# Sidecarred crib? Pros and Cons please



## SabbathD (Apr 4, 2006)

For those of you that sidecar with a crib for your baby, give me some details. I am trying to decide if it's for us or not. We have a 7.5 month old, who is a real bed hog, and our queen size bed isn't cutting it as much these days. We were thinking about sidecarring our crib that has never been used. What are the pros/cons? How does it work for you? Naps, nighttime sleeping ect?


----------



## mamimapster (Oct 27, 2004)

:
We also have an (beautiful) but not to be used again crib unless is can be sidecarred.


----------



## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

no cons at all for us. alice sleeps with her body in the crib and her head on the bed next to my belly, it works great for us. she starts the night between us and then crawls in there when it gets crowded (we have a full size bed).


----------



## SabbathD (Apr 4, 2006)

does anyone find that you don't sleep as closely with your LO with this arrangement? I both want and don't want more room. I love cuddling with her, but I just can't get to sleep with the serious lack of room in the bed.


----------



## tatermom (Jun 11, 2005)

We loved our sidecarred crib arrangement. No problem with lack of cuddling







because DS always slept up against me no matter how much space there was, but still there was definitely so much more room in the bed overall. The main con for me was that there were times when it would have been useful to have a crib with 4 walls for safety issues and if we had ever wanted to have any hope of DS trying to put himself to sleep (we have friends whose kids toss and turn and then settle into their crib to sleep (no crying), but DS doesn't get the chance to try that because instead he loves to wander around the bedroom)... basically he needed to be supervised in the bedroom at all times when he was awake until fairly recently. DS has always had a lot of trouble falling asleep, so maybe that's an issue unique to us, though!









We really do like the sidecar arrangement, though and will use it with our next baby too. Good luck!


----------



## DBZ (Aug 9, 2005)

I love my sidcarred crib. Sometimes my dd rolls to far side of the crib and she seems far away, but it's always short lived.


----------



## josh&davesmomme (Feb 24, 2006)

the only real con and I've learned to deal with, is having to crawl out the foot of my bed-instead of getting out on the side. ( it's not so bad now but I set up the side car when I was 8 months pregnant and went 10 days past due- so the end of my pregnancy was a BIG pain getting in and out of bed- now ds is nearly 17 months old and I've been crawling out this way for about a year and a half it's not really a big deal anymore

As for still being close-Some nights ds cuddles right up against me other nights his feet are in my face- we diffinately get plenty of closeness but we have room for his acrobaic sleeping as well.

Pros-
- he has his own sleep space, safe from daddy's CPAP and hose ( or was it daddy's CPAP hose is safe from a baby who likes to chew on it)
-extends our bed making more space
-most if not all the benefits of "traditional" cosleeping arrangements- closeness, more restful peacefull nights, easy night nursing...


----------



## The4OfUs (May 23, 2005)

Pros:
More space for me & DH (and DS when he joins us sometimes), but she's still right there next to me.









Cons:
She's crawling, so we can't leave her in there during nap time alone anymore cause she might wake up and launch herself over the railing (since the mattress is on the highest settign to be at mattress level)...so I'm thinking of getting a travel mattress so she can nap upstairs with us while I work, and stay safe!


----------



## airmide_m (May 8, 2006)

Subbing, cause I've been interested in the pros and cons of a sidecarred crib vs something like an armsreach. I already crawl out of the bed in a spazzy way so that shouldn't be too much of a con for me


----------



## stacey2061 (Feb 1, 2006)

no cons. even when ds is in bed with us, the crib creates more space (for my legs and/or butt usually, sometimes more of me! lol)


----------



## lemurmommies (Jan 15, 2007)

I agree with stacy2061 - I don't feel that there are any cons. My partner and I only have a double (full) bed, and there just wasn't room for all three of us to sleep comfortably. With the crib sidecarred, everyone has more room but DS is still very close. I also find it easier to ignore some of DS's sleeping sounds and movements when he is in his own space.

Although, I can see that as he gets bigger, the fear of him launching himself over the side of the crib might be very real. Like Heather, we have our crib at the highest setting so that it matches up best with our bed. But since he is only 11 weeks, we have a while before that becomes a concern.

Good luck, and I hope that whatever you choose it works out well for you and your family.


----------



## Flor (Nov 19, 2003)

No cons. We loved it, should have done it sooner.

What other options are you considering?


----------



## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

We do it and manage to snuggle just fine. I sort of sleep halfway in the crib with the babe, LOL! The only two cons I can think of are (1) having to crawl in the bottom of the bed and (2) we have hardwood floors in the bedroom and we have to be really superaware about not letting the crib "creep" away from the bed. We can't afford a king and it was the perfect solution for us.


----------



## josh&davesmomme (Feb 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lemurmommies* 
Although, I can see that as he gets bigger, the fear of him launching himself over the side of the crib might be very real. Like Heather, we have our crib at the highest setting so that it matches up best with our bed. But since he is only 11 weeks, we have a while before that becomes a concern.


I was thinking of this problem while nursing ds to sleep last night and have an idea-I haven't tried it myself but just a idea.

Bring the mattress down to a lower setting, then to bring the mattress to match yours put the crib up on bed risers, blocks, old telephone books. that way you'll be raising it at the feet instead of the mattress and have more crib railing.
just an idea


----------



## The4OfUs (May 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *josh&davesmomme* 
I was thinking of this problem while nursing ds to sleep last night and have an idea-I haven't tried it myself but just a idea.

Bring the mattress down to a lower setting, then to bring the mattress to match yours put the crib up on bed risers, blocks, old telephone books. that way you'll be raising it at the feet instead of the mattress and have more crib railing.
just an idea









YES!!! This sounds like a good idea. Will let DH know and I'm sure he'll be able ot figure it out for our room. Thanks a million!


----------



## St. Margaret (May 19, 2006)

I am really appreciating this thread as DH and I are trying to figure out our exact crib arrangement... our crib is double drop side and we just set it up, so we can finally get a real sense of the physical set up. Turns out the side even dropped down is still darn high, so we'll have to actually side car the thing (we had thought about just pushing it close and then not worrying about keeping it from scooching or extra space by the mattress, etc), and the main thing I was worried about was getting in and out of the bed with that thing right there! Sounds like others acknowledge the issue but it's not that big of a deal







It just helps to hear others going through the same thing. But maybe I'll wait to set it up until after the baby arrives... I am pretty achey at night sometimes


----------



## SabbathD (Apr 4, 2006)

I think we are going to do it. I will take pics when I am done, I am so excited!!!


----------



## lemurmommies (Jan 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *josh&davesmomme* 
I was thinking of this problem while nursing ds to sleep last night and have an idea-I haven't tried it myself but just a idea.

Bring the mattress down to a lower setting, then to bring the mattress to match yours put the crib up on bed risers, blocks, old telephone books. that way you'll be raising it at the feet instead of the mattress and have more crib railing.
just an idea









That's an excellent idea! Thanks for that! We sidecarred our crib using your instructions, and I must say it is working out fabulously. Thanks so much for providing everyone with great info.


----------

