Moving on from next2me crib - Montessori bedroom?

[CatandBaby]

Apologies for the wittery back story:

We have damp in the main bedroom so I've been sleeping with DD in the nursery - me in a single bed and her in a next to me crib. She's fast out growing it so we need to figure out what to do next. She still wakes several times plus I don't really fancy sleeping in the main bedroom until the damp is fixed so I'd like to stay with her for now, but its a small room and there's not really room for a bed plus a full size cot.

One option would be to do the Montessori thing and put a thin mattress on the floor so we could sleep together for now, and later when I go back to the main bedroom she can stay there and have free range of the room. Obviously if we did this we'd need to make the room completely baby/toddler safe..

Has anyone tried this? How did it work out? Or are there any other options that I'm missing?

Thanks!

How old is she? I think there is probably an age when floor beds are safe, given that they can move and shift (for example, she could become wedged between the two mattresses). This is unlikely for, say, a mobile crawling/walking 12-18 month old, but more of a risk for a 6 month old.

We did have a floor bed for quite a while, but at that time, ours was older, I think from about 2-3.5 years. I did occasionally use one when oldest was younger than that when on holiday, but it was a full single bed in the middle of a room (not near any walls or furniture). I'd put her to sleep in there in the evening and then would swap her over when she woke up to sleep in bed with me while dh would move into the single mattress on the floor.

Could you fit a double mattress in that room and sleep on the floor with her? And then your dh could sleep in the single in the main room? I think the main thing is just the positioning of the mattress(es) and making sure if you use two pushed together on the floor that they can't move.

@mindutopia thanks for your reply. I don't think I worded my OP very well.. the idea would be that we'd have a double mattress on the floor and get rid of the single bed. I think the Montessori books suggest putting bolster cushions along where the mattress touches the wall to stop them getting wedged etc.

Dd is 5 months now, and she'd be 6 months by the time we did this (if we do). I'd be with her at first but will hopefully move out once she sleeps through and the damp in the main bedroom is sorted (i.e. sometime next century most likely!)

Was your 2 year old ok in the room on their own when they woke up? Did they get up to much mischief?!

Just get a slimline or space saver cot. She will easily be able to stay In that until 2 and they're not wider than a next to me

We did this from 8/9 months with both children and it has been fine.

I have an 8 month old. He would be a nightmare at bedtime now if not in cot.

He does co sleep with us from 4/5am sometimes so I’m not against bed sharing, but at bedtime he settles himself but rolls around for ages. He would be out the bed for sure.

Also, until 6 months I always went to bed when he did, but the last few weeks have started putting him to bed at 8-9pm and coming downstairs afterwards. He’s safer in the cot. Also contain him in it when I get dressed now as he is crawling and almost walking so causes chaos in my room grabbing cables, water glass on bedside table, banging head on drawers etc in the 2 mins otherwise

You can do a floor bed from birth but it's safest to just pull it away from the wall so there's no where to smart stuck, adding cushions isn't safe.

I've not done it, found Montessori a bit late and there isn't space for it to be big enough for me to fit me too. Still co sleeping, will hopefully sort her a room then move in there with her for a bit then back out slowly.

BTW the Montessori Family UK FB group is a great resource and there are looooads of posts in floor beds

I must say my toddler would have had many rebellious nights in a floor bed. I love the cot for the routine abs structure it has built. She loves loves getting into her cot and she falls asleep so quickly and self settles. I'd be concerned that bed sharing and an 'open' mattress would cause multiple get ups!

Did this from about 14 mo. He never ever dreamed of getting out, just didn't occur to him. Still doesn't even now at 3.5 yo. We had a pull out single trundle bed so we used that, meaning I could bedshare from his first wake etc. Gradually moved to the standard single with a bedguard from about 2yo. Still have a small roll bumper as he quite likes sleeping sideways

Thanks all, really helpful to get a variety of views.