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24 Responses to “Montessori floor bed in action”

1. 

   Teresa
   

   31. Jan, 2009

   I really appreciate your posts about sleeping Montessori-style. I’m not a parent, but instead an infant teacher working in a classroom where we have been napping the children on mattresses on the floor. Though we’re not a Montessori school, we do believe that children should have the freedom to move about and make decisions about sleep and their own bodies. It’s definitely been a challenge, especially as they get older and want to get off their beds and crawl around the naproom! (The six children are between nine and eleven months old now.) I happened upon your site because I was looking for people who had tried floor sleeping with the children and what their experiences were, so we could perhaps get some insight into helping these little ones sleep!
2. 

   ktpix
   

   11. Feb, 2009

   Thanks! It’s true that the little ones do love to explore and sometimes nap time gets in the way of that. But, I’m so glad to hear you are trying out the floor bed idea, even if you’re not a Montessori school. Since I’m a Montessori cherry picker myself I love to hear how other people incorporate her principles in to their own routines. While I don’t really have any advice on how to keep your kids on their beds during nap time, maybe playing some soft music to relax them a bit may help. And, if all else fails, try running them a bit before nap time…sometimes that is what I do with my daughter and when her head hits that bed she’s OUT!
3. 

   marie
   

   13. Oct, 2009

   I will have a newborn in about 4 weeks. Where do I find information on how to sleep a new baby if you do not use a crib. All my friends think I am crazy for not wanting a crib…..
4. 

   admin
   

   13. Oct, 2009

   Don’t let any one else’s expectations get in your way! If you want to forego the crib, then do it. There is tons of information out there on alternative sleeping arrangements – I would start with investigating co-sleeping. Families the world over have co-slept and it wasn’t until relatively recently (think last 200 years or so) that we have begun to move our babies out of the family bed and in to their own rooms. Many many cultures still sleep together for years!

   I would start with BabyCenter – they have good information on safety precautions as well as the pros and cons of co-sleeping, or as they call it, “the family bed.” There is always wikipedia, too.

   As for my personal experience, we opted to use a “co-sleeper” so that we could keep our baby in our room and right next to me for as long as possible. The one we chose is called a BabyBunk and it worked absolutely great. In fact, we’re having our second child soon and I’m looking forward to using it again. Our co-sleeper basically allows the baby to sleep next to me but within her own defined space. This is a great situation for nighttime breastfeeding, soothing, and general staring in disbelief that there is a tiny human breathing right next to you. Believe me, you WILL check to see that your baby is still breathing during the night until you get used to the fact that he or she is actually living outside of you. Doing this without having to physically get up and out of bed is a blessing. And amazingly you will learn to do this all in the dark!

   There are some co-sleepers that fit inside your bed (in between you and your partner) as well as other bassinets that can be placed near your bed. So, you will have many options to choose from. I wrote a little review of co-sleeper choices out there – well, at least a handful of them.

   You should also know that we went straight from the co-sleeper to the floor bed, with a few nights in a pack and play just to get our daughter used to her new room and me used to not having her right next to me. To be honest, I think the pack and play was more for me because I couldn’t stop my brain from thinking about all of the bad things that could happen simply because I couldn’t see her all night long. She and I adjusted beautifully and she was sleeping soundly in her floor bed within days of the “big move.”

   Actually, she is still using her floor bed at 2 years. I think a big girl bed is right around the corner as she’s expressing an interest in being tucked in to sheets and a blanket just like Mommy and Daddy have. But that said, I’m a huge fan of both the co-sleeper and the floor bed and am so happy we decided against a traditional crib.

   Don’t let peer pressure steer you away from what you really want. I, too, got a few choice comments when I told my friends and family what we were doing. Good luck!
5. 

   heather
   

   28. Feb, 2010

   my parents are concerned with the lack of airflow under the floorbed. have you experienced the baby getting too cold? i figure there are many ways around this potential problem. what is your experience?
6. 

   admin
   

   02. Mar, 2010

   Hi Heather,

   I have not really experienced that the baby gets cold on a floor bed. Of course, we live in the Bay Area so our temperature doesn’t get super cold. If you are in an especially cold climate this might be a concern, although I doubt the temperature difference is very large between being on a floor bed vs. being in a crib or regular bed. One easy way to test whether a floor bed will work for you is to simply take out the crib mattress and place it on the ground. Lay your baby down on it for a night and see what happens. If she wakes up a lot and seems to be too cold, then either you’ll have to raise her up a bit or turn up the thermostat at night. Good luck!
7. 

