of the night.

ChunkyPickle · 09/05/2013 13:31

We just put a toddler bed next to our main bed - our bed is just one of those Ikea Malm things, so it's just about exactly the same height, and about as cheap as it gets.. if only he'd stay in it......

DaveMccave · 09/05/2013 17:57

I can really recommend reading the book 'three in a bed'.

hellymelly · 09/05/2013 18:05

My dds slept next to the wall, with me next to them. We also just had a mattress on the floor when they were really small, so that they would roll out rather than fall out. Now they are six and eight and still co-sleep and i am squashed.

HootShoot · 09/05/2013 18:29

We had a bed guard on my side of the bed, dd would be next to that with me in the middle. She would normally curl up right next to me and I slept without a pillow. She would be in her sleeping bag and slept on top of our duvet. When she got big enough to move around she constantly pulled on the bed guard so then I went next to the bed guard and she went in the middle. She would start the night in her own bed and move in to ours when she woke for a feed.

Nicknamefail · 09/05/2013 20:57

Mistake in my earlier post, bed is super-king rather than king.

Original poster

delilah88 · 09/05/2013 21:48

Thanks everyone this is really useful -- keep the stories/suggestions coming! I will read that book Three in a Bed, great suggestion x

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Jojobump1986 · 09/05/2013 22:01

With DS1 we took the side off the cotbed & wedged it between our standard sized double & the wall with a towel down the side of the mattress to shift it over. DS2 is due in a few weeks & we've just moved DS1 + cotbed into his own room & brought the single bed from his room into ours. We've put it where the cotbed was & it's now DH's bed so until DS2 arrives me & my 5 pillows have the entire double bed. Once DS2 is here I shouldn't need all the pillows & can make space for him... Maybe!

It's great to have the extra big bed - it feels like DH is still in the same bed but without the earthquake every time he moves!

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