Is a crib completely necessary?

[Mica]

We've been using a co-sleeper bassinet for the past 6 months, and LO also winds up in bed with one of us for portions of the night. He's getting too large for the co-sleeper now, and while I do like bed-sharing right now I don't want to do it forever. I want to eventually transition LO to his own room.
My teenage stepdaughter will be staying with us over the holidays and in the summer. Well, there's not much we can do about it, they're going to have to share a room. But I'm trying to figure out what kind of beds to get each of them. Is a crib completely necessary?
Any creative ideas for limited space that involve a crib or beds? Any recommendations for cribs if that's the way I've got to go? I've been playing furniture Tetris in my head for months now, and I still haven't figured it out.
I guess it might be hard to advise if you haven't seen my space and furniture, but perhaps just hearing some of your own creative space solutions will help me to look at it differently.

 

[amjon]

What about a loft type bed with the crib under?

 

[Dream.dream]

You can actually skip the crib sometimes depending on how old LO is

My son was is a twin bed with a rail before he was 1 and did great, so you could always do that or a toddler bed around 10 months .

 

[Nevaie]

I'd second the loft over crib idea. Or maybe even a mattress on the floor in the middle of the room that can picked up and put away during the day. I guess it depends on what age you're looking at and the baby's personality and night habits.

I know you aren't specifically asking about it but I want to mention that putting babies alone in a big bed with no supervision can be dangerous. Cribs/toddler beds are made to have the mattress fit very tight so the gaps are minimal. Full size beds are not. One of my cousin's relatives put her 13 month old in a bottom bunk bed with a rail due to needing the crib for her younger baby. He was fine for a while but at 15 months he got lodged between the mattress and wall and suffocated. As best anyone can tell, struggling to get out lodged him in worse because the mattress was found farther from the wall than normal. They never even heard him over the monitor. The paramedics were able to revive him thankfully, but he has permanent disabilities now as a result of loss of oxygen to the brain for so long. It may be a rare case but seems worth trying to prevent so I hope it isn't taken wrong.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll figure out the right solution for you

 

[Peggy O]

Maybe a foldaway bed bed for the teenager and a normal crib? The cribs that convert to toddler beds later are really nice, and you wouldn't have to buy a big bed for a while that way.

View attachment 698263

Edit....her's a WAY cooler version, this would be nice as a chair when she's not staying with you.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/16296/

 

[Dream.dream]

I'd second the loft over crib idea. Or maybe even a mattress on the floor in the middle of the room that can picked up and put away during the day. I guess it depends on what age you're looking at and the baby's personality and night habits.

I know you aren't specifically asking about it but I want to mention that putting babies alone in a big bed with no supervision can be dangerous. Cribs/toddler beds are made to have the mattress fit very tight so the gaps are minimal. Full size beds are not. One of my cousin's relatives put her 13 month old in a bottom bunk bed with a rail due to needing the crib for her younger baby. He was fine for a while but at 15 months he got lodged between the mattress and wall and suffocated. As best anyone can tell, struggling to get out lodged him in worse because the mattress was found farther from the wall than normal. They never even heard him over the monitor. The paramedics were able to revive him thankfully, but he has permanent disabilities now as a result of loss of oxygen to the brain for so long. It may be a rare case but seems worth trying to prevent so I hope it isn't taken wrong.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll figure out the right solution for you

Think that there has to be something off about that particular bed . Lots of one yea olds go into bed and with my sons there is no way he could have got stuck between his bed and the wall as u could barely fit my hand between the 2

They also make double bed rails

 

[aliss]

Floor mat. Has worked great for millions of years. I use one for mine.

 

[misspriss]

When I plan to move LO to his own bed, I have seriously considered a Montessori style floor bed.