sidecar question

[Chippy]

DP and I are hoping to sidecar a cot to our bed when our DC is born. I'm just wondering if you need to have one of those special, drop-right-down cots or can we just remove one side altogether?

Also, how do those of you who do the sidecar thing find it? I'm not particularly great at sharing sleep (now that I'm pregnant, I'm sleeping on the sofa bed alone!) so I just don't think I'll cope with DC in the bed with us but I'm pretty into the idea of sidecar-ing.

Thanks for any input.

[Ambah]

I cannot recommend it enough!
We tried this with our DS from 8month till about 13 months (with the side back up after 10 months old).
This time with DD we have done it from birth, and it has just been amazing... Eva sleeps so well, I sleep so well, DP sleeps so well. I think this is because we are all close, but there is no worry about squashing her whilst she is sleeping. And if she is unsettled I can just lie next to her patting her etc, and its so easy to just sit up and pick her up to feed too!

We just have a normal cot. One whole side has to be removed (not the drop down side). Luckily our bed mattress is the same level as the cot mattress, so it works perfectly. There was a gap, due to our bedframe, so we cut a length of foam off Aidyns old cot mattress and wrapped it in a sheet, and it fits the gap perfectly & securely.
We keep the cot pressed up against the wall with our bed, so there is no chance of the cot moving away from the bed.

I'm actually going to take a photo of our set up and post it in the gallery later today, in case anyone is curious