   Ali
   

   12. Apr, 2010

   We are trying out the child bed and love it for many reasons, ease of cuddling, comfort and safety for the baby, the pretty space it creates for rest and play – However baby is hitting the 6.5 I can move now mom mark, and its hard getting him to stay in bed. Wish I had other floor bed moms to talk to about it! It makes me wonder if I’m nuts sometimes, but then, getting a crib sounds terrible now at this point.
8. 

   admin
   

   14. Apr, 2010

   Hey hey – so good to hear from another floor bed mom! I’d say stick it out through this moving period. We have definitely had our moments where we thought “are we crazy?” Our daughter has, on occasion, slept directly on the floor and will, when she wants to, get up out of bed. When she was crawling, she would crawl over to her bookshelf (that was attached to the studs in the wall behind it) and rifle through the books and toys. I used to think that was bad for her and wanted her to stay in her bed. But, I talked myself in to letting her play in her room even when I thought she should be sleeping. This all coincided with our sleep training, so we had a whole routine worked out for going in to her room if we needed to. I’m rambling a bit here, but my point is this…giving her a little freedom with the floor bed has done wonders for her ability to entertain herself and ability to put herself to sleep. Yes, she’s opted to play over sleep on occasion, but what kid doesn’t now and then. We simply stuck to our schedule for her and things have worked out great. Now that she’s 2.5 years old and still in a floor bed, she plays by herself in the morning before we wake up which gives us a little more sleep. Even though I’ve felt out there sometimes with our floor bed, I think it was the absolute right decision for our family. Our daughter loves loves loves her bed! And, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let me know if you ever need any more advice/encouragement with a floor bed. At this point, I can’t imagine having a crib.
9. 

   Ali
   

   03. May, 2010

   I need more advice/encouragement.
   I love the floor bed but need a floor bed mom buddy advice. Now that he is moving, if we miss his window of sleep and he is overtired, I cannot get him to settle down, stay in bed and fall asleep. Last night we had a battle – he could not settle down and was crawling out of bed, even when I was in it with him, no boob was good enough, and finally he was crying in both of our arms – until he finally collapsed, exhausted, on top of me, and i did the same under him.
   If I had a crib, I guess I would have let him cry it out for 5-10 minutes, and he would have fallen asleep on his own, hopefully, but then again, maybe i wouldn’t have.
   I guess I’m looking for advice on how to get a fussy sleeper down without trapping him in a cage. You must have some experience with this – eh?
   Again so happy to have found a montessori floor bed family that has blazed this path. I’ll email you when I post more pics of our set-up. Not as pretty as your posts on designing kids rooms but decent
10. 

    admin
    

    03. May, 2010

    Sounds like you’re going through a tough patch. All I can say is we’ve been there, too, and made it. Our little girl is now 2.5 and still sleeps on her floor bed.

    When she was learning to crawl, we would find her on all fours rocking back in forth in her sleep. It was as if her brain just wouldn’t shut off. This, of course, would wake her up and she would start crying and then get all kinda riled up. We eventually turned to Dr. Ferber’s methods – which I’ll can get in to if you’d like.

    But first, let me just say that the grass is always greener. Luckily, at the times when our daughter was having troubles learning to sleep, our friends with kids the exact same age were experiencing the same problems and they ALL had cribs. I used to think if we only had a crib then all would be peaceful, she’d learn to sleep easy peasy and we’d all be soundly snoring away. The truth of the matter is sleep issues happen to all parents eventually. Even with the best of sleepers, something happens to cause them to not sleep at some point. I’m just saying, it may not be the floor bed. Then again, it may (I know, I’m no help!)

    What the floor bed does is allow you and your little one to lay down together, right? I mean, that’d be a tight fit in a crib Or, I bet you’d have fallen asleep in the rocker instead – even more uncomfortable. So, at least there is a comfy place for you to rest your head.

    Back to the sleep issues…I’d look in to some sleep training exercises, especially if you’re coming to your wits end. Dr. Ferber and his “cry it out method worked for us (it’s not as arcane as it sounds) but maybe there is another method out there that best suits your family. We basically continued to go in to our daughter’s room at timed intervals, placed her back in her bed, and calmed her down (within reason, we did not actually get her back to sleep – she had to learn to do that on her own). Then we left. And, stayed by the door biting our nails waiting to go in and soothe her again. Trust me, find a sleep solution and stick to the plan! But, that’s another topic…

    The floor bed and it’s freedom seems like a lot when you’re experiencing this type of commotion before sleep. But, I have a feeling that a crib would only serve to satisfy you that your baby isn’t getting in to anything “unsafe” while they are awake. I honestly don’t believe that a crib helps this process in the least. But, that’s just my opinion – I could be totally wrong, especially since we’ve never owned one. Good luck!
11. 

