mattress on the floor yes or no?

[susiew1981]

quick background info. my just gone 2 year old has always been an awful sleeper, for the first 13 months me and dh had taken it in turns to sleep on the sofa while baba slept in his pram. he was alright in his moses basket for a few hours and then would wake up and refuse to go back to sleep. we tried co-sleeping but that didn't work (he was bf so had to be near me for ease of feeding). he has never liked to go to sleep without someone there and refuses to take naps in his room during the day. we put him in his own room at 13 months old once he outgrew his basket and he has a cot bed with an expensive mattress (mothercare made a fortune out of our misery lol). as i did with his older brother we put the big pregnancy pillow next to his bed to stop him hurting himself when rolling out of bed. now he won't sleep on his bed, every night he refuses to get into bed and gets on his pillow to sleep (his a light sleeper and wakes up fully if you try to move him, about the only thing he gets from me). so should i give up now and pack his cot bed up, get rid of the pillow and encourage him to sleep on his mattress on the floor and in a couple of months when we have moved house buy him a normal sized mattress and continue to let him sleep on the floor til his bigger and then buy him the bed to go with it or get rid of the pillow and force him to sleep on his cot bed. i don't like him rolling around on the pillow as he ends up under his bed. the kid is crackers but we all need a good nights sleep. even on holiday we ended up sleeping on the sofa lol. his very small for his age and can't climb up the side of a bed yet

Try a mattress on the floor but make sure there are slats underneath it for air circulation. It's quite common with Montessori style rooms for babies - have a Google. Good luck!

How in the world did he fit in a moses basket until 13 months old !?

his tiny, still fits into his 12-18 month clothes. premature baby clothes were too big for him when he was born. a 2-3 yr old t-shirt looks like a dress on him lol. i make small babies. if i take down his cot bed and put that under his mattress would that work

My dd is 18 months and where 9-12 month clothes and prem baby clothes where to big for her when born .
She outgrew her basket at 6 months .
What moses basket is this ?

As long as he sleeps just let him sleep on the pillows. Baby steps. Don't make it a battle ground with lots of changes. Nice bed all made up ready for him when he's ready. Nice pillows to sleep on until he is? Futon? Might be handy later for sleepovers ' when they all want to sleep on the floor!

it was a mothercare one that was quite big, we think it was waking him up as he stretched out. he sleeps curled up so might be why he was still fitting in it. he didn't sleep in it most nights like i said he slept in his pram for most of his baby stages

Weird I can't imagine that would be safe at 13 months .

I know the Moses basket isn't the point of the thread but I'm surprised that a child who could sit/stand didn't break the basket and stand.

I'd put the mattress on the floor like a futon but put it back on the bed during the day to sort of air it underneath too. It's like a comfort version of a ready bed.

to just get everyone away from the moses basket, he spent maybe an hour in it a night with it on the floor as i knew it was dangerous for him to be on a stand, most of the time it was used in the living room just to help us have dinner while he slept (cos he really didn't sleep well so sometimes we didn't eat til 11pm). he wasn't left in it over night and was in no danger from it, my little man is just that very little. other children who aren't 2 yet tower over him (i have a 6 yr old and an 18 yr old who both came out very small, the 18 yr old was 4lb when born so they was small toddlers and only as he reached teenage yrs did the older one suddenly start growing and now towers over me). he hated his cot and would scream for hrs if put in there so we kept him in the living room just so the middle son could get some sleep. he is doing better at sleeping just won't sleep in his bed, our bed and keeps sleeping on the floor

You're not supposed to used Moses baskets when they can sit etc as they're not stable enough.

that you have such a teeny tot!

I'd do mattress on the floor with pillow -basically what ever gives you the most sleep!

X-posts!

I would take him to see an osteopath in case he's got some low level pain that is aggravated when trying to lay down?

Sounds like it's been torturous sleep wise!

out of my 3 children he has been the worst sleep wise, during the day his the easiest child. so loving and sweet, well until he learnt how to bite, but he hates to go to bed and hates being on his own. with the other 2 we had them in a great routine of having a bath and going to bed after a story but he hates baths and won't stay still for a story. i have managed to gain a degree since having the youngest 2 but was so close to giving up in the last 2 years from lack of sleep and not being able to find time to write an essay. i wrote one of my exam grade works with him strapped to my chest while i rocked him with my laptop on a pampers box just so i didn't fail my course. we need some sleep cos only so long you can carry on with only 3/4 hrs sleep a night. i've put the pillow away and going to try my hardest to get him to sleep on the mattress even if its on the floor, tho with a house move coming up soon i'm guessing it will make things harder in the new house starting from square one again

I posted a similar thread a while ago as my then 1 yr old wouldn't settle in his cot after co-sleeping with me for far too long

He now goes to sleep with no drama at all. Admittedly I'm still in the room while he goes to sleep (he's 17 months), but it's so much better than 3 hours to crying every night. We read a story, turn the light out and then he'll have a wander around his room for 5-10 minutes and then lies down and goes to sleep. I wish I'd done this with my first (who also hated his cot).

There's a good article by Sarah Stockwell-Smith about floor beds and safety. I'll see if I can find it.

**I promise I'm not a lentil-weaving bamboo-weaving earthy type! I just want an easy life (no offence meant by that either!).

Why are you desperate to get rid of the pillow?

You're moving house I'd keep it as a transitional item like a cuddly toy!

the pillow is in a bit of a mess now and very lumpy, it looks bad and smells a bit. i've tried washing it but like all good pillows it just made it worse lol, as they aren't that cheap and i'm defo having no more children (i love my boys but lets be serious after 3 of them i'm not likely to get a girl lol and the surgeon who saved my life after the 3rd high risk pregnancy said no more) i don't want to have to buy another. i might try that sewing 3 pillow cases together thing i keep seeing on fb and see if that works/smells/looks better than the big thing we currently have

@storminabcup, i wish i could have managed to co-sleep but he didn't settle well as he just kept trying to pull my top off and get some boobie even when he wasn't hungry

I think that pillow is his comforter, let him keep it until after the house move.

Get a decent pillowcase for it and hopefully that can slowly replace the pillow itself?