What do we do with our cosleeping baby's room?

[etwahl]

i was just wondering what others did with the baby's room when they cosleep. i NEVER go into her room. in fact, i just keep the door closed to keep the cats out. the crib is there, but no mattress since we have it on the floor of our room.

i keep all her clothes in our room, changing stuff, everything. her room is our room!

what should we do with her room? i know she'll play there someday, but just wondering what to do for now? also, we have a crib that turns into a twin bed...should we turn it into a twin now? should we keep it up for the next baby? but i'm assuming the next baby will cosleep also, although i think i'll probably put the next baby in the crib for naps if it works out, so then maybe we should leave it up. oh, what to do, what to do!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[kristie]

Hi Tammy,

We have a similar situation as well. Our daughter sleeps in our bed. I never had a changing table but we keep the wipes warmer on top of the night table. I keep her diapers inside the bottom drawer, because she likes to help get her dipes!

Maybe you could get her used to playing her in room from time to time. You two could go in there during the day or at night/evening when your hubby gets home, you could all spend some time together in there reading books or playing with her toys.That way she gets used to playing in there. Then when you do use it as a play room, she will be used to it. Also, as she gets older, she will have a place for play by herself. I have always heard it is good to encourage a little bit of alone play time. It is so cute when you can peek into the room and they have no idea you are watching them, to see how they play by themsleves, so cute!

We were thinking of getting one of those little sized chairs with the ottoman, like the ones from Babystyle for her room. I think she would really like it. I am thinking for x-mas. Or we might get a couch style because then she could share it with her big sister.

As for the crib, maybe leave it up. I guess it depends. Where does she take her naps? I used to try to get Chloe to take her naps in the crib, but she isn't much for naps to begin with.
She was extremely,extrememly, coliky up until she was 4-5 months old, so I always just let her nap in my arms, because that is where she usually was.

I think if you want to try to get her to take naps in her crib, then you could try. Otherwise, when she gets a bit older, you could switch it over to the twin size bed and that way you could use the bed too! Or you could play all kinds of games on the bed. Read books or make play tents or put all her stuffed animals on there. Just make it a lounge play room!

Sorry to keep rambling, just thinking of all the stuff we did.
I'll bet you will get great ideas from everyone else here!

Kristie

[bluej]

Caden's crib was one of those that changed to a toddler daybed and then into a full size bed. We used it in the daybed setting, put the mattress at about the same height as our bed and pushed it up against our bed and that was where he slept. He had his area, we had ours. And then when we moved him to his own room he was familiar w/ his bed. We used his room as a playroom for when I wanted to read. It was baby proof and he could play freely while I got totally lost in a book and even sometimes nodded off and napped lightly (oops!). Ryden sleeps in his crib in his own room, but we have started using his room as his own playroom as well. It's nice to have that one room where you know the baby isn't going to come across any small toys or who knows what. I haven't gotten to read or nap yet, but that's where I fold the laundry while he plays.

[daisymommy]

While Josh slept with us for the first 10 months, we used his room as the baby-stuff-storage-room. The only thing of his in our room was the cosleeper next to our bed (and some burp cloths, pacifiers, etc.) But we kept all his clothes, diapers, toys, etc. in the nursery. We did all diaper and clothing changes in his room too. It just made our bedroom feel alot less cramped and cluttered. It was also nice to be able to lay him down in his crib to watch his mobile while I put away his laundry into the dresser.

Ala' "No Cry Sleep Solution" when he was about 8 months old I started having him nap in his crib to get used to it. Also, he became very familiar with the crib when I was putting his clothes away as I mentioned. By the time we were ready to transition him to sleeping in his crib at 10 months, he seemed comfortable with his crib, like it was a safe nice place to be. I know you still want to cosleep with Lauren (and more power to you! :)) But someday whenever you all are ready, I would use the crib for this purpose to get her acclimated to it. Although...it maybe that you have to turn it into a real bed with bedrail depending on how long you cosleep :)

[jmofarrill]

I actually have a day bed in Anwyn's room, and sometimes she and I sleep there (naps or when dh is sick). I put a blanket on the floor and we play there during the daytime. It's actually the nicest room in the house, so I like to spend time in there.