# Leaving baby alone in bed safety issues



## pixiewytch (Feb 7, 2007)

DD is almost nine months and now sleeps exclusively in our bed. We did put the mattress on the floor but our pillowtop mattress is still pretty high and we have laminate floors. When she sleeps and I'm not in the bed I try to surround her with big pillows but she could still get over them with some effort. I feel like I constantly have to sit where I can look in the bedroom the entire time she is sleeping. It's bad enough that I have no adult time in the bedroom but now I can't do chores or have any me time while she is sleeping because I am watching her from the couch in case she wakes up. What am I missing here?


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## devster4fun (Jan 28, 2007)

We did the exact same thing! (Pillows and all!!)

The mattress on the floor is a good start. We actually switched around that age to a twin mattress on the floor, next to our regular bed. It's an old mattress and about 9 inches off the floor.

Also, we use a baby monitor...I can hear her stir and wake up, so I can go in and check.

Once she started crawling...game on. I remember the first time I found her crawling around the bathroom!!


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## pixiewytch (Feb 7, 2007)

Exactly. The baby monitor sounds helpful. We don't have one because we live in such a small house but most of the time when she wakes up from naps she is very quiet. I just see her sit up quietly so I don't think that would be safe enough. DH suggested bed rails leftover from when DS was a toddler but I'm thinking that would be a suffocation hazard for an infant with the crack between the bed and the rails. Anyone else?


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

We have a similar situation, except for the fact that our bed is on a frame, not on the floor (and we have hardwood floors - yikes)! We have a pillow barricade around the entire bed, but our saving grace is a video monitor. I never thought I'd own one, but if we didn't have it, like you, I would have to sit near the bed all night long. If I see DS stirring, I have to haul my butt upstairs super fast because he's a good crawler, but most of the time he just sits up and sort of waits for me. For those times when he starts to crawl near an edge, the pillows are there to make it more difficult for him and to buy me some time. I imagine that once DS (he's 7.5 months old) gets older, it will only get easier because we can teach him how to safely get off the bed, but even then, I'm still glad we have a video monitor because I'll want to know when he's roaming about.


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## pixiewytch (Feb 7, 2007)

Wow, I never considered that either. I always joke about the video monitors being a ridiculous waste of money and excess but I can see where it would come in handy. Unfortunately I'm not really in the market to spend that kind of money right now. Yikes. I guess there aren't any easy solutions here.


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Yeah, I always laughed at video monitors and thought, "How paranoid can you get?" but then I found out how paranoid you can get! They are pretty pricey, but maybe you could find one on eBay for cheaper.

Also, before we got the video monitor, I thought about doing a booby trap system. We have these soft blocks with bells in them and I swear you even look at the block and it makes the bell ring - they're really sensitive! So, I considered putting one block on each pillow that's on each side of the bed. That way, if DS touched the pillow AT ALL (which meant he was up and crawling or rolling too far), I would hear the bell and know to go up there and check on him. It might be a cheap solution for you because you could hear it over a regular monitor.

I just saw on the video monitor that DS was up, so I went in to nurse him, but I noticed that he's been doing this thing lately where he sits up and waits for me, which is nice because then I don't have to run upstairs like there's a fire... does your DC do this or do they immediately start roaming upon waking?


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## hibana (Jun 9, 2006)

At 10 1/2 months, she can climb down now, but before that dd learned very quickly to do a "controlled fall" from our mattress-and-boxspring-on-clothes-covered-carpet family bed arrangement. Before then, she would wake up, crawl around on the bed for a couple minutes, and then fuss because she wanted to nurse and couldn't figure out how to get down. She only did the "crawl over the edge at full speed" thing a couple of times, before figuring out that it wasn't a good idea.







:


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Have you taught her how to climb down safely? Dd got pretty good at it around that age.

-Angela


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## riversong (Aug 11, 2005)

Ds is surrounded by pillows on the bed right now. Once dd moved a pillow when she went in to see him when he woke up and he rolled off. When he starts crawling I think I'm going to put some padding on the floor. I'm not sure what, though. Pillows will slide on the wood floor. Maybe some kind of mat. I also listen for him on the monitor when he's sleeping.


