questions for those whose babies sleep in bed with you

i know that it's not always recommended for our babies to sleep in our beds, but i have one of mine sleeping with me and the other one sleeps with my mother. (please no lectures or guilt trips :blink: ) anyway, the girls are starting to move around more and i am wondering if there are any siderails (that the babies cant get caught in) that can be bought to add to the side of an adult bed. or perhaps some product for this purpose that i'm not aware of. or just any ideas for this situation? i am a single mom, so there's not the option of the baby sleeping in between 2 people. surely i'm not the only person who's ever done this. :huh:

 

I don't sleep with my babies at night, but I sometimes nap with them alone. I have a bed rail that slips under the mattress and it has a mesh side to that it is breathable. I got mine from a friend, but I've seen them at Walmart and BRU. Here it is at BRU

 

I've brought our babies to our bed off and on during these first 9.5 months - no guilt trips or lectures here! There are plenty of co-sleeping advantages!

As far as bedrails or other ideas. I really don't know if there are bedrails you can buy that they can't get stuck in at such a young age. Have you tried pushing your bed flush against a wall on one side? It seems like some beds can get close enough to the wall that a baby couldn't fall into the crack between the mattress and the wall. Or what about those co-sleeper things that go in the parents' bed? I know I 've seen one before somewhere...

Sorry I don't have better ideas! Good luck!

 

I was just searching around on Dr. Sears' website (who is very pro-cosleeping), and he suggests bedrails with mesh linings. You might be able to do a search for something like that.

 

Just here to say HOORAY!!! My babies have always slept in the bed with me and DH since the day we came home from the hospital. I am a working mom and feel that if my kids are going to spend 8 hours of their day with a teacher/day care worker and only 5-6 waking hours with me, they will sleep with me. I have a snuggle nest for when they are tiny so there is no way I can roll over on them (I'll need to figure out how to do this with twins). I hear that in some areas of Europe they have sleep rooms, where the whole family goes to sleep. My DH and I wouldn't have it any other way. My girls have their own bedrooms and my 6 year old moved out of our bed into hers when she was almost 5. Anyone who knows about our arrangements have always asked "Well, how do you and DH you know, do it?" Be creative! It's really not that hard to move a sleeping kiddo out of the room for a while. Have fun, sleeping babies are soooooo cuddly!!

 

I have always used a side rail when co-sleeping; my babes are either between me and DH or between me and the rail. (my guys aren't full-time in my bed anymore, but they often end up there for some period of time every night/morning, because I dose off while nursing them, and they don't make it back to their cribs for a while!). Word of warning, though - the rails only cover a portion of the side of the bed, so it isn't complete security for a very mobile older baby. My DD fell out of my bed one morning at around 9 months old; she scooted herself to the end of the rail while I was dead asleep...

 

The catalog "One Step Ahead" is GREAT and has bedrails, just what you're looking for!

 

QUOTE(2plus2Tasha @ Oct 22 2008, 12:17 AM) [snapback]1036336[/snapback]
Just here to say HOORAY!!! My babies have always slept in the bed with me and DH since the day we came home from the hospital. I am a working mom and feel that if my kids are going to spend 8 hours of their day with a teacher/day care worker and only 5-6 waking hours with me, they will sleep with me. I have a snuggle nest for when they are tiny so there is no way I can roll over on them (I'll need to figure out how to do this with twins). I hear that in some areas of Europe they have sleep rooms, where the whole family goes to sleep. My DH and I wouldn't have it any other way. My girls have their own bedrooms and my 6 year old moved out of our bed into hers when she was almost 5. Anyone who knows about our arrangements have always asked "Well, how do you and DH you know, do it?" Be creative! It's really not that hard to move a sleeping kiddo out of the room for a while. Have fun, sleeping babies are soooooo cuddly!!



