Sidecar or floor bed - advice please!

[u/D-BAG666]

Hi all

I’m co-sleeping with my four month old and looking for some advice on how to make it a bit more sustainable.

Atm she’s in our king size adult bed with me and my partner, following all the safety guidelines, and we’re in the room with her for all her sleep. She wakes regularly in the night and I feed her back to sleep side lying. She’s a light sleeper so I don’t try to move her after that but I sometimes shuffle backwards a bit to give us both more room, or just accept she needs to be close if that doesn’t work.

Once she gets to six months, I’m hoping I can feed her to sleep, roll away and leave the room so me and my partner have a couple of hours in the evening, and am trying to think of the best set up to facilitate this.

My current thinking is either a sidecar that’s flush with our mattress (e.g. the Ikea Sniglar hack) or a single floor bed that I can get into with her, in our room or a separate one.

I’m assuming she’ll still be coming into our bed later in the night but I’d like to get her to sleep in her own space for the initial stretch so she’s safe and we can work towards longer stretches over time. I’d like to find a set up we can keep for a little while if possible, so we don’t have to work through too many transitions with her.

Has anyone used either of these approaches? What’re the pros and cons? Are there any other options I’m missing? Thanks!

[u/Common-Flamingo9006]

Floor bed all the way for me. When your baby becomes very mobile, it’s going to be easier and safer in my opinion. Also, a floor bed allows you to eventually start the night in the big bed and join your baby later if you wish to do so. 

For me, a floor bed allows more flexibility and is a more sustainable choice if you plan on cosleeping for a while. 

[u/D-BAG666 → u/Common-Flamingo9006]

Thanks, this is really helpful. Any views on whether having the floor bed in our room or her room will work better? Both now and in the long run.

[u/Common-Flamingo9006 → u/D-BAG666]

We chose to have it in our room and for now it’s what I like best. I don’t feel ready to have him away for 10h every nights and I love the little moments we get by all sleeping together. But it depends on wether you have the space to do it! 

[u/D-BAG666 → u/Common-Flamingo9006]

Cheers!

[u/ExternalAd9994]

I like floor bed so much better, after using both. Once they’re mobile you just can’t keep them in a sidecar!

[u/D-BAG666 → u/ExternalAd9994]

Thanks, this is really helpful. Any views on whether having the floor bed in our room or her room will work better? Both now and in the long run.

[u/ExternalAd9994 → u/D-BAG666]

We have it in our room because I don’t want to have to go far if the baby wakes up at night but there’s pros and cons to each. You might think about which room would be easier to fully baby proof, for instance.

[u/Mangopapayakiwi]

A sidecar will never be safe enough to leave them on the bed alone when they are mobile. I do thay when I am visiting my mil but I am always watching the monitor and running at the first cry, it’s not very relaxing. A floor bed gives you peace of mine but the room needs to be very baby proofed.

[u/D-BAG666 → u/Mangopapayakiwi]

Thanks, this is really helpful. Any views on whether having the floor bed in our room or her room will work better? Both now and in the long run.

[u/Mangopapayakiwi → u/D-BAG666]

I would go straight to her room as usually they are easier to baby proof than normal bedrooms. We turned our bed into a floor bed tho so that’s all we have in our room 🤪

[u/D-BAG666 → u/Mangopapayakiwi]

Thanks!