    Ali
    

    08. May, 2010

    Thanks for the encouragement. You are right that it wouldn’t be much different with a crib, except that he might be terrified by being trapped. I think I’ll check out Dr. Ferber. Rome does do the thing where he flips over and rocks and just naturally wakes up and starts moving out of his bed, towards our room, so we just have to get through it.

    Training him to fall asleep by himself now would be clutch.
12. 

    Shikakai
    

    10. Jul, 2010

    Hi,

    I’ve read all of your posts with great interest. I’m considering moving my 6.5 month old baby to a floor mattress but don’t feel that I can just leave her in the room to crawl about. I’m tight on space since I live in a typically small New York apt and it just wouldn’t be realistic for me to baby proof the room in a way where I would have to remove everything else to make it safe for her. Have any of you used a baby gate or some other security feature that wraps around the mattress to prevent the baby from crawling all about the room?
13. 

    me
    

    13. Jul, 2010

    I can completely understand where you are coming from. Right now I’m struggling with the same thing for my second baby. Our new baby’s room (while not small) has a baseboard heater that I cannot baby-proof. Because of that, I can’t in good conscience put her in the room on the floor. Safety first.

    Here’s my thinking about your baby gate question…the floor bed is a way to help teach decision making skills and instill independence. Using a baby gate either close to the mattress or a considered distance away from the mattress on the floor pretty much negates both of those reasons to do a floor bed. As for safety, a baby gate that fits close to the mattress may actually trap the baby between the mattress and the gate, being EXTREMELY dangerous. And babies are notoriously wiggly, aren’t they? – especially when they are just learning to use their body. I, personally, wouldn’t trust that type of set up. Suffocation can happen so so quickly – best to be safe. And it’s challenging to get a baby gate to be stable if it is configured in a circle around a bed. Now, you can try to affix it in a corner, but really, you’re just making a big crib, one that is completely against all safety regulations. So, as much as I want to encourage you to find a way to use a floor bed because I’ve loved being able to use one in our home, for your situation I’d recommend a crib. You’re in good company, though…sadly we’ll have to use a crib as well. There is just no way around the hazards of the baby’s room in our house. Good luck and let me know what you decide!
14. 

    Shannon
    

    29. Jul, 2010

    My 14 month old daughter currently co sleeps with us. As an infant she slept in a bassinet next to our bed. She was a very fussy baby and it was easier on me to co sleep with her after she outgrew her bassinet rather than move her to a crib.
    I’m ready for her to sleep in her own room. My question is- is she too old to start sleeping in her own room on a floor bed? A floor bed would be ideal as she can climb out of her crib.
    She is a very active, curious and independent baby. She is physically advanced for her age and I know trying to transition her to a crib would never work. I love the idea of her being able to move about on her own as she pleases.
    I’ve been doing a lot of reading about floor beds but have not come across anyone who started a toddler in a floor bed, only infants.
15. 

    Kate
    

    30. Jul, 2010

    I hope I can be of some help. We did start using a floor bed when my first daughter was still an infant, so that’s been my experience. However, after just sleep training my second daughter, I think you might be able to use sleep training techniques to transition your toddler to a floor bed now. This may sound wacky, but hear me out.

    Because your daughter has certain sleep associations with falling asleep in your bed, you’ll probably have the most success by tackling this in terms of sleep associations, and that is what sleep training is all about. My suggestion (and I’m getting this from my experience using a modified Ferber approach to sleep training my two girls) is to get a floor bed and continue your sleep routine as you would in your bed. For example, if you lay down with her to get her to sleep, then lay down with her in her new floor bed. Be sure to get your smell on the sheets, too, as she’s definitely used to that! Then, over a number of days, scale back your routine and start changing it to what you want it to be. Like lay down for less time and read a book first. That way, the transition from Mommy’s bed to her bed is gentler on her. Timing is the key as you implement changes. You’ll hear her protest and get up. Go back in to her room and comfort her, put her back in bed, but don’t re-do the bedtime routine, simply let her know you’re there and put her in bed (so she understands that’s where she sleeps) and then leave. Time both the duration of time she’s protesting and the time you’re in her room. Gradually increase the time in between comforting her and stay in her room for under 2 minutes.

    You may be in for a few rough nights as she explores her freedom. I bet there will be lots of getting out of bed. When you child proof the room, not only make it safe for little exploring hands, but also set up an area for her to “play” with extremely boring toys. And not too many of them. And then know that she will get up out of bed and go looking for you. She may bang on the door or otherwise call out for your attention. Best to think of the room as one big crib – her wanting to get your attention is all about wanting to maintain the sleep associations she has with co-sleeping.

    Ferber, in his book Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems, has a section on sleep training while co-sleeping. It might give you some insight on how to handle the transition.

