// Sidecar Crib

Linden is officially too long to fit comfortably in his moses basket. I was not looking forward to that day (especially since he's only been sleeping in it for about a week). I had no idea what we were going to do when he outgrew the bassinet because we weren't quite ready to put him in his crib in his room. Even though he has never slept through the night, we're able to anticipate him waking and we rush for his bottle and feed him while he's still (mostly) asleep. This means he goes right back down (!!!) and the whole feed only takes 15-30 minutes. Of course that's 15-30 minutes every 3 hours, almost on the dot. But it could be worse. Anyway, we wanted to ensure he was close by so we could continue our routine, but we were so relieved to finally get him out of our bed. He started sleeping really poorly when we were cosleeping, so I was desperate for some solutions.

Our 4moms Breeze playard was an option, but I ideally wanted Linden within arms reach so I didn't have to get up and out of bed each time he stirred. He has a nasty habit of spitting out his pacifier and then getting really upset (a habit we're trying to break!). That's when I came across turning the crib into a "sidecar" for the parents' bed. Since Linden's crib converts into a toddler bed, we knew it'd be stable without the one side. That's when we got to work. Mike fashioned the mattresses at the same height, affixed the crib to our bed frame, and took care of the (very small) negative space between the crib mattress and the back crib rail. We tried it out for the first time Sunday night, totally unsure of what to expect.

Luckily, it seemed to work like a charm. Not only was Linden less than an arm's reach from me, he was also directly at eye level so I could ensure he was breathing properly (Do moms ever grow out of checking for this?!) The only major inconvenience is that I'm no longer able to just pop out of bed and instead have to slide down to the foot of the bed to get off. A small price to pay for a baby who sleeps well, is safe, and nearby. It's the best of both worlds in my mind... cosleeping and crib training. 

I'm not sure when we'll transition him into his own room (sooner rather than later, I hope) but for right now this seems to be the perfect answer to our problem. It takes up a bit of room, but normally you'd just find my discarded dresses there anyway haha! 

I know they make sidecar sleeper cribs which are much more space efficient, but we had no desire to shell out more cash for another piece of baby furniture. At least this way we get our money's worth out of his Babyletto crib!

Today I had planned on sharing his nursery tour, but since we had to resort to this I didn't manage to photograph it. That's why you're getting this post haha! Here's to hoping he's in his room before long and I can finally share it! 

Have any of you ever done a sidecar crib? We're already anticipating what we'll do once he can crawl, climb, etc... provided he's still in this sleeping arrangement. Guess we'll be getting rid of our boxspring to accommodate for a much, much lower mattress haha!