# co-sleeping vs. side-car crib?



## bunikins (Mar 17, 2006)

Hi, I'm new to MDC in general. I'd love to hear about comparisons between the family bed versus a "side-car" crib deal where the crib mattress is adjacent and basically the same height as the parents' mattress with no barriers in between but the baby's still in his/her own crib.

thanks,
bunikins


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

For me it would have been a pain to have dd over in a crib- even if attached. I wanted her smashed up against me so that I could nurse with as little waking up as humanly possible









-Angela


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## Sali (Sep 30, 2005)

I agree with pp for some parts of the night, but towards the early morning, I want two hours of stretching, wide open sleep before I have to get up and start the day--and the cosleeper is awesome for that! I sleep a little less consciously for a bit, and wake up more refreshed as a consequence--though you could conceivably pass the kid over to your partner's side of the bed with the same result







!


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## Animama (Oct 22, 2005)

I think either is fine. I didn't use one with my first (correction: she didn't ALLOW me to use one) but I am using an Arm's Reach with my second, as the first is still in the bed with us. This one likes it just fine, and seems totally content in there. She's still very close to me, and I usually leave a hand on her belly.

I do have to sit up to move her in to nurse, but she sleeps longer stretches in there than she does in the bed, so I end up doing it less often with THIS baby. (I stress, since every baby is totally different.)

I also feel a little better than I can bury myself deep in covers and pillows without worrying about her, since she's on a separate surface.


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## alexsam (May 10, 2005)

First, a little semantics... a side-car crib IS co-sleeping! Co-sleeping can be many arrangements. Even a full-on crib smooshed up against the bed is considered "co-sleeping" because the baby is near enough that family members can sense and respond to eachother-especially the baby.







So, there are many arrangements of co-sleeping that can fit a family!

That said, I personally LOVE my side-carred crib. We have a super-sturdy one, so I can put some of my weight on it to nurse him in there and then I am left with a little more room in the bed. And I don't have to worry about him falling or getting out. Also, my DS wakes up if there is a lot of activity in the bed (which happens fairly frequently because my husband has on-call hours and has to get out of the bed every time he gets an emergency call. DH is also a "big sleeper" and moves around a lot, waking DS up!). But if I want to take DS out of the side-car, I just do and tuck him between us. It works great!









Good luck to you!


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## BookGoddess (Nov 6, 2005)

We have what you call a side-car crib. Ours is an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper that attaches to our bed (on my side of the bed). I love it. DH is tall and a deep sleeper. He has a tendency to spread over the bed. It wouldn't have been easy to keep DD in bed with us. Having her just off to my side allows me to get to her without worrying about my husband accidentally sprawling on her. Our dog has a tendency to jump on the bed the first thing in the morning so having DD off to the side but not on the bed has been a godsend. We don't need to worry that our hyper pooch is going to accidentally step on our baby.

DD is very happy in her co-sleeper. She took to it from the first day.

Do whatever works best for your family situation...


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

Well, we have the crib side-carred and we use it sometimes. Dd also sleeps in bed with us. I don't really think about it too much in terms of full fledged co-sleeping or not. We're all in the same bed because to me the crib mattress is just an extension of our bed. I can put some weight in the crib and have been known to fall asleep with the upper part of my body in there. It adds more sleeping room for everyone. When we don't take advantage of the crib space we have 4 of us in a queen bed which, while we can definitely do it (and have), it's not always comfortable. But dd also sleeps snuggled up to me or on me so we're kind of all over the place. DD also likes to sleep with no blankets so she can do that in the crib area and I can still keep warm beside her.

The crib space is also ideal for when dd wakes up to "play" in the middle of the night. It's her own little area that she can have while the rest of the family (dh and ds) can still sleep while I'm the lucky one staying awake keeping her out of trouble


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## josh&davesmomme (Feb 24, 2006)

We love our crib side car!! my dh has sleep apnea and uses a CPAP to breath and it's unsafe to have a baby near him in bed ( entanglement issues ) so we side carred the crib and both baby and i *love* it! My only regret was not knowing we could do this with our first son! I put together a side car page if you're interested http://groups.msn.com/SteveandLishsF...decarcrib.msnw


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## MuesliMama (Jan 27, 2006)

When I was pregnant, we bought an Arms Reach cosleeper, but unfortunately, DD never slept that well in it. Plus, like alegna posted, I woke up more fully by sitting up and lifting her over to our bed for midnight nursings. So we eventually settled naturally into bedsharing, and we're all sleeping better.







Now the cosleeper serves only as a guardrail.

Which lead me to ask all of you about napping: I'm thinking of putting DD in the sidecar for naps now, because Dr. Sears recommends that naps take place in a different spot than night-sleeping. Anyone tried this? DD's started rolling and scooting around, so even though we'll be putting the mattress on the floor very soon, the sidecar might be safer if I'm not there. Any thoughts? TIA


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## beebalmmama (Jul 21, 2005)

We put up our crib as a sidecar when ds was about four mo old. At that point he wasn't much of a snuggler and so we felt pretty crowded in bed trying to avoid touching him. But once the sidecar was there he seemed to decide snuggling was pretty good. He is now eight months and we just took the crib down. Turned out we'd only use it about 10-15% of the time. He would wake more because he couldn't feel me and I would wake more reaching him for nursing. Now we have the mattress and box spring on the floor since he's getting a bit more mobile. I've figured out how to sleep with him snuggled and how to get comfortable on my own with him in bed. Although dh and I have said with the next baby we'll be getting a king sized bed.


