Next to me style cot for older baby?

[Eggcellent29]

Hi all!

I hope all you ladies are well and not suffering too much in the U.K. heat!

My LO is 5.5 months old and currently sleeps in a next to me at night. It works beautifully for us.

He can roll over both ways and sit up independently (as in I have to sit him on his bottom but he can then stay upright for a relatively long period of time).

As such I am starting to worry about how much longer he can stay in the next to me!

How long did your LOs stay in their next to me? When is it no longer suitable? He sort of climbs into my bed a bit (getting the top half in!) but this is only in the morning when he wakes and I’m already awake by then so it’s not a problem. He does sometimes end up pushed up against the side when rolling (he is able to roll back but it disturbs me sometimes) so needs more space to flail about!

I would like to keep him bedside as he sleeps through the night and settles without trouble. I’m not gonna mess with that! 😂 People have suggested getting a travel cot but I’m worried about comfort for him and I have absolutely no idea which one to get - any suggestions or experiences??

I should say that we are moving house soon so I don’t want to spend an absolute fortune on something we will only use for 6 months ish BUT having said that I would spend any money to keep his sleeping habits so good 😂

Has anyone used a cot bed with the side off? How was it in terms of space? Which one did you go for? Was it much more spacious than the next to me?

There’s just so much choice and I have no idea where to even start!

Mine is 9 months and still in hers. She doesn’t wake up once she goes down until I’m in bed, but I have the monitor on and run straight up if I hear her stirring!

She isn’t going to fit much longer and the plan is cot with 3 sides on next.

If he sleeps through the night can't you just put him into a normal cot? A cot bed is 70cm x 140cm so is going to last a lot longer than the next 6 months

Mine is two next month and the Next to Me is still there. I can’t get along with bed guards at all, so on the occasion that he wakes in the night he half sleeps in the Next to Me.
He has fallen out once, but that was during his over enthusiastic bed bouncing phase

Thank you for your replies!

@Irre247 ah ok that’s good to know! He just looked so long in it the other night - there was only about a spread hands space between his head and the top! But I guess that’s ok?

@HappyPotato I’ve realised I wasn’t very clear! I meant I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a travel cot as it wouldn’t be used for very long (just until we move) but yes, a cot bed would deffo last longer!

I guess the short version of my post should have been

1. How long did your baby stay in the next to me
2. Cot bed or travel cot as a bedside upgrade?
3. Which bloody model 😂

We put a normal single bed between my side of the bed and the wall. It worked well for us. In fact so well that we still have it there even though they have all long since transitioned to sleeping in their own beds - don't think I could cope without the extra space now!

We moved DS out of his at 9 months. Once he was able to pull himself up to standing, it became too dangerous as he toppled out headfirst once (thankfully onto a pile of cushions). Seeing him dive over the edge frightened me a lot!

Ooo I see! Are you wanting it to still have the side off? If so then I don't think there are really many travel cots that can do that, and I'd worry that with with a normal cotbed you wouldn't be able to get it level with the height of your bed?

@HappyPotato You’ve just explained my concerns exactly! I guess maybe I’ll jsit have to accept that it won’t be like a bedside, but he can still be right next to me so hopefully would sleep just as soundly....

@mynameiscalypso That must have been scary! That’s exactly my worry, but I guess we are a long way off that at the moment.

My 2 were 6/7 months when I moved them out of the next to me. Infringement what you’d said I wouldn’t wait any longer. He could surprise you anytime, and the sides are very low. My youngest was in a cot with a side taken off for about a year I think. We strapped it to the bed with the straps from the next to me. Then we bought a strip of foam to wedge down the far side to make sure the mattress was hard against the bed and there were no gaps. There are YouTube videos etc about converting cots to be strapped to a bed safely.

My bed is quite high, so the cot mattress was lower than my mattress. That meant it was harder for her to crawl out though so was safer.