My almost 11 month old dd still sleeps in my bed. The problem is that now she's super mobile, but not old enough to climb down safely. so I have her blocked between my and the wall at night, and I've had pillows stacked at the foot of the bed to form a barrier. But of course now she's getting too old for that to work. What have you done to keep baby safely in bed?
Additional info: she doesn't sleep alone at naps, it's when I'm asleep that has me worried. She can manage to get turned around and be all the way down by my knees before she has to climb over me, and wakes me up. My box springs do sit on the floor, I took the frame out the first time she dove off the bed (before i had the pillow arrangement blocking the foot of the bed)
I have never heard of co-sleeping....I think they should be able to sleep alone. I would try introducing this to her before she gets too old and relies on it and then it will be more of a disaster to get them to change old habits (watching one episode of SuperNanny will prove that!).
Hello A.,
I co-sleep with my daughter who is 21 months old and what has worked really well is a co-sleeping pillow called Humanity Family Bed Co-Sleeping Pillow. The design of it makes it very secure so it stays in place and the pillow itself is decently high up from the bed so it has worked great in keeping my daughter on the bed. You can do a google search and then look at a picture of it and get more details.
Take Care,
PW
My husband and I have never co-slept with our son. On the weekends we bring him into our bed when he wakes up at 7 and the three of us cuddle, and sometimes he falls back asleep.
We just never felt that co-sleeping was safe, and now that our son is super mobile, we know he is much safer in his crib. His crib is in our bedroom though (only because until we buy a house there is no other place to put it). Have you considered putting a crib or pack-n-play next to your bed for your daughter to sleep in?
I have always co-slept with my son, who is now three, and my daughter, who is six months old. We don't have room for a crib, even if we wanted one. For my daughter I put a big pillow between her and the edge of the bed and there is a pile of stuffed animals on the floor, if she were to fall, but she never has. My son, as he got older, did roll out of bed a few times, but our bed is not that high off the floor, so he generally just climbs back in and goes back to sleep. So, I guess I would have to go with the people who say to lower your bed or remove the frame altogether. I think sleeping with my babies is the most wonderful thing in the world. Good luck to you!
I agree with teaching her how to get in and out of the bed. I got a stool from Michael's, and had my kids put paint on their hands and feet and then put them on the stool. Then I shellacked it and they still use this stool, and compare hands and feet sizes. it makes it "theirs" and gives them a way to get into and out of the bed, among other things!
We put a bench at the end of the bed for awhile, until we needed to take off the side rail (he slept alone for naps)because he was jumping around too much and leaning over the rail. Then we took the bed off the frame and just have the box springs and mattress on the floor.
2 options come to mind.
1.Let her explore and show her she can fall off and tell her to watch out for the edge. You can even teach her how to get down.
2.OR put her in her own bed!!!
Wouldnt it be lovely to have your marital bed back and have just you and your hubby to yourselves again? :) ahhh
I do not leave my youngest to sleep alone in my bed. When she was about your daughters age I started showing her how to get down. So instead of just picking her up I would have her crawl to the edge of the bed and then turn feet first and help her slide down while I held onto her. This works for getting off the couch too. She is 15months now and she understands to not crawl off on her head. I think having pillows around on the floor is a good idea too. In the past we have also taken the bed off of the frame and that is probably the best. But in general don't leave her to sleep alone on a high bed. I read and work on paper work while she naps or have one of her older sibs read by her when she naps.
my bed is super high so i got bedrails. when she learned to slide down i put door knob covers on the doors and closed the doors at night so she couldn't wander around the house at night. but honestly. she usually wanted to roll over my head and wasn't all that interested in getting down without me.
Actually, there's not too many options for this. One, you can try to teach her to get down safely (not likely at this age if your bed is high), and two, you can dismantle your bedframe and put the mattresses directly on the floor (we have done this and have had no problems, our 18mo still sleeps at least half the night in bed with us.) Yes, it looks a little ghetto, but who cares? How many people other than your immediate family even see your bedroom? Yes it's a pain in the butt, but you have to decide what is more important to you. Best of luck. :)
We've co-slept with all four of our children (huge age differences, it was only one child at any given time over the years). We found putting the bed directly on the floor was the best & easiest way to go. We also baby-proofed our room and used a slide lock on the inside (so we're all locked in together) so if it happens the older baby wakes up and gets out of the bed without waking one of us she'll be secure in the room with us.
