What a PERFECT alternative to a cosleeper!

So when we brought little miss home we first put her in a cosleeper.  Which was great, until she grew like a weed and became a sprawler really early on.  So, needless to say she outgrew her co sleeper pretty darn quick.

Then we moved her into bed with us.  I actually quite liked the bed sharing, it was super convenient for those night time feedings and I hardly missed a wink of sleep.  Of course we made sure it was done safely, had body pillows on either side of her between us and her just in case one of us slept more soundly than we anticipated.

And then she became a tosser and a turner, and started learning to roll over and crawl.  And then bed sharing, even in our king size bed, because a pain.  So, we moved her crib into our room and started trying to move her after she fell asleep.  If someone has a great way to move a 20 lb 27 inch long child without waking them, I'd LOVE to hear it.



And finally, when bedtimes became a fight, I went searching and found this solution.  I didn't have an old drop side crib, but my shiny new crib converted into a toddler day bed, which meant it was a PERFECT candidate for this project since it would still be sturdy having only 3 sides.  I didn't use NEARLY as much fussing as this woman did but, the results were the same.  I moved her bed spring up 6 inches and secured it with wood screws so that her mattress was flush with ours.  We stuffed body pillows between the mattress and the back of the crib to keep the gaps filled in and her mattress flush with ours.  It was a giant co sleeper, how perfect!  I wish I would have had this solution from day 1.  A co sleeper, yet she had the chance to be used to sleeping in her bed all along.

Now that she's becoming a bit more mobile, we dropped the mattress back to its highest setting which is about 6 inches below the top of my mattress.  Enough to keep her from rolling into our bed at night, but still easy to get to her.  It's great!  Her bed is pushed up against the wall, our king size bed is up against it.  No straps needing to hold it into place, and every few days we just bump into our bed with enough force to make sure it stays that way.

So, here I am, sharing with you mama's who LOVE to bed share and co sleep, but would love to avoid the epic meltdowns that start when transferring them into their own crib, a solution I wish I would have had from day one.  The things you learn for the second time around, yea?

Let me know if I can help answer any questions.  And I hope this finds itself to be just as helpful for someone else as it was for me!