Side car co sleeping - help!

[Eggcellent29]

I am hoping that a more experienced co-sleeping Mumma can help me out here!

My 16 month old co-sleeps with his cot as a side car sort of thing. We have huge bed guards along the edge and bottom of our king sized bed.

There is a gap between the bottom of his cot and the guard that goes along the bottom that is just big enough for me to climb in and out of.

So, of course, he has fallen out of it twice!

I have pillows on the floor and it isn’t a big drop, but I obviously don’t want this to happen as it’s a nasty shock for him (and me!)

I currently have a piece of material stretched over the gap with Velcro, but it isn’t ideal.

What have other Mums done to solve this problem? I really don’t want to give up the cot and put another guard up if I can help it, as it’s a nice space for me to put him in with I’ve had enough 🙈 and he seems to feel the same as he often retreats there!

You can teach him how to safely get off the bed himself.

Show him (by physically moving his limbs as playing on the bed) how to crawl backwards to the edge of the bed, then lower his feet off the bed but keeping his torso on the bed, then dangle and drop feet first. Repeat over and over again, he'll get it really quickly and should be able to do it unaided.

(Same method you use for safely teaching a toddler to come down stairs safely)

You don't need the bedguards at all. If he's sleeping on your bed then a pool noodle under the bottom sheet at the edge of the side he sleeps is enough to stop accidentally falling during sleep. If he is sleeping in the sidecar cot then these aren't even needed. Just teach him how to get off the bed.

Did he fall off asleep or awake? If asleep - I used to put a long maternity pillow along the boundary between our bed and cot to stop baby from rolling off. Could use a rolled towel etc instead. Wouldn't do it with a newborn because of suffocation risk but fine at 16mo.

If awake then he needs to learn to get off safely, as PP have said.

I wouldn't bother with a bed guard.

My daughter went into a toddler bed (converted cot bed) at 16 months, we taught her to get on and off the bed feet first and put a soft beanie draught excluder under the outer edge of her fitted sheet to act as a bumper so she didn't fall out.

@FATEdestiny He knows how to get off the bed when awake, and I also understand how to get down from a bed, but thank you for your detailed explanation anyway 😆

I can see now that I wasn’t entirely clear, but still I am a bit surprised that people think I am watching my toddler to fall off the bed awake and just going “If only there was some way you could get down without face planting.....ah well, fuck it eh” 🤣

I’m not bothered by the bed guards tbh, they give me peace of mind as he throws himself about the bed in the night, as do I (perhaps they are really for me? 😆) He does like to come into the main bed, but not always, honestly between us the bed is like a bouncy castle 😆

I managed to find a spare bit of pool noodle and have made a little lip with it under the sheet - fingers crossed it does the job! I reckon it will, thank you ladies! 👍👍