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## triscuitsmom (Jan 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
Have you taught her how to climb down safely? Dd got pretty good at it around that age.

-Angela

Except that mine is a DS, not DD







I agree with Angela completely! That would be my suggestion.


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## Chic_Mama (Jun 26, 2007)

After falling twice from our bed DS got really good at climbing off! I don't recommend the falling off part, bu teaching her to climb down is worth its weight in gold!


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## SublimeBirthGirl (Sep 9, 2005)

My 1st fell off the bed a few times. They were all AFTER I taught her how to get off safely so go figure. My 2nd is pretty cautious. So far she sits up and yells. I imagine she'll fall off one of these days (my bed is also on the floor).


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## pixiewytch (Feb 7, 2007)

So you guys aren't worried about them falling off? Wouldn't that be a pretty serious situation that would warrant an ER visit? I don't know except that when DS falls backwards on the floor when she is sitting or pulling herself up it hurts pretty bad. I just imagine that falling that much further off of a bed could be fairly serious.









DD does sit up and look around without making much of a sound. I haven't waited to see what else would happen since I make a mad dash in there before she has a chance to do anything. I had no idea I could teach her to climb off the bed at this age. I mean, she can't pull herself to complete standing position yet so I can't imagine her climbing off of it. I also worry about giving her and myself a false sense of security. I don't know. Help me out here.


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## rmzbm (Jul 8, 2005)

Most kids sleeping in the family bed WILL at some point fall out. It's usually not an issue other than "ouch!"
I still remember posting here when DD2 was like 4-ish months FREAKED because she fell out, she wasn't moving (!) ...um, she had continued sleeping, never even woke up!







And ALL my kids coslept...so she (my 4th) was the first to even take a tumble. But, it's fairly common...I wouldn't worry too much, and like has been suggested, teach the child how to get down safely asap.


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## triscuitsmom (Jan 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pixiewytch* 
So you guys aren't worried about them falling off? Wouldn't that be a pretty serious situation that would warrant an ER visit? I don't know except that when DS falls backwards on the floor when she is sitting or pulling herself up it hurts pretty bad. I just imagine that falling that much further off of a bed could be fairly serious.









DD does sit up and look around without making much of a sound. I haven't waited to see what else would happen since I make a mad dash in there before she has a chance to do anything. I had no idea I could teach her to climb off the bed at this age. I mean, she can't pull herself to complete standing position yet so I can't imagine her climbing off of it. I also worry about giving her and myself a false sense of security. I don't know. Help me out here.

I'm sure sometimes falling off of the bed warrants an ER visit... just like sometimes falling in the living room does... or playing outside.

But it's definitely not, oh, baby fell off bed, I definitely have to go to the ER now. My son has fallen off of each bed he's slept in once. (So a total of three beds) and actually the worst one was not a fall at all but a jump







He jumped, wanting to get something waay off of the bed at my Grandparents, which is also by far the highest bed he sleeps on (frame, boxspring, mattress) onto a hardwood floor. It was definitely scary when I was running to see what happened, but he hit his head, cried... then screamed because he was mad at me because he thought *I* did it... nursed... and then came out in the living room and played. TBH he has a barefly viisible chip in his tooth from that incident and that is the worst of it.

Teach her to go off safely by going feet first, and help her practice. Really now if she's going to "fall" doing it feet first is the way to go. Tobias goes feet first off of couches and beds every single time now. And if he's in a hurry and slips, he lands on his bum, no problem. Now that he has that skill it's not a false sense of security for us anymore than it is that I can safely do a lot of things... even if sometimes I still trip or slip I *can* do it almost every single time perfectly and so can he. He's been doing it for several months too... well before he was standing/walking.

Good luck Mama... and *hugs*


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## BundleFishMama (Jun 1, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *happy2bamama* 
I just saw on the video monitor that DS was up, so I went in to nurse him, but I noticed that he's been doing this thing lately where he sits up and waits for me, which is nice because then I don't have to run upstairs like there's a fire... does your DC do this or do they immediately start roaming upon waking?