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## proudmamanow (Aug 12, 2003)

another







for sidecarring. Dd often ends up smooshed up next to me, but the extra space (our sidecar is at the same height as our mattress) makes it more comfy for all. Basically turns our queen into a king size bed, plus the rails help me stop worrying she's going to roll out. We've had it up since she was 3 months old. In fact I'm so used to it now that when we spent a week at the in laws in their queen size guest bed, dw & I were all stiff & grumpy and complained because we thought it was a double! I consider the sidecar just a roomy extension on our queen.


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## DBZ (Aug 9, 2005)

I have the crib side car, but it's mainly because I only have a twin bed and it's just a little too cozy. My baby ends up in the crib until she wakes to nurse and then I sleep nursing. If I had a bigger bed I wouldn't have the side car. I only put up the side car to allow for a few more inches between us.

Kara


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## JoyofBirth (Mar 16, 2004)

We put the crib side-carred when dd was 13 months. She was becoming quite the bed hog sleeping in the middle. Also, dh was wanting to transition her out of our bed. Or maybe I should say transition me out of having her in our bed. She loves it and so do I. I have room to stretch and she sleeps all over her crib. If she needs me, she just crawls over. Sometimes I lay in the crib a bit for nursing her down. We kept thte side that goes up and down on so that it was easy to get her inn nand out for naps. We zip tied the crib frame to the bed frame. And our mattresses matched up without a problem. I would caution those of you thinking of using pillows and blankets to fill the gaps between the crib mattress and frame. This is a suffocation hazard. We've l liked both ways.


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## momtoNatalee (Nov 20, 2005)

Mueslimama-I read Dr.Sears The Baby Sleep Book and I can't remember everything b/c when I read it I was SOO sleep deprived. I just wanted to ask, are you 100% sure Dr. Sears recommends baby nap in a different place than they sleep. My dd started takign GREAT naps when I started putting her the place where she sleeps at night. But I really believe in Dr. Sears advice so what do you think? I just read you post and had to ask advice. Thanks


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## TEAK's Mom (Apr 25, 2003)

A sidecar can be great. That said, neither of my girls would go for it. They both prefer constant cuddling. Wonder where they got it.









But, even if you have a cuddler, a sidecar can be nice because there is no way for anyone to fall. It can catch overflow, so to speak.


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## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alexsam*
First, a little semantics... a side-car crib IS co-sleeping! Co-sleeping can be many arrangements. Even a full-on crib smooshed up against the bed is considered "co-sleeping" because the baby is near enough that family members can sense and respond to eachother-especially the baby.







So, there are many arrangements of co-sleeping that can fit a family!

That said, I personally LOVE my side-carred crib. We have a super-sturdy one, so I can put some of my weight on it to nurse him in there and then I am left with a little more room in the bed. And I don't have to worry about him falling or getting out. Also, my DS wakes up if there is a lot of activity in the bed (which happens fairly frequently because my husband has on-call hours and has to get out of the bed every time he gets an emergency call. DH is also a "big sleeper" and moves around a lot, waking DS up!). But if I want to take DS out of the side-car, I just do and tuck him between us. It works great!









Good luck to you!

















:


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## Vicitoria (Dec 17, 2004)

Before ds was born dh was a bit freaked about co-sleeping and only consented to do it with a co-sleeper. We forked out all the money for the universal co-sleeper because we are already just a mattress and boxsprings on the floor to accomodate the dog. Well, 20 months later, ds would have it no other way then ds squished up against him as close as possible all night long. The co-sleeper did come in handy for extra space like my butt hanging off the side of the bed or to keep stuff in. Ds slept in it the day his was born and one other night before he was transitioned into his crib. He is back co-sleeping though. It was a waste of money for us. It did come in handy when we needed to put things out of ds's reach and we could make it a play yard. It's just one of those trial and error things really. You don't know what kind of co-sleeper you will have until you are actually co-sleeping. Some kids just don't like it. The 6 months or so ds spent in a crib he really needed to be there to get a good night's sleep. Now we have his toddler bed and room set up for him but I think it will take months til he actually sleeps there.


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## MuesliMama (Jan 27, 2006)

MomtoNatalee - You're right! I've been re-reading the Sears book now, and I can't find the part where I thought he recommended different nap and nightsleep spots. Something about a napnook, but I think that's for older babies or toddlers. So I'm the one who must have been in a sleep-deprived haze...







Thank you for helping me figure this out! Now I feel great putting her down in the same spot each time.

BTW, when we were all in bed the other night and I was squirming around with not enough room for myself, DH suggested that I get in the cosleeper! lol







We were laughing so hard we woke up the baby....


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