# The Family Bed and Crawling!



## SHK (Jun 17, 2005)

What do you do when your baby sleeps with you in the family bed, and they begin to crawl...how do you put them to sleep and not have them crawl off the edge?!?!?


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## AugustineM (Mar 21, 2005)

Our mattress and box springs are on our carpeted floor, so if he does crawl off it isn't that big of a deal. BUT that's only happened twice, and he's been crawling for about two months now. Also, one side of our bed is against the wall and on the other side I have a bookshelf pushed up against the bed. So, the only way he could crawl off would be off the end of the bed. When we're sleeping he's usually not crawling around, but if he is I am always awake so I watch him. If he's napping by himself I listen closely to the monitor and leave some toys by him. If he wakes up quietly he sits up and plays.

You can also buy a bed rail for beds. I would definitely recommend against having a high bed if you have a baby in there with you.







Mattress & box springs on the floor is the way to go (or just the mattress).


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## JennyClaire (Jun 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AugustineM*
You can also buy a bed rail for beds. I would definitely recommend against having a high bed if you have a baby in there with you.







Mattress & box springs on the floor is the way to go (or just the mattress).

This is what we do also. Even with bedrails, we try not to leave ds alone because he can climb. This isn't usually a problem because we seem to need more sleep than he does!









Naps are on the floor.


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## Bellaluna (Feb 14, 2004)

This is what has worked for us with our newly mobile 10 1/2 mo. old: Took our bed off the frame and pushed it against a wall. On the side and end of the bed where dd could possibly crawl off, I build a pillow fortress 1-2 pillows high all the way around after she's fallen asleep and I'm on my way out of the room. Until dd gets better at crawling over things, this keeps her safe from the time she wakes up (from naps) to the time I'm able to dart through the house and into the room. At night, she usually just barely makes it into crawling position before I scoop her up and nurse her back to sleep, so night crawling hasn't been an issue...yet.


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## SHK (Jun 17, 2005)

Is there a "good" bed rail? They all seem pretty short from what I have seen.


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## SHK (Jun 17, 2005)

Also, we were given a crib which we put up the day before I went into labor...and so far we haven't used it once! She has slept with us the whole time...when she was smaller, I would place her in a bassinet during the day in whichever room I was in...................I can't imagine using the crib and keep wanting to take it down and store it away....did anyone use a crib for day time naps or just keep using the bed when they started to crawl?


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## momofelise (Apr 13, 2005)

I have a safety first bed rail that is pretty easy to use, but my dd isn't crawling yet, so I don't know if it would work for you.


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## lorikuschinski (Jun 4, 2004)

I am having this exact same problem. My ds sleeps on a futon on the floor to avoid any problems with him hurting himself but he is crawling out of bed and to the door when he wakes up. I have a bed rail on one side of the futon and a wall on the top and other side.


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## MamaKalena (Jun 17, 2005)

We're in the same boat (sigh). Our ds is rolling everywhere and will be crawling soon we suspect. We're not too worried about him during the night since he sleeps between me and dh, plus I'm a light sleeper and always wakes up when he moves.

My dh is not keen on the bedrails idea and I know he'd NEVER agree to putting the mattress on the floor (partly because we have pets and he's allergic, but mostly because he's just weird about stuff like that).

We've been trying the crib for naps for the last couple weeks but it's tough work given that he usually takes his naps with me in bed, on my lap on the couch, or in the wrap or carseat if we're out. We've been able to get him to sleep in the crib a few times for short naps, but usually he wakes up right away and starts laughing at me like it's a game or something, then we have to start all over









It seems like co-sleeping is an all or nothing kind of thing that doesn't mix well with cribs at all, which make it tough to get things done


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## jmhammond (Mar 30, 2005)

There might be a better thread for this, but I saw this and thought you might have some suggestions...
We do the "sidecar" cosleeping arrangement b/c we have a full size bed and a GROWING 6 1/2 month old. The other day during a nap he either slid through the crack OR crawled onto the bed and off the side (not likely b/c he doesn't really crawl yet, he scoots) and DH found him alseep on the floor when he went in to check on him. Thought he had a concussion (sp?), and was VERY scarred by the whole incident. The whole time DH had the monitor on and didn't hear a peep or scuffle at all.
We have a sheet that goes OVER his mattress and UNDER ours, and it was not untucked at all. I've tried to recreate the incident by laying DS in the crack and seeing if he rolls down in or anything and it doesn't seem likely, but obviously something happened, and he didn't stay in the bed.
How do you guys side-car? any suggestions?


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## kochanyk (Jun 30, 2005)

Oh man oh man other ladies with my issue! DS is 7.5 month and been crawling for 2 months and I'm scared to death to leave the room for a half second after he sleeps. I'm also afraid of him waking up and crawling off (he tries but every time I've caught him thus far). I'm doing bed against the wall and pillow fortress but he seems to think pillows are fun obstacle courses! I'm scared to do a bedrail b/c he pulls up on everything and if he pulled up on it and flipped over it'd be twice as bad as just crawling off. I don't want to use the crib- it just doesn't seem right to put my baby away from me!


