# Experience with crib as extension of family bed?



## Mama4life14 (Mar 17, 2011)

My boy is almost 2.5. And we have co-slept with him from the beginning. (Bought him a crib but he never used it) He's really starting to move around at night, and he was never like that before. So I haven't had good sleeps lately because I have his feet or his bum in my face! Lol. One of his favorite ways to sleep is completely horizontal between my husband and I. (Probably a regular occurrance(sp?) with co-sleeping families!









So basically what I'm wondering is I'd like to put the crib that was never used, at the same height as our bed and just take the front rail off, so pretty much an extension of our bed, just to give him his own space. But have the 3 sides so he's still safe.

Has anyone done this? Did they actually stay in that space? Or did they just move to be close to you anyways? I have a feeling he wouldn't stay in his own space at the beginning, but maybe get used to it as long as we didn't force it. We really love co-sleeping with him, so we feel like this would be a happy medium for us. Its either this, or buy a bigger bed!

Thanks for any experience or input!

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## Just1More (Jun 19, 2008)

We've done that. They still wound up in bed for part of the night, but I could easily flip them over into their space once they were sound asleep. It was a nice bridge for us for a while.


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## C is for Cookie (Jan 27, 2011)

That's pretty much what we do too! We used to have the same problems of DS's bum in my face or him squiggling around... we get a lot more sleep this way


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## Mama4life14 (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks for your responses! I'm so glad that this just might work for us! I'm a little dissappointed because I will have to move my rocking chair to another room to fit the crib beside the bed. Which I guess is okay. If I have to rock him,(which is usually only for naps) I can just go to the other room. No big deal.. Its gonna be worth it I think, my husband is up at 430 am every morning for work, and usually doesn't get to bed til late, maybe 9:30 at the earliest! So I feel bad if the sleep he does get, is interrupted by a squiggly little boy!









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## Snapdragon (Aug 30, 2007)

we have done this since now 2 yr old ds was a new baby. First we had an arms reach co sleeper and then when he got too big for that we got a full sized crib and "sidecarred" it- which is just what you are saying- 3 sides of a crib and the 4th side is open to our bed. We love it and it works great for us as ds has his own cozy space and dh and I get the full use of our queen size bed, but ds is still right next to us.


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## odinsmama (Jul 6, 2006)

We did this also with the crib attached to the bed so it couldn't be pushed away from the bed, creating a gap. It worked well for quite a while.


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## Mama4life14 (Mar 17, 2011)

How do you ladies attach the crib to the bed? I'm glad you mentioned that, or I wouldn't have thought of it! :/

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## odinsmama (Jul 6, 2006)

I think we used some big sturdy bungee cords that ran underneath the crib and the bed and attached to the frames. Careful putting these on! I also wedged a couple of those foam swimming noodle things in there so there wouldn't be a gap. I tried them between the mattresses and then between the crib mattress and outer wall of the crib and I think that's what ended up working best in our situation.


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## crayfishgirl (May 26, 2009)

We basically did this: http://www.freewebs.com/sidecarcrib/

So. much. better. than sideways/flailing baby between my husband and me!


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## Mama4life14 (Mar 17, 2011)

Oh awesome! Thanks for the ideas! And thanks for the link crayfishgirl!! Ill be doing this right away! Can't wait to get some sleep! Hehe

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## MrsKoehn (May 12, 2012)

We're having our first in Nov or there about, and I love the idea of a side car. I've been planning to do that since I heard of the idea a few years ago.  My SIL did that with her son, and it's worked out well for them.


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## MrsKoehn (May 12, 2012)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *crayfishgirl*
> 
> We basically did this: http://www.freewebs.com/sidecarcrib/
> 
> So. much. better. than sideways/flailing baby between my husband and me!


I just looked at the link, that's the same one I found best in a search one evening. She's got good info on there and love the pics.


