# Co sleeping with pillow top mattress?



## Artichokie (Jun 19, 2007)

I have a new 18 day old DD, whom I had hoped to cosleep with. We have a problem, however. DP and my mattress is a pillow top that is so plush that my DD sinks very deeply into it. For this reason, we feel uncomfortable with having our DD sleep on it.

Does anyone else cosleep with a newborn on a pillowtop mattress? if so, did you do anything to combat your DC sinking into it?

Thank you!


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## abigail_b (May 3, 2007)

We co-sleep and have a pillowtop, but ours isn't that plush. We used the mini- arm's reach cosleeper for his first 4 months (a little crib that attaches to the side of the bed). If you don't want to use a co-sleeper for the first few months, I would suggest getting this:Sunggle Nest


I don't think it is safe to have her sleep on such a plush surface...editing to add, I think that it will be okay once she gets older, but that it isn't safe for a newborn.
Good luck!


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## Twocoolboys (Mar 10, 2006)

I agree, that's not safe for a newborn. Can you remove the pillow top part for now? Otherwise, I would get an arms reach co-sleeper.


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## JessBB (Apr 10, 2007)

We have a pillow-top that is not super-plush and here's what we did: we made a little "nest" on top using the sleeping wedge on top of a couple of towels. The wedge is made of foam so it's somewhat firmer. This also put baby higher than us so rolling over was really, really unlikely (which it is anyway but it made me more comfortable). Then we scooched our pillows like halfway off the sides of the bed so our newborn ds had about half the space







. And of course we kept the blankets down around our waists and wore long sleeve tops







:

Congrats and enjoy your newborn - ds will be one next week, I can't believe it!


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## Snowflower (Dec 19, 2007)

We also have a plush pillow top. We tried a snuggle nest but it tilted too much. I sleep with her in the crook of my arm when she is in bed with us. It lifts her up a bit to nurse easier and she is safe there. That works well for me, but not sure it would for many others. Our solution was to side car a crib. It's great!! I can lean onto her nice, firm baby mattress to nurse her to sleep then move back to our bed and cuddle DH! This is working very well for us!


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## Artichokie (Jun 19, 2007)

Thank you all for your responses! They confirm our instinct that the mattress is not a great location for El.

We have an arms reach cosleeper now, but as you are all probably aware, there is a lip that separates the baby sleeping space from the parents' space. I want to be able to snuggle with her, and nurse her from a lying down position.

As it stands now, she sleeps on top of me. I sleep reclined, lying against pillows, and she sleeps on my chest. Sleeping in that position, however, is really starting to hurt my back. I want to lie down again!

I'll definitely look into making a safe nest for her, and into sidecaring the crib.

Thank you!


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## indeospero (May 23, 2005)

I don't know much about mattresses, but would it be possible to flip your pillowtop and sleep on the flat side for a while?


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## kheppner (Apr 4, 2007)

I have a really plush pillow and I've been co-sleeping since day 1. I sleep with DD in the crook of my arm so it lifts her up kinda off the bed. I'm a super light sleeper so I really wasn't concerned. She had severe reflux and I was terrified to put her in a crib on the other side ofthe house so I personally felt that co-sleeping was the lesser of two evils.


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## nighten (Oct 18, 2005)

Here are some things that I believe can definitely help you be able to cosleep with your newborn on your pillowtop mattress:

1. Get either a tightly woven cotton crib topper (available at BRU, made by Gerber I believe? They're water resistant and I've never had a leak through ours but they contain no vinyl, etc.) or a wool puddle pad (or do what we did: get a cheap thin wool blanket, like from an Army/Navy store and cut it to fit the area your child will be sleeping -- we cut ours crib-sized).

2. Get a mattress cover for your pillowtop, that fits very tightly.

3. Put the mattress cover on first. Then a tight fitted sheet over the mattress. Then the cotton or wool pad (or both if one isn't enough in reducing loft), and lastly *another* fitted sheet over all that. Or you may find that just the mattress pad or just the cotton or wool pad works well enough. Don't spend a fortune getting all three if one may work on its own. And you may have something already on hand that can work (a wool blanket that cinched down well or something).

Experiment with the arrangement and test it out before letting your child sleep there -- I'd find something that weighs about the same (sack of potatoes or something? Hehe -- I'm trying to think something about baby-sized and weight) and lay it on there then leave it for about 30 minutes or so. Go back and see if it's sunk down too much or not.

But by adding very snug layers, you're creating a firmer surface for the baby so she's less likely to sink down as deeply. But the key here is that everything needs to be on *very* snugly. Any loose bedding will negate the firmer surface you've created.

Once the baby is older and weighs more, these steps might not be as effective in reducing the loft underneath her. But, by then she's likely to be moving around and a sleeping surface with some loft may not feel as unsafe for you all then.

Anyway, it's worth a shot, especially if you're wanting her right next to you. And it's possible to counter the loft with adding some tight toppers, I believe. Try it and let us know!

Good luck and congratulations on your new baby!


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## jenneology (Oct 22, 2007)

We have a pillow top mattress and bed shared with our baby since he was born and when he was very young, he slept propped up in a Boppy pillow on our bed because of that reason, your concern that baby would sink in. That worked really well for us, so I recommend it as an easy solution for you. HTH!


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## nubianamy (Jul 6, 2005)

Our DD exclusively slept on her back, so I never worried about our pillow-top mattress. Once she could lift her head, it was OK if she rolled over in her sleep (though she never did until about 1 year).


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