[Anna.Loves.Toast]

Since we're renting out my mom's house and using the master bedroom, we'll be using her bed too. Her bed is huge! It's a king size, which I love, but it's also really high off the ground, and a pillowtop, which might put a kink in my plan to have baby sleep with us. I'm 5'3 and standing next to the bed, the top is probably right around my bellybutton!

So my question is, for those of you who's baby slept with you in your bed-how high is it off the ground? Has baby ever fallen off? Would you sleep with baby in a bed this tall? And then about the pillowtop? Is your bed pillowtop? Will you, or have you slept with baby on a pillowtop?

And to the new mommies...what would you do?

I think I might throw a twin bed in the nursery and sleep in there with the baby until at lease december, on most nights. SO will be finishing up his bachelors in the fall semester, so I don't want to wake him too much with a crying baby. I'll still be on maternity leave at that time, so me waking up alone is no big deal. But on weekends and stuff, I'd like to have us all together, you know? I just worry about safety.

[Grace]

When my babies were newborns I have them next to me in a bassinett or cradle, I put them with me in bed once in awhile when I was really tired and I would nurse them back to sleep, I didn't like the idea of them sleeping with me in my bed at that age. Later on after they got past the sids stage they slept in my bed more often. My bed is a California King and its pretty high off the ground, I am not worried about falling off because they wont roll for awhile, and when they do start to roll I will be in the bed as well and he won't be able to go too far, I get more nervou about it when they start to crawl and be more moble, then they can end up on the floor very fast. I don't know if my kids eveyr fell off my bed, but I know they fell off their own beds when they were toddlers. Luckly they were not far from the floor.

[Snickers34]

I have a kingsize pillowtop, up to my butt...so I can just sit lol. Hmm... I don't want to bring baby in this time around. In the past, baby would go in between us. We would wake up sore though (for years), because we would sleep in one position all night long. Also, I breastfeed. When the let-down occurs, milk is everywhere. Just spraying like a hose. It was very convenient in the later months, when LO is accustomed to breastfeeding and we just could just lay there....and I would have to use a bed liner because of the leaking. Also, baby may spit up.

This is just my experience. Hey, I did it all those years... it worked. Just wanna try and do things different this time. Also, the pillowtop does concern me.

[MeganMomof5]

Our bed is really tall, but it's only a queen size...It's new since i've had a baby in bed with me...If I remember correctly I don't think I had any small babies fall off of my bed while they were sleepig with me, but I did have one of my kids fall, but they were older and I think crawled off the bed(and she was fine).

[BrittneyLA]

My bed is not very high, well at least to me and DH lol. Were tall but I know its not super high because my boys can climb up in it. Both of my boys slept in beds with me when babies, they would go back and forth between bassinet and my bed. They always slept in my arms though not by themselves. (Head in the crook of my arm) Even though I usually move a ot not once did I ever wak up in a different position. I dunno about the pillow top though as i dont have one. Maybe try one of the bed cots or sleeping like me so your arm is the main base not the bed??

[LessthanThree]

What do you mean by pillowtop? Like those fluffy things you can remove or the extra fluff that comes on top of some mattresses? We have a pillowtop mattress and I don't see anything to be worried about. I also slept with Nathaniel's head on the crook of my arm and he slept perfectly fine. We also slept in Michael's grandparents bed a couple of times, which is SUPER squishy and had no problems but I'm a very light sleeper and made sure that he was constantly comfortable.

As far as falling off the bed, Nathaniel never fell off the bed until he got old enough to roll around, and he only fell off because he was napping on the bed, as opposed to sleeping with us. He didn't roll around at all at night when he was sleeping with us but he loved rolling around when he was by himself. After his first fall, we let him take naps on the futon we owned at the time and he never fell off because it had a small dip in the middle. However, I would suggest that you pay attention to how much your baby moves. If he's a roller, you may want to go with the idea of putting a twin bed in his room to sleep on with him, so if he rolls off it won't hurt him. And when he starts crawling and stuff, I'd definitely put him on a lower bed to keep him from crawling off the edge.

[Miss Mo]

We have an Eastern King which we bought when DS was 5 weeks old. It's a pillow top, but I also put a memory foam mattress pad on top (because we got too firm of a mattress... I don't recommend making a big purchase when you're a 1st time mom with a 5-week, old but that's another story )

We had DS in our bed from the start - he slept in between us usually in the crook of my arm like Brittney mentioned. DH is a calm sleeper and once you become a mom you are really in tune with your baby so you won't lose track of where he/she is even when you're sleeping. He also didn't wake up crying when he was hungry - it was more like he moved around and that woke me up, then he could nurse and we both would go right back to sleep. Since he was in between us I never worried about him falling off the bed, and as he got older I would surround him with pillows if he went to sleep before me. I was never concerned about the pillow top (perhaps because we had the mattress foam, or perhaps because we have a firm mattress overall) but I was concerned about the blankets and usually slept with just a sheet and not our fluffy comforter.

