Bedside cots and mobile babies. What do you do?

[MeeWhoo]

My ds is 5 months and we co-sleep with a bedside cot, although normally halfway through the night I put him next to me on the actual bed (or at the moment with the teething on top of me, but that's another story).

Anyway, at 5 months he is now starting to be very mobile and will soon be crawling so I am a bit worried about nap times and the early part of the night when I am not in bed with him yet, as I don't want him to be crawling over to the bed and falling.

My bedside cot (babybay) does have a barrier for the bed side, but it's a PITA since you need a screwdriver to put in on and take it off. So what do other people do once your dcs can crawl or are about to? Do you have a separate cot for naps and when you are not there?

I wish I had thought about this when I bought the cot and gone for one with a more user friendly barrier....

Me a d 8mo dd cosleep, I usually just put pillows either side of her (they're quite big) at the moment she doesn't try and crawl out of bed but just lays there and has a look around and a bit of a talk when she wakes up. I wouldn't worry until he's actually on the move.

Is your Babybay cot crib-sized anyway? I've not seen one IRL but you'll probably need a full-size cot before too long anyway, right?

If you want to carry on with the bedside sleeping then I'd recommend keeping your eyes peeled for a Brio bedside cot on ebay. They don't manufacture them anymore (and I don't know why no one makes an equivalent as they are ace)

They are full cot-sized and have one side that rolls over the top on a groove so you can convert it from 4 sided to 3 sided at the bedside while the baby is asleep in it. Bloody marvellous.

Thanks er1507 and Sockspence.

At the moment I am also "barriering" ds in with pillows, but he is very physical and I am worried that as soon as he can crawl he will try and escape, I guess I am worrying too soon anyway.

As for the size, the cot is the "maxi" one, which is 98 cm. is length, we can still get a few months of use out of it. I will have a look at the brio bedside, but if it is a full size, probably we won't be able to use it. We are in a pretty small room and on one side or the bed there are patio doors, and on the other the doors of the built in wardrobe, so not a lot of space anyway...

Thanks again