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One of the biggest things that I was very surprised to have changed my mind about and to have experienced vs. my expectations, was how little I used his crib.
I planned on the first few months using his bassinet and then transitioning to a crib. Fun fact, the crib is now in storage and has been since he was around 10-11 months old. I could count the amount of times I actually used it on both hands if not one hand and 95% of those were for naps, not nighttime.
What I learned quickly was how much better he slept with me and how thoroughly he hated being laid down. Which meant that I held him for a lot of naps or put him in his wrap if I didn’t feel like sitting or laying down. At night, we snuggle for the majority of it and he sleeps for most of it that way.
The more I learned about him and how to best lay him down so he’ll actually stay asleep, the more I knew the crib was going to be a bigger headache than I ever cared to deal with.
Before and during pregnancy I knew about the Montessori method and the use of floor beds. I knew I liked the idea of that when the baby got older and like I said, we planned to use the crib after he outgrew the bassinet and partly because we already had a crib.
It was set up and ready to use but it was mostly used for clothes or keeping the baby contained while I went to the bathroom if it happened to be cleaned out.
We have the floor bed now and while we haven’t fully transitioned him to it for every sleep, at the time I am writing this, I am already really glad that we went this route. While there are different options available we wanted it to be affordable and practical so we went with an inexpensive 5 inch memory foam mattress from our local furniture store and this frame from Amazon.
You don’t necessarily need the frame but we got the one with the slats so the mattress wasn’t lying directly on the floor especially out of concern for mold growing in that corner. It just felt like the right decision for us and it makes the room look a little more put together in my opinion.
Here are a few reasons I went this route and plan to go this route with any future children:
Developmental Aspect
Developmentally, there is a ton of research on the benefits of having a bed that young kids can independently get in and out of. This article from Paper Pinecone does a good job explaining more about the Montessori floor beds and addressing concerns that a lot of parents have.
To put it simply, kids thrive on the ability to have independence and allow natural instincts for things like sleeping, eating, cleaning, etc. to flourish.
Late Night Wake Ups
I hate being up and rocking especially in the middle of the night, I never have patience for that so having a space I can lay down on means I can easily snuggle him to sleep. I often rock him while sitting in bed so having a floor bed to rock him in helps with the transition to his floor bed.
Transfers
Laying him down is a million times easier then the long drop of the crib. With a bed I can easily lay down on, I can roll him off of me and onto the bed with so much ease I barely have trouble with him waking up. Not to mention if he is struggling to stay asleep from the transfer, I’m not bent over at an awkward angle with the edge of the crib digging into me and my arms falling asleep trying to comfort him back to sleep or picking him back up and having to awkwardly transfer again
In summary
Ultimately, you need to do what feels right for you and your baby and your family as a whole. He gets more sleep and I get more sleep than when we were trying to use the bassinet and the crib.
If you are trying to figure out what you should do, then ask yourself what is the reason behind what you are doing currently. Is it because you feel like it is the best thing for all involved or is it because that’s how others do it? Maybe it is how you did it with a previous child or you are getting pressure from family or friends.
Block out the noise and figure out what it is that you want and what is important to you and the wellbeing of your baby. If it is safe, and doable and you want to, then go that route. If a crib makes you feel better then go for a crib. If you despise cribs then try out a floor bed.
You got this momma. I’m rooting for you <3