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## Beabop (Jan 8, 2012)

We have done the crib extension since my little one was a year old. She is now almost three. I put the crib against the wall (three sides up) with my bed pushed against it. I love it. We an snuggle all we want but then she can be moved into her bed easily. Or plop down into it (I lowered the mattress because she's so tall). Hope this works for you!


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## Mama4life14 (Mar 17, 2011)

We had the crib attached to the bed for last night, and it was great! My son stayed in his own space the whole night! I think he liked it just as much as we did. I just love that he's still super close to me, but we get our own space! Thanks to everyone for your responses. What would I do without MDC?!

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## queenyellowsun (Jun 2, 2008)

Yes we did co-sleep from the beginning too. At about one years old we put a full size mattress on the floor next to our bed (so one side was next to our bed and the other two sides were up against the wall and corner which we padded; so only the bottom part of the mattress was 'open'. ) This way i could nurse the baby to sleep in the full bed, then jump into my own bed when he was asleep. This solved the problem of him not sleeping on top of me most of the time and i actually started to get some decent rest. And he got used to having his own space too, yet still being near. And if he did happen to roll out of the bed onto the carpet (near the bottom), it was really no big deal.

We still continue to do this sleeping arrangement even though he is not nursing anymore. Now at night, I still lay down with him at bed time, but I lie in my bed and just reach my arm down and hold his hand until he falls asleep. I like this set up alot and reccommend it highly. I love being near the baby (age three now), yet still having my own space to rest!


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## pandd06 (Feb 3, 2011)

We have used a sidecar since DS was born. He slept in the sidecar for the first year. Now he sleeps between DH and I. When #2 arrives, we'll continue having DS between us and will put the NB in the side-car. Right now, the sidecar is a nice extension in the sense of being a nightstand, more room for my arms and legs, etc. I don't think that DS, at 16 mo, would give up his comfy spot between us to go into it, though.

Here is how we "made" the sidecar: http://moregreenforlessgreen.blogspot.com/2012/02/crib-part-3-turn-crib-into-side-car-co.html


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## Kelly Searcy (May 16, 2012)

We did this to our crib too and our 3 year old sleeps with us on and off and so does our 3 month old. Either one of them is in the crib space and theres plenty of room for all four us this way and they can feel safe with us sleeping! I love the cuddles they both give!


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## wookumus (Sep 16, 2009)

I could have written your post, we've had our crib set up like this since little man turned 2 (now 2.5). Some nights he sleeps there, some nights he doesn't but it's the start of a transition he seems to appreciate. Our problem is that the high setting is too high so we have it on the lower "toddler bed" setting which is too low but it fits snug against our bed so we're making it work. Lots of luck!


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## Mama4life14 (Mar 17, 2011)

We've had it set up for about a week now, and my son sleeps in it most of the night, but rolls over to me usually when my husband goes to work. Sometimes sooner. Its been working really well though. I just love having the extra space for him. I still wake up every now and then, wondering where he is! Haha. I was just so used to him being practically on top of me, that I wake up in a panic, then remember he's right beside me in his own space. Lol.









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## Chicky2 (May 29, 2002)

We did this with all of our kiddos! I don't know how mamas who don't do this manage. My hubby always used clamps to clamp the crib to the bed. This is the only way we ever used a crib, lol. At one time, we had a crib sidecarred to 2 queen beds! It took up the entire room, lol. It was awesome. I miss those days!


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## azzeps (Sep 7, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chicky2*
> I don't know how mamas who don't do this manage.


We manage by buying a king sized bed and putting up a bedrail! But here I am looking on here about sidecarring because with #1 that was great. Now with #1 and #2 in bed, even a KING is beginning to feel crowded sometimes!

Sweet dreams!


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## Ainsleyfish (Jul 27, 2011)

Has anyone made anything to keep baby in the crib section while napping or after going down for an earlier bed time? We have been sleeping this way for months now. I have been using a tower of pillows on the bed but it's no longer sufficient for a fast crawling 10 month old. I also have a sensitive baby monitor & run in immediately when I hear baby.


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