My Baby Is Too Big!!

M.,

Bear with me as I try to respond because this may be unusual.

Put a full sized mattress on the floor and you won't need any rails. Use a soft headboard fixed to the wall or no headboard. Put carpet on the floor so she has some cushion when she starts to roll.

Or try a toddler bed.

good luck.

When my baby outgrew the cosleeper, we bought a crib. We built it without the lower side wall, pushed it against a corner, and pushed the bed against that, adjusting the crib to be the same height as the bed. I put a dresser in the space between the bed and wall where the crib ended just incase she moved around. It was awkward to put the baby down in it, but sleeping next to my baby was an absolute necessity so i didn't mind. Not only did it reduce her fussiness, it made it easy for me to tend to her when she was fussy.

If your bed is big enough (I have a king size) just put a toddler rail on one side and let her sleep with you. Otherwise, you can put her to sleep in a crib without using the CIO method. Check out the book Sleep Solutions to find alternatives to the Ferber method. Remember that things change constantly and you are the adult. The best place for baby to sleep is where everyone gets the most sleep, and for us that changed several times during the first 5-6 years.

buy a portacrib that has one of those inserts that make it into a bed. you can put that right next to your bed. put one of those egg shell matress covers cut to the right size in the crib and then use a sheet or blanket that you have slept on (don't wash it) and cover the bed in that (this is so it feels more like your bed). It will probably take about a week for her to get used to it and she'll probably wake up more at night but she'll still be right there next to you. This worked wonders for my son who is very attached.

M., I had that same issue as my DD was and still is in the 97% she just turned 5 and is still growing a mile a minute... almost like a wild weed although she is as beautiful as a delicate flower. :)

We just co-slept.. we have a KING sized bed.. and I used a boppy and put her on her side... DH and I had to have our own covers so that he didn't cover her up.
It is almost impossible which lead me to the co-sleeping to find a co-sleeper unit. I don't believe in the CIO method after all she only 'wanted' to be with me.

If I may suggest, you could rearrange your room as one of my friends did and move the crib into the bedroom and the dressers into her room at least for now. It will work. :)

This way you can be close to her with in an arms reach but yet have some place safe.. your room might not look as pretty as it does now but it is only for a season... as she won't be in there forever... We actually co-slept till my DD was 3.5 yrs old. (We had to be creative in many ways to keep our imtimate life up to speed ;) not everything has to be done in the bedroom. :)

I also nursed so co-sleeping was worked best for our family. I know you will do what is BEST for you and your family.

I use something called a snugtuck pillow. You can find it at www.snugtuckpillow.com. It's a long bolster that you attach to your mattress. It will keep your little one safely in the bed. It's actually safer than bed rails because some babies have suffocated in the gap between the bed rails and the bed. You can even use the snugtuck pillow once your little one moves to her own bed to keep her in that. I think they are great.

Perhaps move her crib into the room with you? We didn't co-sleep with our son because we were afraid of smothering him. But we'd let him fall asleep with or on us, then move him to a crib in the room. He seemed comfortable with it, and was close enough to us. We moved him into his own room at 6 months.

Yeah my babies are big also. My daughter is 2 now but has always been in the 98%. I also have a 2 month old and tonight I laid him in his bassinett and he rolled from his back to his stomach. It scared me to death. He is in the 98% when it comes to his weight. You have a couple of options. You can use a pack nplay and put it next to your bed(I did that with my daughter but not untill she was a year old). You can let your baby sleep with you, which you said you don't want to do. What I am doing with my son is; I have him sleep in the car seat and the car seat is set in his bassinett. I know it sounds weird but it works. I put him in it when he was a couple weeks old because he was congested and I was told to have him sleep on an incline. He sleeps through the night most nights and I have the bassinett next to my bed because I am nursing him. My daughter slept in our bed from 2 weeks to a year and I didn't want to do that this time because it is dangerous and I sleep better when the baby is not in the bed.

