Using Your Existing Crib as a Co-Sleeper for Baby

When I was pregnant with my youngest son, we were living in a 2-bedroom home and space was at a premium. With that in mind, I bought a mini-crib and we set his crib up in a small alcove my husband built in our oldest son's room. I figured he'd sleep in a bassinet in our room until he was sleeping through the night, then we'd move him to his crib.

Little did I know that our baby would not sleep through the night until he was a year.

Little did I know how often we'd be up and down, back and forth, with him every night, or that even reaching over, pulling him out of the bassinet, settling him in to feed, then settling him back in the bassinet and laying back down would be a nightmare.

Little did I know that although it's satisfying to set up the crib in the nursery (and we had such a cute one) it could be put to much better use. 

Very, very often, he'd end up in the bed with us, because I was simply too exhausted to get up and put him back in his bassinet. It was okay, but neither my husband or I slept very well, because we were worried we'd roll on him. That's when I started looking into co-sleepers. They are appealing because they simply extend your bed, safely, and allow the easiest access; no getting up required. Plus, if you breastfeed, the side-lying nursing position was made for co-sleepers! 

I quickly discovered that they were expensive—a mini one that was only good until 5 months of age retailed at $170! My son was about 4 months at the time, so that wouldn't do. The full-size was expensive too, and we just didn't have the room.  Plus, we already owned a nice crib and a bassinet; it seemed like overkill for what I wanted to be a very temporary problem.

Here is a picture of the above-mentioned expensive co-sleeper, in case you aren't familiar with how they look:

That's when I discovered this amazing post  that outlines using your existing crib as a co-sleeper! You simply side-car your crib to your bed by taking off a side of the crib, leveling it with your mattress, and securing it to your bed via bungee cords or by wedging a cut pool noodle on one side of the mattress. 

(Disclaimer: If you feel at all uncomfortable with this idea, please don't do it. You should have NO gaps on either side of the baby mattress. You should also check for gaps every single time you put baby in the side-carred crib.)

Our mini-crib is the Davinci Alpha, bought on Amazon.  It's good up until 50 pounds, sturdy and inexpensive.

It came with a super-thin mattress. We bought a thicker one and with it stacked on top of the thinner one, and the mattress at the middle position, it sits level with our bed. We just put the crib against the wall and pushed our bed against the side and there you have it—instant co-sleeper that will last for years (gulp) if necessary. Our youngest son slept in it for 8 months and now our daughter is enjoying it (although we'd truly like it if she would sleep through the night so that we can move her out, but that's a different story). She has been in it since birth and it was so awesome.  I wish I had learned about this or knew how taxing even having a bassinet nearby would be in comparison for my youngest son from birth.  Many bad nights could have been made easier.

You can do this with a full-size crib, also, it doesn't have to be a mini. Please do visit this link for details on the way to wedge it and use bungee cords for extra protection. Once your baby decides to sleep through the night, just put the side back up and go back to your original plans for where baby will sleep. 

Here is the set-up with our daughter:

And my youngest son in his side-carred crib in 2012:

And my daughter, NOT on her side of the bed, yesterday, haha!

I hope this post helps out a mom-to-be. Definitely make sure you have absolutely no gaps between either side of the baby's mattress, and you will be set with a co-sleeper out of an ordinary crib. Here's to many nights of better sleep!