co-sleeping and falling off the bed

[CrystalBoo]

Wondered if anyone had experience with a co-sleeping bub crawling off the bed in the middle of the night?
I used to bring DD in with me in the early mornings but now she's such a mover - crawls and bulldozers her way around the bed - that I'm worried she'll do it while I'm sleeping and won't notice until I hear the thump. I know you are usually subconsciously aware but there's a niggling doubt that won't go away.
Even if you push the bed against a wall, what about the foot of the bed?
I'd rather not have to pull the whole bed apart and sleep on the mattress if there's a different solution...

[Liz185]

I had an awful experience when my DS fell off the bed at around 6 months.. thank God he didn't cry too much!

You should get one of those bed rails.. they sell them at Target etc.. I have one on my bed when I fall asleep feeding my DD.

not too expensive and puts your mind at ease!

[kristy J]

I'm not a big fan of co sleeping My ds comes into our bed every morning for a cuddle but thats it.

you will never cover all the accidents that can happen.

[Liz185]

Yep I'm not a big fan of co-sleeping either-but sometimes in order to keep my sanity- it happened a lot with my DD.

I was very lucky with my DS as he slept through the night in his big cot from 1 month old..

with my DD I wasn't so lucky. She had colic and slept with me for almost 5 months.

Bed rail is definitely helpful!

[Starfish]

I lay pillows and blankets around the edge of the bed, so that if DD falls, at least she lands on something soft!

(Not that its happened, although once she climbed down on to the floor somehow - I left the room, while she was sleeping in the middle of the bed, then came back five minutes later to find her sitting on the floor playing. I didn't hear a thump or anything, and she wasn't crying, so I have no idea how she did it, but having the pillows there obviously worked.)

[~Belinda~]

Man, this might be something that will happen to us in the future! I use a bed rail at the moment but Madeleine is only 10 weeks old!!!

I do hope Madeleine heads into her cot when she's a little older but right now, it's out of the question, she hates it!

[kristy J]

I don't want to scare anyone and its a personal choice to co sleep or not.

I just wanted to share the reason we don't sleep while ds is in our bed.
i know of 3 people who have lost babies in their families from co sleeping, one from falling off the bed broke its neck, the height a baby falls matters a lot falling just 60cm for a baby is like falling off a small balcony for us when i did my infant first aid they said to fall your height can be fatel so imaging how short a distance a baby will need to fall that can cause major problems with or without pillows to land on.
the other two i know of were suffercated, the grandmother of one of them told me that they his mum was a very light sleeper and never moved much in bed. yet when your sleep deprived as 99% of mums are anything can happen and again a baby doesn't move if its being suffercated. and the other loss i know of was a 2 year old who also was suffercated, i think it was daddy who rolled on her, i know the parents went through hell not only from loosing their beautiful daughter but from being investigated too.

Im almost in tears just writing this but i allway feel i need to tell people these stories. so people know what can go wrong. it may not happen often and yes these all happened over a number of years but one infant death is too many.

though my DS slept in his room from day 1, i was advised that if i did choose to have baby close that to move the cot next to the bed inline with you this way your child is safe you can stroke and pat them all night if you want but they can't get out.

take care kris

[~Belinda~]

Those stories are very sad, thanks for sharing them.

[Nazela]

not a big fan neither are my girls (father and daughters love to sweat) so within 5 mins they are usually sweating - we have had falls when they were younger but now we put bubs between hubby and me - wait til she is hot and bothered and uncomfortable show her / ask her if she wants her bed - usually its a yes....lol

[CrystalBoo]

Thanks all

[~Belinda~]

Sacha, I'm still a big fan of co-sleeping as there are pro's and con's with every situation hun, hope you do what works for you