As I have mentioned in previous posts, our baby Nolan, has never been a good sleeper. His night sleeping, was getting to the point, he would wake every 40 minutes, and I was getting so worn down! I decided that we needed a change.
I started researching "safely co-sleeping with a crawling infant", and found out about "Montessori Floor Beds". I had never heard of such a thing! The more I read about them, and how they can benefit a baby's independence and freedom, the more I knew I wanted to try it!
While most traditional nurseries include a crib when a baby or toddler is young, the Montessori nursery means placing a bed on the floor. The idea of the floor bed is based on Montessori principles of allowing children to explore and learn through their environment. A crib restricts movement and limits independence. The Montessori school of thought is that a child should have freedom of movement, and should be able to move independently around his/her room. This means, careful and thorough baby-proofing of their room. In our case, our baby shares a room with us, which allows us to monitor him closely at night.
Nolan has always hated his crib. He has so much energy, that he would hurt himself trying to move around in it, whenever we placed him it for sleep, or whenever he woke from sleep and became active. He was constantly banging his head into the bars, or falling through them, hurting his little arms and legs. I started hating it too! With a floor bed, there is no chance of injury from falls, or getting stuck in the slats of a crib. Since we have switched to his floor bed, he crawls around and plays, until he is sleepy, then happily and willingly crawls onto his bed when he is ready to sleep.
We put up mirrors, so he can admire is his adorable face. We put a small bin near his bed, with a baby book and a few of his non-noise making toys. On his bed we keep two "lovies",and his most beloved item, his Cloud b Sleep Sheep Sound Soother which has a variety of sounds and songs to help soothe babies to sleep.
While Noly is still not sleeping for long periods at night, he is at least sleeping 2-3 hours at a time, which is much better than he was before. When he does wake, it is now without the meltdowns he was experiencing . He is still waking up at 5-6am every day, so switching to a floor bed has not been a be-all and end-all. Though, it has been one of the few things to at least help with his sleep issues. I am not saying a floor bed is better than a crib. I absolutely realize that a crib is preferred by most parents. However, a floor bed is what works better for our baby, and his willful/very rambunctious personality. I am not trying to convince anyone else about the benefits of a floor bed, but rather present an alternative idea for parents who are struggling with a baby who does not like to sleep.