    I do hope this works! She will eventually have to get out of your bed, lest you want a teenager still in bed with you so good luck. Also, do know that the older these little guys get, the more stamina they have.

    Good luck! Let me know how it goes – even if you need some more encouragement along the way because it’s hard.
16. 

    Jill
    

    22. Aug, 2010

    Kate,

    Thank you for what you’ve written about the “floor bed”. I’m wondering if you’d perhaps respond to my post.

    I don’t want to use a crib because I have back pain on and off and reaching over a crib rail puts me at risk for injury. I’m considering going from a co-sleeper to a mattress on the floor for this reason, but don’t understand the logistics of how to do this with an infant. My sister told me to place about a 2 inch high, hard matress in the middle of the room (no sheets etc.), take the door off it’s hinges since a door might pose a safety hazard, and put a baby-gate up in the doorway that my husband and I can easily walk through. We’d baby-proof the whole room (cover outlets, no cords, no pets allowed, etc), but I’m really nervous about this because I think of a crib as a “safe container”. I’m trying to picture the room as a gigantic crib but it feels like such large territory for an infant! It’s possible that I’ll have to move her from her co-sleeper at 3 months, and a large room seems like a lot for a 3 month old infant to negotiate on her own, even with every safety feature in place. Do you have any words of wisdom? resources I might look into? books to read? I’m also concerned because I’d ideally like to keep her in our room for longer than 3 months because of SIDS, but like I said, if she outgrows her co-sleeper at 3 months than she’ll need something like a crib…any thoughts to add? Thanks for your time!
17. 

    Kate
    

    25. Aug, 2010

    I hear you. Reaching over a crib is a big pain in the back, especially if you’re little one has those cute big roly poly legs! I love those folds, aren’t they just delicious? But more seriously, here is what I’d suggest for your floor bed needs. The Lord Company has specially made floor bed mattresses and frames. It sounds like you’d like to go this route as it’s clearly safety tested (much more so than my futon on the floor method). They even have fitted sheets! And, to be honest, I think you’ll want some sort of sheet. Because the frame and the mattress are designed to go together, you won’t have any space for your baby’s head to get trapped – there is less than 2 inches between the mattress and the frame (and I think that’s what the regulation stipulates, tho I could be wrong on that). Anyway, I’d look at their offerings while you are making your decisions. And just so you know – they don’t sponsor me to say anything, this is just a good company that makes these bed frames.

    But let me back up and address you question about co-sleeping past 3 months. I’ve co-slept with both kids for around 6 months – I can’t be sure on the exact date because I was so sleep deprived by that point the days just run together in my mind. I must have bought a very long co-sleeper (called a baby bunk and it has been great!) because I eventually moved each girl out because they both were LOUD sleepers. And, I think they could smell me so close to them because they woke up A LOT (especially my second) and wanted to cuddle and nurse. Loved it, but also hated the interrupted sleep. So, if you want to and can keep the little angel in with you for as long as you can, I say go for it.

    Now, back to cribs…I’d recommend looking at Lord Company. Or, if you want to try the crib thing out and don’t want to make the $$ commitment, try a pack and play. But I’d definitely try the floor bed given your back. Mind you, you’ll be stooping regardless, but with a floor bed I could crouch and place the baby in bed while supporting my weight with my knees instead of having to bend and have all that weight pressuring my back. Any other specific floor bed questions? Let me know.

    And as for books, I’ve liked the Montessori books I’ve read I’ve gotten a lot out of How To Raise An Amazing Child by Tim Seldin (but there isn’t a big section on floor beds) and Montessori From the Start by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen. Those are mostly Montessori philosophy, so it may be more than you really want.

    Now, what did I forget to tell you? Oh, yeah, the size of the room. At 3 months, your girl won’t be doing much more than wigging around the room, so you might find her in a different position than when you started, but you may not. Unless she has incredible strength and coordination and is learning tap dancing by then I “hampered” my squirmy girl with a sleep sack and that seemed to work for both of us. I knew she was safe and cozy and she could wiggle like a worm but not get very far. Of course that changed when she was learning how to walk and began tripping herself on the sleep sack, but that took a while. Then we just moved to footed PJs and went with it. We gave our daughter something to “do” when she got up from bed by placing toys in a “play” corner of the room (as opposed to a “sleep” corner) but the toys were BORING. It just occupied her enough when she got it in her mind to wander. And yes, she eventually wandered. But the great part about that was that when I heard her wake up on the monitor, she was entertaining herself so I didn’t have to run in her room. But again, they were safe, boring toys. Baby proof the room, definitely, but you don’t have to make it completely empty save a bed.

    Hopefully that helps! If you’d like more info, just holler.

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