Baby growing out of bedside bassinet - any equivalent options for older bubbas?

[lissie]

Hey! So, our bubba sleeps in a beside bassinet. It's seperate from the bed but literally right up against it, which has worked really well as a breastfeeding mum. She is a fairly light sleeper, so I have to be extra careful when transitioning her into her sleeping space, and her being right next to me makes it way easier. On top of this, I adore having her next to me- however I like that she is technically safe in her own sleeping area (co-sleeping in the bed isn't really feasible for us in a way that would feel safe).

This has all worked really well, but she's 7 months now and it's becoming clear that she really needs a safer area designed for older babies now that she's learning to crawl & pull herself up.

We do have a crib, but it's just never worked out. Whenever I've tried putting her in the crib, she wakes immediately. I plan to keep trying but at this stage I'm doubtful I really see the crib working out. I suppose it's also that I want her close to me, I just don't feel secure about her being so far away, even if she's in the same room.

I've been looking around to see if there's some kind of equivalent to a bedside bassinet that exists for older babies, but it seems bassinets are pretty much only intended for 0-6m babies.

Side-car cribs might be the go, but I'm not sure if this is as safe of an option and for how long.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! x

 

[animore]

@lissie We just use a crib with one side removed flush against the adult bed. Stuffed towels in the opposite side of the crib so the two mattresses have no gap.

Downside is that once you have a crawler you have no way of guaranteeing the baby won’t crawl back to you on the grownups bed. If that is a concern then maybe the same crib but just with all sides up?

 

[lissie]

@animore Hey! Thankyou, that's a good idea! Our only issue would be that our bed is lower than the crib we have, so if she were to crawl on it may not be safe- there could be ways around that though

Does it have to a specific type of crib for this to be safe, or can you take the side off any standard crib?

 

[animore]

@lissie I’m not sure exactly, we just bought a standard crib and then when on the lowest setting it just happened to line up with our mattress on slats (floor bed). There was maybe a half inch difference in height but not noticeable. I’m not sure how big a difference in height would be a problem

 

[studentgirl]

@lissie Next to me forever is up to age 4

 

[lissie]

@studentgirl

Next to me forever is up to age 4

Thankyou! I just checked it out and it looks perfect. Only thing is, I'm not sure if it's available to ship to Australia from what I saw. I'll do more research in the morning though.

 

[ntombs]

@lissie Were you able to find it anywhere? I’m in the US and can’t seem to find it available either

 

[whosthe2witnesses]

@lissie We have a side car crib set up which we’re still using with my 22 month old - not that he sleeps much in it lol. Plus I have a video monitor so if he’s ever sleeping in the crib/bed alone I can make sure he’s safe and not about to crawl off if he wakes up (less necessary now he can get down by himself).

 

[lissie]

@whosthe2witnesses Haha fr, I'd imagine some bubbas just want to come even closer by your side anyway definitely a good idea! Is the side-car crib just a typical crib with the side taken off?

 

[whosthe2witnesses]

@lissie Yeah you want like a plain standard crib. Like what Ikea sells. Then you’ll want to strap the legs or slat frame (the bit the mattress rests on) to the bed, then something to stuff against the mattress on the far side so it’s snug to your mattress. I also shift the big mattress over a bit to help make them snug.

You might also need to adjust the height of the crib mattress so it matches your mattress. I was able to find risers that worked but otherwise you could drill holes to change the crib mattress height.

 

[tkolter]

@lissie I didn’t try this, but read about putting a heating pad in crib and turning it on (a safe, warm setting) before placing baby in and then turning the heating pad off. This way, baby doesn’t wake during to shift in temperature from being warm when held.

 

[flyingleadchange]

@lissie Not sure if that works for your room, but floorbed. This is the fancy name but literally any matress on the floor would do. We added an extra ‘frame’ to the side, like this. It could work both in our room and later in kid’s own room.

I think anything that’s leveled to your bed is not safe for a crawling/standing baby anymore so we were happy with this. Kid is almost 2 and we still find the extra frame useful when sleeping alone.