# bed height and cosleepers



## calico_aster (Aug 28, 2014)

I'm expecting my first baby in February, and was planning to get a cosleeper, like an Arm's Reach. (Bedsharing is not an option for a variety of reasons, but my husband and I both want the baby nearby at night.) But I'm having trouble figuring out what to get. On the Arm's Reach website, it looks like the standard cosleeper is for beds 24 inches tall, and then there's also a Euro version for beds 18 inches tall. Our bed is perfectly in between that at 21 inches. (Our bed is just a box spring and mattress on the floor, and I feel like if we put it upon a stand it would be much taller than 24 inches.)

What would be the safety issues from using a cosleeper with a bed that is slightly too tall or too short? We're on a budget, and I was really hoping to get the cosleeper secondhand; the standard 24 inch height one is the kind I see most often on craigslist, so I was hoping we'd be able to use that one.


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## pokeyac (Apr 1, 2011)

Is the Arm's Reach mini co-sleeper any shorter? It doesn't convert but it might work for you. I don't know of any safety issues from it being too high, but it might be harder for you to lift baby out of it. Perhaps you could get the Euro version and add their height adjusters to get to the right height. I used the height adjusters on mine. Halo makes a new co-sleeper that is a lot more adjustable. You might want to check it out.


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## cynthiamoon (Nov 29, 2009)

As someone who regrets buying a co-sleeper, here's my 2 cents

I found that the only advantage a co-sleeper has to a pack and play next to the bed is the slightly lower side on the part that attaches to the bed. However, since it still doesn't make a continuos surface between the bed and the space the baby is on, I really don't think it makes much of a difference. So you have to lift the baby a few inches to get him in bed and nurse him. Not a big deal. 

The mesh sides of a pack and play mean you can still see the baby, you are just as close to them, and your bed height won't matter. I think the risk with a too low co-sleeper is that the baby might then press up against the side of your mattress which might be a suffocation risk if it is squishy of if you have heavy comforters on it they could do something crazy with. It's probably not a big risk since you have to stop using the co-sleeper as as soon as they are pulling up, sitting, or crawling. 

I kinda wished I had saved myself $$$ and just planned on using the pack and play from the get go. Even if you have to get two (for a large bi-level house or something to keep one as a playpen downstairs), two $70 pack and plays are still less expensive than one co-sleeper. And it's not like the Arms Reach or Halo are made with sustainable materials either. They are all plastic. Even the organic mattress is on particle board.


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## pokeyac (Apr 1, 2011)

I didn't like my Arm's Reach either. I bought it used and sold it again through craigslist. I couldn't lift my baby out of it without getting out of bed and I found it very awkward to get out of bed around it and then get back into bed with the baby. It was especially difficult in the immediate postpartum period. I ended up using the rock 'n' play right next to the bed. Next time I would use the rock 'n' play again or get a pack 'n' play with a bassinet insert. At least I could have used it as a play pen later when I couldn't with the mini co-sleeper. The pack 'n' play is also easier to assemble/disassemble. My baby wouldn't sleep in the co-sleeper. I think it was too flat and uncomfortable.


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