Same thing here! Around 11 months or so, my DS learned to sit up in bed when he wakes up, and look around, and wait for me to come in. And yes, we couldn't manage without the video monitor - I bring it with me wherever I go and I can see if he's stirring. If he makes noise, I can also see if he's just rolling over and going back to sleep, or really waking up and needing to nurse, wanting to get down, etc.

The video monitors have come down in price lately - and yeah, eBay would be good place to check too....


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pixiewytch* 
So you guys aren't worried about them falling off? Wouldn't that be a pretty serious situation that would warrant an ER visit?

Scares the PANTS off mama, but ER? nah... not always.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rmzbm* 
Most kids sleeping in the family bed WILL at some point fall out. It's usually not an issue other than "ouch!"









:

Quote:


Originally Posted by *triscuitsmom* 
I'm sure sometimes falling off of the bed warrants an ER visit... just like sometimes falling in the living room does... or playing outside.

But it's definitely not, oh, baby fell off bed, I definitely have to go to the ER now.









:

I think that most babies fall out of a bed at some point in the second half of the first year...

-Angela


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pixiewytch* 
So you guys aren't worried about them falling off? Wouldn't that be a pretty serious situation that would warrant an ER visit? I don't know except that when DS falls backwards on the floor when she is sitting or pulling herself up it hurts pretty bad. I just imagine that falling that much further off of a bed could be fairly serious.









DD does sit up and look around without making much of a sound. I haven't waited to see what else would happen since I make a mad dash in there before she has a chance to do anything. I had no idea I could teach her to climb off the bed at this age. I mean, she can't pull herself to complete standing position yet so I can't imagine her climbing off of it. I also worry about giving her and myself a false sense of security. I don't know. Help me out here.

If DS fell off the bed, I wouldn't think it would warrant an ER visit (but you never know, I guess). And if he seems like he's getting to a stage where he might be falling out, then perhaps I would put carpet around the bed on the floor, or blankets or something. Again, mostly my DS sits up and waits for me on the bed, but if he was darting off the edge all of the time, I might re-think the set-up.

I think I remember that you have your bed on the floor... right? In that case, if your DD falls off, isn't she only falling the height of the mattress? I know falling is falling nonetheless and none of us want our babies to be upset or hurt. I guess I just don't stress so much about it and I think the video monitor is why I don't. If I couldn't see what was going on in there, I would probably be a nervous wreck. IMO, there are some items that are worth the extra cost and the video monitor is one of them.









About the false sense of security - I don't think that's what you're doing having DD in the bed. In a matter of time, she'll learn to climb down and then be walking, so IMO, it won't really be an issue anymore. And again, if your mattress is on the floor, then once your DD is a stable crawler, you shouldn't have to worry at all - just make sure the room is babyproofed if she wakes up and wants to explore!









BTW - We lowered our crib today (which we never use) so that I can put DS in there while I change a load of laundry or go to the bathroom since he's so mobile now and he bonked his head so much in the few minutes he was in there that it makes me wonder if this happens to all the other babies that are in cribs. How do they not bang themselves up while playing (or gasp - CIO - in there)? Today, DS pulled himself up and then eventually fell/sat down on his bottom but had his head looking down, so he bonked it slightly on the way down and then he laid back and bonked it on the back bars! (And yes, he's a tall baby.) So far, having him in the big bed alone has proven safer than the crib!


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## SublimeBirthGirl (Sep 9, 2005)

It would take uncontrollable bleeding or unconsciousness to send me to the ER. My 1st is a daring type. She's fallen off beds and down stairs more times than I care to admit. She's a climber and she is relentless. Never gone to the ER for any of it though.


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## pixiewytch (Feb 7, 2007)

So I didn't think to mention that I have the mattress and box spring on the floor. Do the rest of you have this or just the mattress? Maybe this is why it seems like such a long fall to me.


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## triscuitsmom (Jan 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pixiewytch* 
So I didn't think to mention that I have the mattress and box spring on the floor. Do the rest of you have this or just the mattress? Maybe this is why it seems like such a long fall to me.