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## Changed (Mar 14, 2004)

Getting worried about this myself actually. DS is just about to start crawling any day now. We are now using our regular bed with a bed rail. I've worried also about him pulling up on the rail and making for a really bad fall. No putting our mattress on the floor either. Our house in on the market and has to look presentable.


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## lorikuschinski (Jun 4, 2004)

I have a futon on the floor for my ds in his own room. That way, he can crawl out of bed without hurting himself, I can lie next to him for nursing, and he is in a child-proof room when he is out of bed. Some people also put a mattress on the floor in their room. I would never put my ds on a regular bed at this point. He would definitely crawl right off. Even when we travel I make a bed on the floor for him with blankets. My sister-in-law did the side-car thing and her ds crawled off a few times but I guess learned not to after that. I'm not willing to let my ds do that and possibly get really hurt. My sister also had her kids in her bed and they crawled off a few times without seriously injuring themselves (luckily). I love the bed on the floor, it is the best option for us.


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## dianita (Jun 23, 2005)

HELP!
We're in the exact same situation with our 8 mo. old crawler and have been going back and forth about setting up a sidecar crib. I like the idea as a way to transition her into the concept of a crib while still keeping her close to us BUT I can't figure out how to make it safe. The pillow fortress I've been building around her for naps is about to stop being an effective barrier. Plus, I'd like to not have to race to the bedroom every time I hear a peep on the baby monitor. I'd love to hear suggestions on how people have made this work. Is the mattress on the floor really the only way to continue to co-sleep safely once they start crawling?
many thanks...


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## Ceili (Nov 21, 2001)

The way we handle it is to never leave ds alone in the bed. He naps on a boppy on the living room floor. And if he falls asleep before I'm ready to go to bed he goes on the boppy.


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## kbridi (Mar 16, 2005)

I'm having the same problem with an 8-month crawler. He's just starting to crawl and not too fast yet, but I'm afraid the pillows won't work for too much longer.

I think we're going to move the box spring/mattress on the floor, but that's still about a foot to fall if he makes it off.

I'm interested in other ideas....


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## spacedog (Jan 3, 2005)

We've got a crawler now too!
She's been crawling for 2 months now and has only fallen off our bed once...







:
I'd really like to move the matress to the floor but DH isn't to keen on it.
We've bee working on getting her to at least nap in her crib. I just feel like she's safer in there while I'm cleaning up. It took awhile but she's finally comfortable for naps.
MamaKalena- Our DD thougt it was funny for awhile too. She'd roll over and sit up like.. HA! I don't HAVE To lay down! LOL It took awhile to get her in thier just right.
At night though she sleeps on me or I pop her in our bed until we go to bed.
I also put a toy by her.. like a rattle so I hear it just in case.
We do have some nightwakings where DD thinks its time to play and she bounces around on the bed, then I have to be awake to keep an eye on her.
But when she does wake up she wakes me up.. she's not too sneaky.. yet.









I think we do need to put the matress on the floor...
I guess one thing I'm worried about with that is that she'll get up and sneak off the bed and I'll wake up and find her chewing on TV wires or something!









HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
Andrea


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## susan's daughter (Apr 17, 2005)

this may seem insane, but it worked for us. we created a path for her to be able to safely climb into and out of bed by herself. we used a big cushy chair right next to the bed, and then a low, very heavy box in front of the chair, and then we spent time helping her to learn how to negotiate it. as she got bigger and more agile we took the box away, and I expect we can get rid of the chair in a couple of months.

having said that, i still still keep a sharp ear out and the monitor, etc. And there was a hairy bit of learning time. But honestly we started this at 9 months, she's 14 months now and we've never had a problem.

good lucK!


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## MrsNavigator (Jun 26, 2005)

Maya has begun to roll around a bit, which I get the feeling may be more and more as she learns to crawl







We already have the bed on carpeted foor but.... I'd like to look into bed rails. I think it might be good for me getting up to pee in the middle of the night when she is rockin' n' rollin'

Anyone use one they like?
Do they fit a Queen size bed?
Pros and Cons?
Great AP online store to buy them from (I hate to support the big retailers, but sometimes they are all that is out there)?

TIA


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## tatermom (Jun 11, 2005)

:
DS is not crawling yet, but we will be facing this problem, soon, I'm sure! :LOL I'd rather not put our bed on the floor if at all possible (pet hair issues too), so I'm looking for other ideas, too!


