DD has been an increasingly terrible sleeper ever since the 4MW. At this point, the only way we can get her to sleep for naps or bedtime is to lie down in our bed with her. We're ok with bedsharing (for the past few months we've been putting her to sleep in her crib, then bringing her to bed with us once we go to bed - but she suddenly will have nothing to do with her crib), but for naps and the first few hours of the night between her bedtime and ours we need to be able to sneak out and leave her sleeping on her own. Our bed is pretty high and our room isn't 100% baby-proofed, so we're thinking about using a spare full-size mattress we have as a floor bed for her in a room that doesn't have anything else in it except a few of her extra toys. Thoughts? Anyone else do a floor bed for a todder? If your LO wakes in the night do you go sleep with them the rest of the night or just lie down long enough until they fall asleep again?
Any other tips are welcome - at this point I'm fully rested from having to lie down/sleep whenever DD does so that's nice... but I no longer have ANY free moments to myself like I did when she used to nap in her crib and spend the first couple hours of the night there, so I'm feeling a little burnt out.
Re: Floor bed for a 14 month old?
You can definitely do a floor bed for a 14 month old. For more information you could google "Montessori Floor Bed" to find out about people who use a floor bed for philosophical reasons.
We didn't do a floor bed but I wish we had. Friends gave us their old toddler bed so we're using that. Sadly my son still nurses to sleep (though he's slowly weaning himself) and I end up laying in the toddler bed with him (very uncomfortable) at bedtime and again in the middle of the night. In my case I go in, get him back to sleep and go back to my bed, but that's because his is not comfortable.
We switched LO to a twin mattress in his room at 15 months. I think he sleeps so much better there than he ever did in a crib because it is more like our bed. He goes right down for naps with no issues there and does okay at night time. Night has always been a little more problematic for us though. I rock him and put him in his bed, but he still wakes up about midnight and joins us in our bed then. Sometimes he wakes up before that. I used to go lie down with him, but now I've gotten to where I can just put my hand on his back most of the time! Yay!
More Green For Less Green
Same thing with us except we went straight from bed sharing to a floor mattress at 18 months. It's like clockwork though...once it hits midnight DD wants to sleep with me. I don't mind necessarily but would like her to sleep longer stretches by the time #2 arrives. Hopefully!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)