Nursery - cot or bed?

We're planning on bub being in a bassinet/cot in our room to start with but I also want to get the nursery ready. A little while ago, we moved the spare, queen size bed into the nursery from the office. I figured it might help if we're having difficulty with sleep issues and one of us needs to curl up with bub there.

However, it takes up a lot of room. Now I'm thinking, if we need to split the sleeping thing, it doesnt matter where the bed is. If bub is with me in our bedroom and DH needs his sleep, he doesnt need to sleep in the nursery, or vice versa.

one option is to get rid of the queen and get a king single. Or move the queen back to the office, get a cot in the nursery and sort beds out when bub is old enough. Or could a baby go from bassinet to a bigger bed?

If you need to lie down with a toddler to help them sleep, is a king single ok or would it help to have a double/queen in their room?

i realise I may be over thinking this, but I'd like to start getting the nursery ready and I feel stuck on this bed issue.

I would put the queen back in the office and worry about it when but is old enough to see how they are sleeping and what they need. I wouldn't personally go straight from bassinet to bed if bub is sleeping solo.

DD2 is a shocker of a sleeper. She mixes it up every night. She'll wake and cry for a feed and want to stay with me. So we go to sleep in my bed. Then she'll wake and cry because she doesn't want to be in my bed anymore, she wants the cot. And then the bed, and the cot, and so on (and yes, it took me ages to work this out!). So we have the cot right beside our bed to try and minimise the amount I have to move around during the night and wake myself up further. Musical beds to the extreme here :-/

I'd go the cot and even the cot over a bassinet (as they tend to grow out of them quickly). I say cot because if for there day naps they are at that rolling stage then with bed they role straight out...have personal experience with this when I found DS rolled out of the side carted cot and was face down between the small gap of the cot and our bed. He has also rolled out of bed. So it feels safer if they are in a cot at this stage. I've actually lied down in the cot with DD to get her to sleep so for me the size of the bed didn't matter lol but I'd go cot then bed at later stage.

P.S: doesn't matter what you plan or arrange there will always be something you change once Bub is here haha and I've had to change things both times, so don't stress the small things.

I think it's a great idea to pop a bed in the nursery, wish we had done the same as it would have saved us laying on the floor! Is a king single longer than a single? I can quite comfortably curl up with our 3 year old in his bed but my DH finds it way too uncomfortable. He is 6 foot and solid build if that helps.

My 3 year old has a king single and one of us can comfortably sleep in with her. She isn't very wiggly though, and so is quite a good bed buddy.

DD1 has had a double bed since she was around 18 months old. She'd coslept her whole life and was used to having space to stretch out. We tried her for a while in the cot with the side off but she would always fall out, so the double works well for us, because she still needs one of us to be with her until she falls asleep.

It all depends on so much. How long will they be in your room? If 18mo+ I'd go straight from that to a big bed but if younger you'll probably want a cot. I'd suggest a cot for your room because it will last much longer plus you can side cart it to a bed if you feel that is something you wish to look into.

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I think it's a great idea to pop a bed in the nursery, wish we had done the same as it would have saved us laying on the floor! Is a king single longer than a single? I can quite comfortably curl up with our 3 year old in his bed but my DH finds it way too uncomfortable. He is 6 foot and solid build if that helps.

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Yep this even down to the size of DH :)

Eta: a friend of mine had a single in her nursery with the cot and at first I was like "Whaaa?" But now I get it.

I don't have much to add, except to say that have had "musical beds" here since kids arrived. There will always be changes as to who is sleeping where and what in.

Personally, I would definitely have a cot. It is very useful. My kids have outgrown the bassinet by 4 months and they are too little to put into a bed at that stage!

We just moved DD from a bassinet in our room into her cot in her own room. I also have a single bed in there as I can't drag myself away from her yet and have her sleep in there in her own. DH gets up really early for work so he sleeps in our room and I sleep in the single bed.
I was exactly the same as you moving beds around and once she arrived I realized I needed the bed in her room and the queen size took up too much space.
I do plan in moving back in DH one day lol

I reckon it depends how long bub will be in your room for. DD was in a cot in our room for around 18 months I think. Then she went in to the cot in her room, but the size she was by then, the side was annoying. We took that off and put on a barrier thing.

Then I got pregnant and we decided to get the nursery ready for new baby, and made DD a new room. She has a Queen size bed in there and it's brilliant. If she does wake in the night and call for Daddy he has loads of room and they both sleep comfortably. That wasn't the main reason for the big bed, but we all love it and if I did it again I'd just move her straight from our room to there.

