Floor bed for baby? Is it safe?

[FreljordRider]

Hi MN'ers Can I get your opinions on floor beds please?

DS (11 months old) currently sleeps in a 'cosleeper cotbed' (that is, a cotbed with a side taken off used as a co sleeper if you see what i mean...). But recently he starts rolling all over it. A couple of days ago he managed to roll out of the cotbed onto our bed and eventually fell off on the floor from our bed. Even if he didn't fall off, the cotbed would still have other issues. Last night he sat up during sleep and when he tried to lie down again he banged his head against the fence bit of the cotbed and cried immediately.

We are now thinking putting him on a floor bed but not sure if that's a good idea. With a floor bed, we could use a much larger mattress like single/double so hopefully ds won't fall off it. Even if he falls it's unlikely hurt too much. We are going to put our mattress next to it so that i can maintain co sleep for now. When he's ready we then maybe move our mattress farther and farther away to help the transition. I've seen toddlers using floor beds but are they safe for babies? I know that we'll need to baby proof the whole room. Is there any other problem that we haven't thought of?

Thanks in advance.

We put a long maternity cushion between the edge of our bed and the cot bed co-sleeper for a while - I wouldn't do it with a small baby but ok at 11 months I should think. A rolled towel would do the same - just a little bumper they can't roll over so easily. Plus a cushion on the floor where he be most likely to fall in a worst case scenario.

Without being too mean, I think you might be overreacting about him banging his head on the side of the cot - not banging your head on things is a life skill you have to learn at some point! If you go for a mattress on the floor then he might just whack his head on the wall instead.

I'm not a fan of 'floor beds' because it's just a mattress on the floor and a bit too crack den looking for my liking. If he rolls around then you might be worried about being able to find him?!

Also I liked to be able to contain my DC in a cot so they couldn't wander off, I think they go to sleep better like that but each to their own! I co slept with DD until about 12 months or so, then she kept feeding all night, I was getting no sleep and it was hurting my back to curl around her so we put her in her own bed in her own room.

What about those inflatable bed guard tube things that you can put under a bed sheet? Or a bed guard attached to your bed and in between the cot?

If he fits the cot, for simplicities sake, I would just get a bed guard to put between the cot and your bed, which should keep him in place if he tries to roll. We co-slept for 3.5 years with eldest and still co-sleep sometimes with current 3 year old. The phase of them rolling long distances and falling off is probably quite short lived. I can only think of it happening once or twice with my older one and not at all with younger one.

Or you could also move to sleeping in cot separately (with side up) for when you aren't in the room and then at first waking, move to co-sleeping when you will be right there and blocking them from rolling with your body. This of course means you need two cots.

But yes, a floor bed is fine and we've used one from time to time. You just need to make sure that the room is baby proofed and the space is safe (no nearby furniture they could roll and get wedged next to).

Also, as you are also looking to keep your bed there too, the main risk is going to be making sure there is no gap between the mattresses, or a really big gap. There is more of a risk of him getting stuck between the mattresses in this scenario than if you had two stationary beds next to each other, which don't move when rolling over, etc.

Floor bed is fine at that age but it does mean you have to baby proof the full room - no chargers/cords laying around, attach dressers to the wall, etc.

DD has had a floor bed since younger than 11 months. It’s the mattress from the cot so quite low anyway, on our floor near our normal height bed and she just rolls gently onto the floor (soft carpet) or ends of sideways and doesn’t notice. She’s always coslept at least half the night but we swapped getting her down on our bed then trying to transfer her to the cot for settling her on her bed then me rolling away once she’s asleep. She’s never ever woken up from me doing that, it was miraculous.

Honestly, having her on a floor bed is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. When she wakes instead of hanging off the bars wailing like a child in prison she just sits silently and peacefully till I go in to cuddle her and goes back to sleep immediately.

She’s 27 months now and we’ve just moved her into her own room. Same bed for now but we’re getting a full single. She loves it so much. She can get in and out herself, takes herself off for a lie down with a book or a teddy when she’s tired. It’s given her some independence which she enjoys and it’s made our lives so much easier and binned all the stress.

Bedguards are only safe from 18 months. Floor beds are safe as they are not pushed against the wall but this also applies to all beds.

@Crowsaregreat i do have a maternity cushion but it won't be able to contain ds i'm afraid. He does not only roll around. He also pushes himself up to a sitting position and lies back down again in his sleep without being awake. That's how he banged his head last night. He wouldn't have the problem if fully awake. But I agree with you on head banging on the wall...might need to address that first.

@mindutopia @rainbowfairydust

We tried two bedguards before considering floor beds. We tried a mesh one and a wooden one. We kept about 1/3 of his cotbed open (the guards blocked the lower 2/3 ish of his bed). Both seemed to do trick in terms of containing ds in his bed. But they were a bit wobbly and it was possible to create a gap between the mattresses and the guards. If I was not paranoid i could probably use either. But i kept imagining ds might get trapped between the guard and the mattress or broke it if he tried to pull to stand. And it also felt more like he was sleeping on his own instead of co sleeping. So we returned the guards in the end.

Thanks for the point on wedging between mattresses. I didn't see that. We have hard floor so yes it's quite possible that mattresses are easily moved. Will look into how to fix that if going down the floor bed route.

Thanks for all the advice. Very helpful especially as FTM I really dont know what to do/worry/not worry, ect.

Re bedguards, as said in previous post, we tried a couple of different ones. Both felt a bit wobbly to sleep next to. Oh we tried the extra tall ones. The normal ones would no way work as ds could fall over it from a sitting position.

It's really encouraging hearing other people use floor beds successfully for babies. It's quite a bit work though. Will need to think about where to position the mattresses, how to protect against hard floor and walls, baby proofing the whole room, be careful about gap between mattresses. To make things more complicated - our mattress is quite a bit thicker than the cot mattress which means we'll need to decide whether to bring both to the same level...

@Fitforforty

Bedguards are only safe from 18 months. Floor beds are safe as they are not pushed against the wall but this also applies to all beds.

Fitforforty why is it not safe when floor beds are pushed against the wall? I didn't know that and was actually going to do that if didn't see your comment

Thats about the age we shifted to a kingsize mattress on the floor. For a while we doctored the cot-with-side taken off it, next to mattress on floor (relative heights meant they were perfectly aligned, no gap) then when we tried to move her into her own bed she was on a kingsize mattress on the floor, usually with one or other parent co-sleeping. In all honestly, thats how she remains at 2 1/2, though mostly has been sleeping solo since about 15 months. We're looking to transition her to a double bed that's actually raised off the ground soon. Attempts at getting her in a toddler bed got nowhere. I'm accepting she likes a lot of room to roll about in the night!

I think it's the risk of them falling into the small gap between the bed and wall and getting stuck/suffocating 🙁 unfortunately can happen to toddlers as well as babies. I think it's supposed to be something like 30 inches from the wall

@otterbaby

I think it's the risk of them falling into the small gap between the bed and wall and getting stuck/suffocating 🙁 unfortunately can happen to toddlers as well as babies. I think it's supposed to be something like 30 inches from the wall

Yes this is the case.

@cindarellasbelly both our girls have small doubles. There is plenty of space for a adult and child to share if needed.