That's us too (well not quite the same set up, but the same height)... feet first makes all the difference.


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## MommytoHHH (Sep 12, 2006)

We have to have our bed on it's custom made frame (which makes it HIGH) because DH has a medical condition and has to sleep with his head elevated. For this reason, I use a video monitor at all times when DD is in bed. We also have a bedrail on my side of the bed, and if she's alone I put a body pillow at the edge of DH's side. If she's asleep in there alone, one of us is always watching the monitor carefully. I usually hear her rustle before she's even really awake, so she's never gotten close to falling off. Knock on wood that it stays that way. Soon I'm going to start trying to teach her about the edge. She's learned to climb our ottoman in the living room and get back down safely, so I think she's getting close to being able to figure that out.


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## pixiewytch (Feb 7, 2007)

I'm glad someone mentioned the bedrails. We have some in the shed from when DS was little and DH suggested we use them. I'm just thinking that an infant/toddler could easily get caught between the bed and the bedrail. Does anyone else use them?


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## SublimeBirthGirl (Sep 9, 2005)

I have the Safety First bedrails that clamp down on the mattress.


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pixiewytch* 
I'm glad someone mentioned the bedrails. We have some in the shed from when DS was little and DH suggested we use them. I'm just thinking that an infant/toddler could easily get caught between the bed and the bedrail. Does anyone else use them?

I'm sure that some people love them, but we were reluctant to get bedrails because I felt like it posed more of a problem because I thought for sure DS would try to pull himself up on them (like he would on a crib rail). For us, the body pillows are great because he can't really pull himself up on them because they're not solid.


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## MommytoHHH (Sep 12, 2006)

Our bedrail isn't high enough for DD to pull-up on, because we have a tall mattress. It just keeps her from rolling out of bed when she sleeps on that side of me. She has rolled over to the rail twice now (in 10 months) and both times I've woken up instantly - but it has kept her from falling off the bed. I'm always afraid that we'd push the body pillow out of the bed, plus, it takes up more bed space. And we're all three bed hogs







:


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## charmama (Jul 23, 2004)

Could you remove the boxspring for a while? It probably won't be too much longer until she can climb down safely with it, but for the time being she'd probably be fine with just the mattress. My dd is just 10 months and does fine with our mattress on the floor. She used to be a little clumsy getting off, sort of a "controlled fall" like pp said, but now it's no problem at all.

I have the bedroom set up so it's safe, I double check for odd dangers before I leave, and I shut the door all the way because she'd be down the hall way too fast. I have a monitor. If she wakes up happy, I hear her up and about, usually playing with the monitor and dropping it on the floor!

Of course, this is all if she is actually laying down to sleep without me, it happens sometimes!


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pixiewytch* 
So I didn't think to mention that I have the mattress and box spring on the floor. Do the rest of you have this or just the mattress? Maybe this is why it seems like such a long fall to me.

Our bed is a bit lower than many, but it's not on the floor at all. About... 2 ft up or so I suppose...

-Angela


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## Mama2Bean (Mar 20, 2007)

i'm confused too--DD sleps w/us full time and our bed is on a frame. she's 9 mos on thurs. when i've tried to teach her anything about feet first (couch, etc she doesn't understand me and just chews on me, laughs, etc. just too young maybe?


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## Mermaidmomma (Oct 21, 2005)

Ava is 9 mos and has coslept since the beginning. We have a platform bed which is pretty high up, but she hasn't taken the plung. We have a snugtuck pillow along on side of the bed and I put pillows along the other when shes there by herself. Reading all of the other posts is seriously making me think of putting the bed on the floor! When she naps in the bed I check on her every 5 min and she makes noise when she wakes up so that usually alerts me. Oh dear


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## vrweaver (Aug 27, 2007)

My little guy is not quite to the rolling off stage yet. But, I totally agree with loving the video monitor. They are also really good at catching the dogs sneaking around!

Baby boy was sleeping in his cradle swing in the office so I put the camera on him. When I heard a noise I clicked the screen on and I caught our pup trying to sneak in a little cat food snack.


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