Our Sidecar Arrangement

Burkley has always slept in our bed since the day he came home from the NICU.
We've LOVED bedsharing as it has made all of our lives incredibly easy.

We all get great sleep because there is no crying baby my husband or I have to go down the hall to get during the night. I just sense him tossing and turning and before he even fusses, he nurses himself right back to sleep. Over the past month or two, the frequency of his night nursings have dropped considerably and he's now only waking once or twice a night. As he's grown, space in our full-size bed has gotten tighter and tighter, so we decided it was time to break out the sidecar arrangement I've read so much about.

However, our room is dreadfully small, so I didn't so how this was going to be possible. I thought about bringing in Burkley's crib mattress and sliding it under the bed trundle-style during the day and pulling it out at night, but that would leave pretty much no room to even open the door to our room.

So, we got creative and did some rearranging. Now the room is really smashed/cluttered looking and very not feng shui (to my hubby's dismay), but we're going to try it.

Here's what we've got going on:

 

haha, nice pic of me in the mirror!

crawling baby = blurry baby

We took off the front rail of the crib and pulled it right up against the bed. With the crib on its lowest setting, it lines up perfectly with our low-to-the-ground bed. We put the crib in front of the end table because I have a lot of crap stuff that I need right by my side during the night (water bottle, fan, chapstick, phone, clock, etc.) and didn't think getting rid of the end table was practical. Plus, it also stores the monitor, books, and other bedtime things.

 As you can see, there are a few inches between the crib mattress and our mattress where there is open space. With the crib and bed frames right up against each other, there is still space and it's a little scary because Burkley could theoretically fall down in there. So, we got some bungee cords and connected the crib and bed underneath by the springs. That way the crib cannot move and roll (since it's on wheels) during the night. We also put some pillows there while he sleeps so he can't fall in.

Another angle-- the bed used to be where the crib is now and the dresser was on the wall next to the radiator.

We tried this sleeping arrangement last night. Hubby said he slept like a brick. Success (for him)!! He often jokes that he was down to a 1'x6' space on the bed on which to sleep, and I was kind of starting to feel bad about that. But, neither of us were ready to give up our cosleeping arrangement. So, we had to get creative. Last night, the first night of this, Burkley stayed in the crib till his first feeding, which was at the usual time (around 2-3ish). I even tried what Momma Jorje suggested to me and just laid my body over on the crib to let him nurse there, and that worked pretty well. However, due to some new teeth coming in, Burkley proceeded to want to nurse every hour after that. Part of me wondered if he was restless and fussy because he wasn't in my arms like he's used to, and while that is a possibility, today's drool, butt rash, and overall irritability and long naps proved to me that the issue is indeed teething. So, after the second time he woke up, which was only an hour after the first time, I just kept in bed with me. I did it somewhat by habit/instinct because when I woke up an hour later, I was surprised to find him in the bed with me. I must have fallen asleep nursing him without putting him back in the crib, just like we're both used to doing.

So, tonight we'll try it again! I think this will be a good transition to eventually being in his own bed when that time comes. He can get used to being in his own space while still having us in the room. Even if the room is a little un-feng shui. :)