[Jacobbbsmommy]

yes ive shared a bed that high with DS and yes he has fallen off that bed and a few others. but it usually wasnt during bed time while we were sleeping. it was usually if hubby or a relative were changing him and layed him on a bed and then turned to grab a diaper or something so i have no qualms this time caz im getting a changing table from the getgo this time lol. and every fall was fine no bumps or bruises or anything. the only time we had a real scare was when i was walking at night and tripped and he flew outta my arms and landed head first on hard wood flooring. that was an ambulance trip to the ER at 4am ending with my 3 month old getting a brain scan and finally finding out he only had a contusion thank god.

[WendyBird]

My bed is that tall, is a MONSTER pillowtop (we're talking 2 layers of memory foam and 2 layers of egg crates. The pillowtop alone is a thick as a regular mattress) and a King. I've always slept with my babies until they were at least 2 months old. I don't see a safety problem at all. When they're that little, they don't move around. Plus, they sleep in my arms. They've never fallen off.

[kbrawner]

My bed is a pillow top, but my daughter didn't sleep with us in it until she was able to walk which was around 13 mo. This was just because I didn't want to accidentaly roll over on her or hurt her I wanted to make sure she was big enough. She slept in her baby bed in our room next to our bed until then. I think she would still be sleeping in her bed if it wasn't for us moving it in to her room. I don't think I will let this one sleep with us because our dd will be 3 in oct and sleeps with us probably 4 or 5 days out of the week. We have a queen sized bed so it gets tight. lol. It takes a lot of time and weining to get them to sleep by their self. I think she slept with us for the first time because she was sick. Oh yea and when we put her in her bed asleep she still wakes up in the middle of the night so unless she stays with a relitave or something we don't ever get a night where we sleep all night. So we are def. prepared for the baby. lol

[nyc_mama]

Ryan slept in bed with me since birth. I used an infant positioner until he was old enough to roll over. The infant positioner kept him in place. Here is a link to one:

Basic Comfort 91020A Resting Up Infant Sleep Positioner

[TheWhiteRabbit]

that's a cool little thing, good idea too =]

[Snickers34]

I would love to know how you got your LO to sleep in one of those positioners! My babies hated them. Well....that and being alone in their own bed, lol! Although, that looks like a newer type design. I might try that one.

[kara74]

I had a high, pillow top queen mattress when I had my boys and they slept with me just fine. If my ex was in the bed with me and one of the babies, the baby slept in the middle. If he wasn't I made sure to put a pillow barrier up so baby wouldn't roll off. Neither one of them rolled much in their sleep so it wasn't an issue. I didn't have them sleep with me until they were like 2 months old.

[blessedmom080911]

I didn't put our babies in our bed as newborns. When they are first born, they are in a bassinet at my bed side and then a pack and play. At about 9 or so months, that's when they are allowed in the bed with us. They sleep in between us....but they have fallen off before...but our bed only comes up to my knees so it's not too far. We used to have a queen bed that was higher (up to my hips) and my oldest fell out of it once or twice...but she was close to two years old (she was fine)

[jersey_gray]

Our daughter slept in a bassinet beside our bed and then her crib for about the first year. Husband would put her in bed with me when he got up to go to work. Around a year? old she started sleeping in our bed. Didn't start out to be co-sleepers, we just wanted sleep!

[Miss Bunny]

I only had one problem with the girls and they kind of slept with me just because I nursed and I was doing it all alone. Harmony ended up with her face under the blanket. My ex doesnt wake up or really make an effort to notice or care the baby was there.

[chica4chocolate]

We have a high king-sized bed and attempted to co-sleep with both our kids, thinking it would be more convenient for breastfeeding, etc. Well I couldn't sleep because I would jerk awake every time the baby moved or made noise, lol. It wasn't so much because I was worried about the baby but because I was so sleep deprived and I think afraid to sleep too deeply and miss a feeding? Not sure but yea- couldn't sleep!!!

A product I highly recommend if you have the baby in your bed is a snuggle nest or version of it. This is the one we had, which I like because it has the wedge at the bottom to keep the baby from scooting out of it. (Yes newborns scoot) The actual brand-name "Snuggle nest" does not have the wedge at the bottom. It fits great in a king size bed but might be a bit big for a queen. You can probably get it on ebay for much cheaper...

Amazon.com: The First Years Close and Secure Sleeper, Colors May Vary: Baby

HTH

[carisma]

We had the girls back and forth in the bed and bassinet. We have queen size pillow top. Unless your pillow top is extremely soft and baby will sink in, I don't see a problem.
When they start moving around is when I avoid having them in the bed. For my own reason, because I don't sleep comfortably. If baby is there, I don't move at and sleep in a weird position and it makes me ache in the morning.

I think both girls have fallen off the beds when they were moving more, though I don't think that was during the night.

Also to mention, it's a good idea to get a mattress cover if you'll be doing any diaper changes on the bed.