12 month old DD - can we leave her in our bed?

[OchAyeballsintheSky]

She sleeps very well and sleeping with us works for all of us. The downside is that when she goes up to bed, DH or myself has to go with her and that's it for the night. A lot of the time we're knackered so the one going to bed and watching tv in the bedroom at 8pm is the lucky one but sometimes we'd like to eat together or something in the evening.

Anyone have any ideas what I could do to get round this? We would have to shut the door as it opens straight out onto the stairs and isn't suitable for a stairgate but we could put the monitor on. Falling out of the bed is my main worry.

Put up a bed guard on either side?

Could you not put any guards on your bed? I wouldn't worry too much to be honest, maybe put monitor on and a load of pillows around the bed. You need to have a life!

or put some cushions on the floor so if she does roll out, she's got a soft landing.

She probably won't roll out though, especially if you plonk her in the middle of the bed.

I thought of that but it's a massive bed so she might wriggle down and try to get off the end if she wakes up. It's more the trying to climb off the bed and falling rather than rolling in her sleep IYSWIM.

I doubt she would wake up enough to try to climb out? If you have the monitor on you would probably hear her wake up and stir before she started to try to climb out? Maybe just try it one evening, see how she goes?

Put on your monitor.

Can I suggest (at the risk of getting flamed) you teach her how to get down safely anyway? DD doesn't normally try to climb off our bed but if she does she does it safely and so therefore doesn't hurt herself. We originally taught her for the sofas but she used it for the bed too.

However, if you put on monitor you'll hear her. I also agree with bed guards or pillows though in case she rolls in her sleep which our DD does ALOT of!

LOL, so as suspected I am being totally PFB I have all sorts of scenarios in my head where I put lots of duvets round the bed but she still manages to knock a chunk out of her head on the corner of the bedside table!

OK, I'm going to try tomorrow to leave her up there on her own and see how it goes. I guess she'd cry before she'd try to move.

You could cover the bedside table with foam matting?

She can climb stairs and get herself down from the sofa fairly smoothly so you might be right about the bed exiting lessons Salem.

och aye - even if she didn't cry if your monitor is any good you should be able to hear the rustling of the bed covers.

At the risk of getting flamed - could this be the time that you think about putting her in her own room? If you feel that you're ready to start having more time to yourselves, the early bedtime isn't for you anymore and she can sleep without you - then perhaps this could be a solution?

And if I have offended you by this, then I apologise profusely.

I do agree with Paolo but thought I'd try to help you abit.

I think that kids do benefit from having some independance and their own room HOWEVER, if it works for you I dont critise.

hmmm I dont spell either apparently.

Could you just put your mattress on the floor? That way she's got hardly any distance to fall.

I'm sort of split on that. I never intended to co sleep. She has three cots FFS! But she's a stroppy mare and I know we'd have one hell of a job trying to get her in her own cot, let alone her own room. It's how we've ended up like this. It's pure laziness on our part rather than try to figure out how to move her. I do like the cuddles as well though

ochaye - if it works for you stick with it (we have DD in our bed when she's ill cos it helps her sleep)

Although just remember do you really wanna be sharing a bed with a teenager

we co-sleep and my DD has just started rolling. so we have removed the divan and just put the mattress straight on the floor. doesn't look very nice but practical and means only a few cm to fall out of bed. The other thing we found is that co-sleeping was getting a bit cramped, so using just mattresses has actually allowed us to put two double mattresses together - a quadruple is much better ! even though the WHOLE room is bed !

I think there's a bit of a leap between bedsharing with a one-year-old and a teenager!

Meg it was a joke.

Our neighbours co-sleep with their 9 year old! She can't actually sleep without her mum now, and her mum had a real go at her dad in front of us all because he had dared to put their DD to bed on her own while he finished off watching a TV programme, when she was out one night.

DH and I didn't know where to look. Is it me, or is 9 a bit old to be co-sleeping?

LOL @ whole family in one bed scenario and at my baby growing into a teenager. It'll never happen

Mattress on floor...hmm...

Our mattress is on the floor for this reason,but actually my dd cries out for me when she wakes long before she wakes enough to move around much.The other alternative is to put the bed against a wall,and a thick pillow or a bed gate the other side,but bed gates are usually for single beds,so we just have the mattress on floor and a good monitor too.(my dd is 20 months,but we have done this from about 6m,before that she jsut slept beside me on the sofa until I went to bed with her)

Our mattress is on the floor for this reason,but actually my dd cries out for me when she wakes long before she wakes enough to move around much.The other alternative is to put the bed against a wall,and a thick pillow or a bed gate the other side,but bed gates are usually for single beds,so we just have the mattress on floor and a good monitor too.(my dd is 20 months,but we have done this from about 6m,before that she jsut slept beside me on the sofa until I went to bed with her)