This is where a pack n play can come in really handy. We had our daughter, who is now a year old, sleep in the bassinet of her pack n play next to our bed. When she began to pull herself up, we just took out the bassinet and let her sleep in the pack n play. Ours is equipped with a musical mobile, vibrating bassinet, nature sounds and a timer. Ours is a Graco. If you don't have one, I would highly reccomend getting one. After your baby outgrows sleeping in it, it's great for them to play in while you vacuum, clean up the kitchen, etc. Good luck!

You probably need to move her to her crib in her own room. This really is the safest place for her. Also, it will teach her how to put herself to sleep and self-soothe. It may be tough in the beginning but it will be worth it. Both of my kids slept in their own beds by 5 weeks. I have a 6 year old girl and 18 month boy.

About me: 28 y/o w/ 6 month old boy, SAHM, husband teaches at the local CC.

My husband and I have been co-sleeping with our boy (now 6 months) most of the time and love it. for breast feeding you can side lie. My husband thought he would roll onto him at ome point but to date neither of us has done so. Somethings out there tell you co-sleeping in yopur bed is dangeous but if she is alredy 4months old you should be fine. It's a great way to keep the whole family warm in the winter too. the I dea about a porable crib is a good one that is what he uses sometimes. we have been tring to move him to startin out in the crib but when he wakes up it's into our bed in a flash.

Peace & Light
S.

Try putting her in a pack n play next to your bed.

She sounds like she is a healthy Baby. I would just go to a regular baby bed. That is all I had when I had my children. That size seems to do for awhile.

My experiences are not necessarily with big babies...but I am a mom of three. I used one of the pack n' plays that have the bassinet on the top (the kind that fits the entire size of the play area). It works great. I am not a big fan of co-sleeping, but I know it is important to some. Hope this helps.

Hey M., This sounds so familiar to me! My first daughter, now 9 years old was born at 23 1/2 inches long, so you can imagine, it didn't take her long to outgrow everything. Our bed didn't fit the cosleepers anyways. One option is of course the family bed. But if you are not up for that, why not try a port a crib (small enough for your room) or a small play pen (I forget what they are called now a days...) They fit right next to the bed, or you can rearrange so it does lol. Don't worry... being in the 96% just means that your daughter is a tall girl. Nothing wrong with that. Who knows... maybe she will be a model someday. My daughter is still one of the tallest children in her class at 9 years old, but again, so was I. Good luck and God Bless you. Allison

You can by the infant bed rails at Toys R Us and I believe Target as well. I would buy a Toddler bed or a twin bed and put the rails on it right away.
Good Luck,
Y.

I am not sure if this is one of the items you mentioned above or not but Arm's Reach Co-sleeper might work for oyu. They have large ones (my friend had her twins in it together so I am sure it would work for you). I had the smaller one, I put both of my kids in it until they were 3-4months old and then moved them to their crib. They attach to your bed via a strap that goes under your top mattress and has a hard plastic piece that sticks out the other side, it is hard to explain but it works.
Search for Arms Reach co-sleeper and you should find it. You can usually find them cheaper from other sites but I would check their site out for the different options and sos you know what you are wanting.

We moved our daughter into her crib in her own room at 3 months and never used the cry it out method. We just got a good monitor set (I like the babyCall by Sony because it has a voice activated setting - so you don't hear constant background noise, just when she starts to cry) and I would go to her when she needed me.

Best of luck!
-K.

Have you tried a pack n' play next to the bed? I know it is not the same as a co-sleeper, but you can pull it right up next to the bed. My babies were big too, and loved sleeping in them until I moved them to the crib around 4 months. I think the bassinett part is good only up to 15 lbs on most models, so you would probably have to sleep her lower, which is not quite as close to you, but might work. Good luck and sweet dreams :).

I saw a little girl like that one time. I freaked out. She was larger than my 16 yr old at 8 months old... no joke.
Later I heard that she had a thyroid problem... I think. So there was something wrong.
Does your dr. seem worried?