For those of you who do/will co-sleep

Married2MrWright

Just wanted to share this:

How We Sidecarred Our Crib

J and I are considering doing this...Libby is getting too big for our Arms Reach Co-sleeper (even though we have the orginal size one) and I don't put her in it as much because of the weird little lip it has between our mattress and it.  If I could have one surface that was straight across, I'd love it!  Then I could just place her on the crib mattress and nurse her there and roll over and have my side of the queen mattress all to myself again! 

The ARCS requires us to lift her up and over the weird little lip and usually when we do she wakes so we've not done it a whole lot so it's essentially acting as a bed rail for bed-sharing and offers us a place to put her when we're getting ready for bed (brushing teeth, etc.) or when we've rocked/shushed her to sleep rather than nursing her down.

In order for us to do this I'll have to buy another crib and mattress...*sigh* the one we have will not work as a side car.  Before Libby was born I never imagined we'd bed-share and only planned to co-sleep until she was 3 months old.  Well, she just turned 4 months and we're nowhere close to having her sleep in her own room yet.

What did I know?  So...plan B.  I am thinking I might just look on Craigslist for a simple crib that we can use as the sidecar.  I need to do something, my body aches from sleeping on my side all.night.long.  It was tough enough during PG, but now, I really just need some space in the bed.  And getting a King Size bed is not possible so this looks like a good compromise.

MauiWedding08

I saw that a long time ago when I was browsing the mothering forums so I kept it in mind when I was picking a crib, but J does just fine sleeping near but not with us so I think he will just be sleeping in his crib but in our room for most of the night. 

I think lots of people buy the ARCS thinking it will be even with the bed and the lip surprises them so it's definitely good to know.

MrsNJSwimmer

I can't see the picture from here, but I hear you about needing more room.  DS has decided he likes touching one of us with his head and the other with his feet, so we make a big H in bed with MH and I sleeping on the edges of the bed.

I didn't realize about the lip either - I think that's important to mention for parents looking to buy the ARCS.