I recently gave my cot away, before we realised that #3 was on its way. i also have to decide whether to get another one. i have a hammock that both kids have slept in, alternating with bed sharing. Neither kid has been happy in the cot, as a cot. We had the cot as a side car for awhile, and DD slept in it a bit between 15 and 18 months. She moved to a king single bed at 18 months. DS moved to a single bed (part time) at 12 months, and is still transitioning.

Having a cot for baby to sleep in would be handy because you know even if they wake, they are usually safe in there. I had to be ready for when they woke if they were sleeping on the big bed, or even in the side car cot once they could crawl. they were able to get off the big bed from a young age, but there is that adjustment period when their enthusiasm is greater than their skill level. Feeding them to sleep on a mattress on the floor was another option i used, but similarly they could still get off when they woke (just more easily and safely) so i had to listen for them waking or know the house was safe if they went wandering.

We've only recently put away the single camp bed that we had in DD3's room - her sleep has been shocking and so one of us has been sleeping on it every night. If I actually already had a queen bed, no way that would not have been in her nursery. Comfort when you're already battling sleep deprivation is heavenly.

FWIW, DDs 1 and 2 sleep in queen size beds. They used to share one but now have their own, with "sleep overs" sharing on the weekend. Its so great being able to get a seriously good night's sleep if you end up snuggled up with your LO. One of my big girls is great to sleep with - quiet, still and snuggly. The other is an absolute nightmare and there is no way I could sleep with her in anything less than a queen. If you've got the space, use the queen.

My daughter recently moved into a queen size bed and it's great! For me, lol.
The co-sleeping/bed-sharing thing often happens, and sometimes for quite a bit longer than you might expect. You just never know, so good to be thinking about alternate sleeping arrangements. If you have a queen available, then use it. Unless you've already got a king single? I'm just all for not spending extra money :p
My kids have both fallen out of bed a few times, but I figure it's great for learning about spatial awareness.

We had the cot side cared to our bed, I the. Moved the cot to the nursery, and have a single bed side cared to our bed. The only time the cot got used after moving it was so Spock had somewhere safe to sleep for her naps, otherwise she was in the single bed in out room. And now she can safely get off the big bed so the cot hasn't been used in months. When it warms up I'm planning on moving her to her own room, and ATM the game plan is to just move the single bed. (Advantage with it is the legs fold down so is basically only as high as the mattress.
What I'm trying to say is we only really used our cot for a couple of months, even now if we did have another, I would only use it for day sleeps when they can move and don't understand the drop, and have bub with us in our current set up. Another thing I am likely about our plan is in that transition period, I can lay down with her in her room, which a cot I couldn't.

Thanks for all your input. We'll move the queen bed back into the office so I can decorate the nursery. We already have a bassinet we got for DS1. We'll see how we go once bub arrives, assuming all goes well this time.

i was also thinking about getting one of those Ikea day beds. They have 3 sides, so maybe a side rail would work. They can also pull out to be a double bed. I don't know how comfortable they are though.

part of the issue is money. I don't want to pay for something we don't need.

Honestly of wait and see. It's hard to predict what you'll need until you and bub and DH have worked out what works best. If you need another bed its something you can get at anytime. Have fun decorating! xxx

My first two kids slept in a hand me down cot i got from my sister. When I was pg with DD2 I bought the cot I had always wanted - a beautiful Boori sleigh. The darn thing is still brand spanking new. Literally NEVER slept in, as DD has slept in our bed every single night of her life. She is allergic to that beautiful cot!! I tried a couple of times to put her in it for a day sleep - her eyes would pop open before she even touched the mattress! Day sleeps in our king bed... I have taken the cot down now and replaced it with a single bed - which DD has never slept on. One day, when we're all ready!

If you are open to the idea of co sleeping, my advice is to wait until bub is here and then figure out whether you need to spend money on a cot. If we don't have another baby, there'll be a really nice Boori sleigh on the market soon... As new condition!!!

I agree, wait and see..

On the Ikea day bed, that is what DS has - transitioned from a cot at about 2.5. I think it's practical as it'll change to a double when he's older, and the storage under is handy. A bugger to make as you're tucking sheets down under the sides iykwim, but that's the same with most beds and no different to a cot. I'm just used to ensembles with nothing on the sides!

The ikea day bed is a great idea. My DD is on an ikea single, and it is comfy enough that either of us will sleep there instead of our bed, with or without DD1, if we need to, rather than use the double bed in the garage. A day bed loaded with cushions can also double as. Beautiful quiet feeding spot.

But you can totally wait and see. I probably would. We started out with a cot in the second bedroom, and baby slept in a co sleeper in our room. We moved the cot into our room at 3 months, then back out (with baby) at 10 months. Didn't buy a bed until we needed the cot for DD2 when she was 11 weeks old ad had outgrown her handmedown bassinet.