# Sidecarred crib--what are my options as baby gets older?



## erigeron (Oct 29, 2010)

My daughter is 2 months old and currently sleeps in an Ikea crib which we sidecarred. It is one of the type that can later be converted into a toddler bed. Right now she can't roll, so I think this is a perfectly safe arrangement for her, but I'm thinking ahead to the future--hubby is starting to kick about putting her in her own room within the next few months, but I'd really like to have her stay with us at least up until 1 year or so.

So what can I do once she gets big enough to roll/crawl out of the sidecarred crib? Will that still be a safe arrangement for her? We have a full-size bed, so it's small, and the mattress is not appropriate for co-sleeping (memory foam). A larger memory foam mattress might be an option, but I've had some back problems and am wary of switching types of mattress. Also, we like our blankets and I get cold easily, so by the time she's mobile (and it's winter) we are not going to want to give up the covers. Those factors make me think that having her in our bed is not a good option, not to mention hubby won't agree to it. So all those restrictions on blankets, pillows, firmness of mattress, etc.--what happens with those restrictions once the child is mobile?

Do I have any options other than just putting the crib wall back up?


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## rparker (Jul 15, 2008)

To reduce the risk of SIDS it is safest for babies to sleep in their parents room for the first year. It helps to regulate their breathing. This is even the AAP's position (and they're against bed sharing).

I have no idea about the memory foam mattress being safe/unsafe, but I've slept with 1-2 pillows in the bed and one thick blanket when both of my October born babies were 0-12 months. My very mobile 11 month old is currently monopolizing 3 pillows + her own blanket in the bed we share. (I gave her her own pillow(s) when she started stealing mine.) Of course fewer/thinner blankets are always safest. Last winter (when she was younger and I was more nervous) I got by with fewer blankets than usual by dressing us both very warmly for bed. Wool socks help a lot 

If your daughter is used to sleeping in her crib, however, the easiest option may be to just raise the side of the crib and keep her near your bed. You also might want to check to make sure your crib hasn't been recalled since there was just a huge recall of drop sided cribs http://www.keepingbabiessafe.org/recalled_products_cribs.shtml

Hope that helps


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## erigeron (Oct 29, 2010)

Okay. So just because a kid can crawl & is more mobile doesn't mean that the worries about the suffocation hazards are eliminated, right? I feel like this sounds dumb. I'm just trying to think this through, because if our bed is hazardous and she could get into it (which she can't right now), we would want to somehow restrict that. So I'm trying to figure out what "hazardous" would constitute for a mobile baby, since it seems like everything I've read is more aimed at new newborns and none of the discussions about sidecarring seem to cover that eventuality. I get the impression that once she is rolling her crib just basically functions like an extension of our mattress, and ours would still need to be safe for her, whatever "safe" means in this context.

Our crib hasn't been recalled. I did check the IKEA website. It's not a real drop-side crib--we assembled it without one side, but putting the side back in would not be a simple process. (That is, it would take a few minutes, 2 people, and probably some tools--so it could be done readily, but not something we would want to do on a daily basis.)


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## ~adorkable~ (Nov 7, 2007)

you can put the side back on and still have it next to your bed, that way you can see and reach to your child but they cant crawl out. i am about to do that for my 8 month old twins i think


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## erigeron (Oct 29, 2010)

Bumping... anyone else?


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## ~adorkable~ (Nov 7, 2007)

i just set up my ikea crib next to my bed in the spot that i have had a arms reach cosleeper, my twins are now 8 months and rolly polly big time but not crawling or pulling themselves up.

i did set it up without the inner side but i have it jammed up against my bed and it can not move and their mattress is about 2-3 inches lower than mine and i have a firm roll of foam jammed right into the joint so nothing can squeeze down there.

i feel good about this set up, it lets me move them in and out of my bed for night feedings and gives me some much much needed space to actually sleep.

i am now going to work on making a short wall that i can slide into place easily so when i am not in the room i can make it a bit more secure, that will then take me until they are crawling or pulling up to their knees, at that point i will without question put the full wall back in, but i also think by that point their night feedings will be much fewer so having to lift them over the wall will not be that big a deal, and i can reach my arm in between the slat just barely so soothing them will work still.


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## Zimbah (Feb 22, 2008)

We have a cot side-carred onto our bed, DD (4 months) mainly sleeps in the cot apart from if I fall asleep while I'm feeding her. I think she might start rolling soon, which will make it difficult to safely put her up to bed in the cot before I go to bed in the evening. I'm planning to buy a bed guard, the mesh kind that you get for toddlers, and slide it under our mattress in the evenings so that she can't roll out of our cot. Then when I come up to bed I'll move the mattress just enough that I can get the bed guard out, as I won't want it in the way in the night. At least, that's my plan but I'm not sure it will work. Once DD is able to pull herself up to sitting that won't be safe either as she could get over the top of it, so at that point I think I'll put the fourth side of the cot up but leave the cot right next to the bed until we decide we're happy with her being further away.


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