I just wanted to second the snuggle nest for newborns. We had ours end to end down the middle of the bed for the twins. View attachment 4570 We started out with seperate blankets but realized if we made the bed and put them on top they were heavy enough that us moving the covers wouldn't move the babies

To the OP: Do what works for you - you're the mom Looks like you've been given some good ideas. Good Luck!

 

I co-slept with my oldest (the twins are in their own cribs...our bed is just too small for that many babies!); we usually slept with him between us, but if I was on my own I would push the bed up against the wall and sleep on the outside edge.

Hooray for co-sleeping! Do whatever you feel most comfortable with.

 

If you have a newer, thick mattress, the rails may not be tall enough. I got them two years ago and ended up returning them the same day. <_<

BTW, I won't give lectures, but I will give advice. If you are going to want this to be a short-term solution, don't wait too long to "give them the boot"! My 2 1/2 yo is still in my bed!

 

I love that you posted this! I think sometimes people are afraid for just the reasons you listed (being flash fried...) but BRAVO to you on proudly co-sleeping! (This is one of those polarizing subjects apparently...)

I co-slept with my two oldest kids and am doing so with my twins too. We used a rolled up towel on each side of the baby, under the fitted sheets on our bed, while they were too young to roll around. (We bought a king sheet for the queen bed) The rolled up towel made it so that it didn't matter if it was just one or both (or neither) of us in bed with them when we slept.

The problem is once they are moving around they become pretty ingenius at getting out of/around any road block we throw at them. I was a light sleeper so I knew when they were moving. If this is not the case for you I would definitely try the rails or pushing up against a wall. Check craigslist, sometimes they have these items.

 

Yeah for cosleeping !!

Anyway, our twins have been cosleeping with us for a while now. About a month ago, one of my DD rolled off our bed...it was on that day, we went to BRU and picked up a side rail. We bought the extra long/tall one because we have a king size bed with an extra thick pillow top mattress. So far it's been working well. I don't leave them on the bed unattended anymore but it does help them from rolling off the bed when they're sleeping.

NB: Like a PP said, the rail doesn't cover the entire length of the bed. So we placed our in the middle and used my snuggle (side pillow folded in half) to block off the top part of the bed if that makes sense.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2552662

Good luck finding a solution that works for you.



QUOTE(foppa2102 @ Oct 21 2008, 06:14 PM) [snapback]1036108[/snapback]
i know that it's not always recommended for our babies to sleep in our beds, but i have one of mine sleeping with me and the other one sleeps with my mother. (please no lectures or guilt trips :blink: ) anyway, the girls are starting to move around more and i am wondering if there are any siderails (that the babies cant get caught in) that can be bought to add to the side of an adult bed. or perhaps some product for this purpose that i'm not aware of. or just any ideas for this situation? i am a single mom, so there's not the option of the baby sleeping in between 2 people. surely i'm not the only person who's ever done this. :huh:

 

first off, i have a whole shelf of books that DO recommend sleeping in bed w/your baby or as close as possible. so, no reprimands from me!

we are using kidco siderails on all sides of the beds, and they are great. made of mesh and definitely hold the babes in place. well, they used to. now the babes are pulling to stand so they are pulling up on the rails, which scares the beans of our me, so we're trying to get them used to sleeping in their cribs (next to our bed) instead of w/us. it's a slow process but we're just trying to be safe.

speaking of safety, i hope you've read some general guidelines about safe co-sleeping. most families put their mattresses on the floor, btw. that's not possible in our house so that's why we've started w/the cribs.

best of luck! i think it's SUPER that you're doing this on your own and WONDERFUL that your mom is helping you out.
take care, jl

 

We got side rails from Target, in the baby section. Don't feel guilty or bad about sleeping with your babies. There has been plenty of research showing that co-sleeping can be SAFER than cribs (when done correctly, no puffy pillows, drugs, etc). Plus, as far as I can see, whatever you can do to make it through the first year is what you need to do. If that means co-sleeping, then go on and do it!