# sidecarring crib against pillowtop or soft mattress?



## nukuspot (May 10, 2007)

Hi all,

We just ordered our crib, plan to sidecar it. However, we have an adult pillowtop mattress. I am just getting bogged down in the logistics and safety of sidecarring, and am now wondering...A pillowtop is so soft and squishy, how can I prevent an unsafe gap opening between the crib mattress and the pillowtop when I lay on that side? It seems that a traditional firm mattress would not have that problem, or at least less of that problem.

Does anyone sidecar with a pillowtop or other soft (ie: memory foam, etc) mattress? Has it worked for you? If not, I am overwhelmed at the thought of having to spend more to replace our mattress on our bed, but I would do anything to make sleeping safe for the LO. At least if we have to do a replacement, I can finally get an organic mattress! But DH is unimpressed about possibly having to spend more money...So I am hoping it will work to sidecar against what we have.


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## petey44 (Nov 6, 2008)

we have a pillowtop mattress and sidecar our crib. i don't know if there was any difficulty necessarily because of the pillowtop, but this is what we did:
the crib mattress is pushed all the way over to our mattress, which leaves a gap between crib mattress and rail. Fold a couple of the thicker baby blankets and squeeze them in tight. you'll probably find that you never put your baby that far over in the crib, so i always found it to be safe. then there's still a crevice, maybe, is the word between the crib mattress and our mattress. definitely nothing that a baby could fall between. just a little dip so that if i put my water bottle there it won't go rolling around. when she was really little though, it still made me nervous, so i draped a folded flannel recieving blanket over the top half of her crib mattress and tucked the remainder between the two mattresses. that was enough to provide a seamless transition between the two mattresses at head level. never had any problems with feeling like dd was unsafe or uncomfortable with that setup. i should also tell you though- we didn't sidecar the crib until she was probably about 2 or 3 months old, before that we just all squeezed in together. even after sidecarring, the crib is really just there for a little extra space and the ability to safely sleep closer to the edge of our bed. she's almost 10 months old and just started spending a few hours in the crib at night- i'll nurse her to sleep at 9 and then move her over to the crib, so i can get a few things done without disturbing her. then she wakes up at midnight and comes back into the big bed to stay.
hope that helps!


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## nukuspot (May 10, 2007)

Thank you!

That really does help me. My DD is 3 months old now. She is sleeping in a wooden co-sleeper next to the bed, and she loves it, she sleeps really well there. I do too, knowing she is right by me. But I know she will be growing out of it in a few months, therefore I am starting to plan the next step, the sidecarred crib. Since it will be in the same place as the co-sleeper, I hope she won't even notice the difference once we change it over.

I really like the picture you described about the "indent" in the pillowtop I was so worried about. (The water bottle not rolling) I am a first time mom and get so worried about things like SIDS, so any little thing like that would cause me to be sleepless. I will try what you said---Putting the flannel blanket around the crib mattress and tucking it in the little indent between the adult pillowtop and the crib mattress.

I don't feel great about DD sleeping in our bed---Like I said, the bed is an extra soft pillowtop, really soft and "pillow-y" and it worries me about her rolling over face down and not being able to breathe (when she is this small, especially because she sleeps swaddled still and thus can't push away). Our bed is also far from organic---I didn't know organic beds existed 6 years ago when we bought this Serta pillowtop monster.

I ordered her an organic crib mattress (and we already have one for her co-sleeper) and for her health as well as my mom panic in the night, love that she has and will have her own non-toxic firm surface to sleep on, but is just inches away from me! I love this about the co-sleeper, so I know I will love the sidecar crib, I just have to figure out the set-up since it is not pre-made like the co-sleeper.

I do take her into bed with me in the early morning, but it is more for cuddles than sleep...We mostly just stay awake and look at each other


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## SandraS (Jan 18, 2007)

Nope, I didn't sidecar, my babies simply slept in bed with me. We have a queen pillowtop mattress with two mattress pads, one heated. All four of my babies slept right with me.

I don't get the whole "babies must sleep on a board as hard as a rock" notion. A healthy newborn baby, even a tummy sleeper (like all four of mine), will not put their face in the mattress and neglect to turn their heads 1/3 of an inch to breathe. I should add, we never ever swaddled, so my babies weren't constricted in their movement. They safely tummy slept with the ability to lift their heads at their own will.

I never lost a minute of sleep over it. I love my pillowtop, and I know it's safe.


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## roxemama (May 26, 2009)

We cosleep now but it was a challenge at first because we have a super soft latex foam mattress with a pillowtop. When in the bed DD would roll because the bed was so indented from our body weight. It was miserable, we almost bought a new mattress but this one was only 2 yrs old. Sometimes she would sleep with us on one of those incline sleepers which would keep her from rolling. When DD was around 3 months we pulled up crib as a sidecar, where she slept most of the night. Also, using a blanket to push the crib mattress against the adult mattress was a lifesaver. Also, we securely strapped the crib to the bed. At about 7-8 months, DD could sleep in the bed with us no problem but until then she would just roll into us. Now we all sleep together happily and use the crib as a railing with a bedbugz bloster on my side because there aren't bedrails (that I know of) tall enough.


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