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## mandalamama (Sep 1, 2004)

we put the mattress/boxspring on the floor, and i'm using some of her foam floor mats from her playroom around the bed. she's zoomed off twice, and scared herself (and me!!) quite a bit, but not even a bump or bruise. during the day, i've been practicing with her that when she reaches the edge of the bed, to flip onto her tummy and then back off feet-first. it takes quite a few tries, and she giggles the whole time loving the attention and how she can stand when her feet hit the ground. so far it's starting to work, she rolled towards the side of the bed yesterday, stopped and just looked at the edge for a bit, then slid off feet-first! she thumped down on her butt a bit hard and startled herself, but got excited when i got excited about it. so hopefully she'll be sliding feet-first even when she's half asleep soon. in the meantime she has the play mats to land on softly.


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## mom2jasper (Dec 5, 2004)

Another mom with the same problem--9 month old is crawling all over the bed, even in his sleep.

Most of the time I am in the room. If not, we put the monitor right by his head in the bed. We know that as soon as he sees a technological device upon awaking he will grab it and make a lot of noise. We are also teaching him to get out of bed on his own--it's low to the ground (Ikea mattress only type) and we just turn him around and teach him to lower his legs to the ground. He is getting the hang of it already. When we watch him crawling on the bed he does seem to stop at the edge and peer over, so he is somewhat aware of the height--but that's awake.

We don't have one of these but I have thought of making something similar. I don't think it would be escape proof, and might just be another something to climb over, but they do come in every size--king, queen, top of bed, bottom of bed. I suppose you could get one for each side and just make a huge family crib! :LOL Anyway, here's the link:

Snug Tuck Pillow


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## sonyab (Jul 10, 2005)

We have a family bed and to help our ds fall asleep for naps and at night, my dh or I lie down next to him until he falls asleep, then we leave the room. The baby is just starting to crawl and now when we lie down next to him, even if he is exhausted, he gets into a sitting position and tries to crawl off the bed. We’ve been putting him back into a lying position next to us until he finally falls asleep, but he finds this annoying. Usually he doesn’t fuss at all when we put him to sleep, but now he cries when we put him back on his back. Any suggestions? We have a futon on the floor and a video monitor, so other than the falling asleep situation, I'm comfortable with the family bed/crawling situation (for now anyway).


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## bluets (Mar 15, 2005)

I have one of the snug tuck pillows on my side of our queen bed. It is awesome though it does take up 10 inches (4 inches of mattress plus the 6 inches of pillow).

My 6 month old ds is pretty close to crawling. At bedtime now, he doesn't want to nurse - he wants to flip from back to side to tummy to try to crawl. So our bedtime routine is going through a bit of an evolution. The other night I decided to try to get him to sleep earlier (he was definitely tired): we tried nursing but he didn't want to do that; we read 2 stories; tried nursing again (to no avail); wrapped him up in a blanket and bounced him on the exercise ball. He fussed a bit and fought, but never cried; after 10 minutes he fell asleep but I kept bouncing for an extra 10 minutes to make sure that he was asleep. Then I put him in his crib. When I was ready to go to sleep, I moved him to the family bed for a good nursing and we all went to sleep.

I'm totally paranoid that he'll fall off the bed so I never leave him unattended on the bed (which is at regular bed height). When he falls asleep nursing during the day, I move him to the crib and place him on his side so he'll stay asleep (he wakes if I put him on his back).

My dilemma right now is that ds is such a bed hog and since he started turning over, he is sleeping on his tummy - not so bad in his crib for naps but in our bed it totally causes me to not sleep.


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *susan's daughter*
this may seem insane, but it worked for us. we created a path for her to be able to safely climb into and out of bed by herself. we used a big cushy chair right next to the bed, and then a low, very heavy box in front of the chair, and then we spent time helping her to learn how to negotiate it. as she got bigger and more agile we took the box away, and I expect we can get rid of the chair in a couple of months.

good lucK!

We did something very similar. We taught dd how to get down safely early on and she is still an amazing climber







It also helps that dd seems to be made of rubber. She has had some good spills but never seems to mind too much...

The first time they fall out of bed is always the worst though


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaKalena*
We've been able to get him to sleep in the crib a few times for short naps, but usually he wakes up right away and starts laughing at me like it's a game or something, then we have to start all over

My DS does the SAME thing! :LOL


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## desertpenguin (Apr 15, 2005)

First off, welcome to all the new members!

We have a bed rail, which we purchased at Walmart...it's made for a twin bed, but the strap that goes underneath the mattress stretches enough to fit our queen. Although, now that ds is scooting/crawling, I've been very worried about him crawling off the bed during the day (not so much at night, as we share sleep cycles-he wakes up, I wake up) I would like to side car the crib, but the side gate on the crib doesn't lower enough to be able to keep it on....but then if we take it off, what the use of side carring? Frustrating, and ds is a light sleeper, so I can't pick him up and lay him down in the crib. So the other option we've considered is laying the mattress on the floor. But then we've been getting blister bugs in the house (they shoot acid out their butts that will blister your skin). So I've been wary of doing that. Teaching ds how to climb off the bed properly seems like a good idea, but until he's tall enough to be able to do it completely on his own without falling backwards, I can't depend on that (we have tile/cement floor) Sheesh, co sleeping has it's own bevy of problems. Blah.


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