Help with cosleeping arrangement

musicalmama5

I've posted a couple of times about our saga of cosleeping, so I won't go into all the details again. Suffice it to say that we did for the first 6 weeks, then stopped because DS slept better in his crib, now the past few weeks I've been going back and forth about it because he's waking up a lot more recently. Teething, I think. Anyway, I really want to be able to cosleep somehow. I think it's better for the baby and if I can get it down, it'll be better for me. 

Our issue is space. On the nights that DH gets home late from a gig and DS is already in bed with me, DH just goes and sleeps on the couch (which he totally doesn't mind) because DS will be on his side. However, if DH is already in bed with me, the DS is right up against me and I CANNOT sleep like that. I'm a very light sleeper and his every little move or sigh wakes me up and keeps me up. I considered side-carring his crib up against our bed, but that's not really feasible because the way our apartment is situated, DS has to start off the night in his room or else I'll be confined to the living room til I go to bed (our bedroom is right next to the kitchen and there's no door between them). So his crib has to stay in his room. Plus, he naps in his crib. 

So, my question is what to do? Kick DH out of the bed indefinitely? Get an Arm's Reach? Something else I haven't thought of/heard of?

Emerald27

You could get a bedrail. I was so surprised at how much space the bedrail created, because DS or I could sleep out to the very edge of the bed, creating lots of space in the bed. We still bedshare, and DH has not once slept on the couch. If I or DS is asleep when DH comes to bed, he wakes me up to scooch DS over into a comfortable arrangement for all of us. 

DS is a 25lb toddler who sleeps like an octopus, and we still manage easily in our queen-size bed because of the bedrail.

The arms reach is another option, but I'm afraid it wouldn't last you long, since DS is already 5 months old. I'd be hesitant to buy something like that at this point. Good luck!

pixieprincss

I'd sidecar the crib and then put a twin mattress on the floor of baby's room for getting baby down before you get in bed at night and the nights when DH will sleep better elsewhere.

musicalmama5

Thanks for the ideas, ladies. He slept in our bed last night (with DH) and I'm afraid it wasn't the best situation. At about 5:30 he was awake and I couldn't nurse him back to sleep. Had to get up and rock him. Then I put him back in his crib and he slept til 8 (which was lovely!).