# Bedsharing with a Pillow-Top Mattress



## LouiseAlma (Dec 10, 2010)

I'm pregnant with my first child, so I'm trying to figure out our sleeping arrangements when the baby arrives. My husband has painful back problems, so we have a special mattress so he can sleep comfortably. We want to co-sleep and eventually move the baby into our bed. I was just wondering when the baby will be old enough to sleep on a soft mattress.

Also, I was wondering if, at the beginning, we could co-sleep by putting or mattress on the floor and placing a crib mattress between our mattress and the wall. Has anyone had any experience doing this? Is there a better solution? We thought about purchasing a used co-sleeper or converting a used crib, but we're a minimalist family and we usually try to avoid buying furniture that would be unnecessary after several months.


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## konayossie (Jul 29, 2010)

I'm no expert, so take that for what it's worth, just a mama who had a baby that DEMANDED to sleep with me at all times. DH & I have a pillowtop, and I believe DS and I moved back into the pillowtop bed when he was around 4-5 months. I think I felt ok about it b/c he was very physically developed and could roll from front-to-back or back-to-front, even on soft surfaces--he could sit up assisted by 4 mos and unassisted at 5 mos. I think the main concern with pillowtops is that they can kind of envelop the baby if s/he were to flip on to his/her tummy and be a smothering-hazard (like a pillow), so for us I felt that danger had pretty much passed. DS also NEVER rolled in his sleep till just recently (around 24 mos), another reason I was not concerned about it earlier on. I mostly slept with him in the crook of my arm all night at that point.


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## Contrariety (Jul 16, 2007)

Common wisdom is that pillow tops are a no go for babes, but DS slept with us on our old pillow top. I kept him in the crook of my arm and slept very tensely for the first month or two, no pillow, only blankets on my lower half, etc. We got a new, plusher bed before DD was born, and I honestly didn't fret about it at all. I was mindful of where I placed her and kept the blankets away from her but didn't worry nearly as much as with DS. :shrug

Now I'm not going to say that you should sleep with your baby on your pillow top, because that's really a judgement call you just have to make for yourself. but for me and mine, it worked out fine.


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## chel (Jul 24, 2004)

i think it depends on how plush and fluffy your bed is, pillow top or not. I have a pillow top but it's really just like a regular mattress. My dd doesn't sink in to it. Not as an infant, and even now as a toddler still doesn't.


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## lkvosu (Feb 9, 2011)

A pillow top mattress is all we've ever had and it works fine for us. However, most of the co-sleeping "rules" include a bit about super soft mattresses being unsafe. You just have to use your best judgement. I think I would actually be more uncomfortable with doing the crib mattress scenario you described. It seems like that could create unecessary and potentially dangerous gaps, right?

Alos, although a cosleeper would be an extra piece of furniture, you could always sell it after you no longer needed it.


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