Co-sleeping on a queen size bed on the cruise ship

My son and I co-sleep and he nurses a few times a night still. At home we have a big bed with a twin bed (not on a frame) pushed up next to it. I put him to sleep there and then find my way up to the adult bed once he falls asleep. Then we play musical beds after he wakes for the first night-feeding. We will be cruising right around the time I want to night-wean him. I want to wait until after the cruise, because we will be sleeping in the same bed and I'm afraid it will cause him to want to nurse at night (and frankly, nursing to get him to sleep is easy and I want little trouble on this trip). ; )

I want to know if you all think we can push the sofa up next to the bed so he can sleep there. We will be in a junior suite on Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean). He's never slept in his own crib/cosleeper/pack-play, so I'm pretty sure that option is out. We do plan on bringing a bed-rail. It's tight on our king size bed at home (with the 3 of us), so I am not looking forward to sticking 3 in a queen size bed. Thanks for your help!

We sailed on the NCL Pearl, and this option would not have worked for their mini suite. I don't know about your ship.

Assuming you are not interested in getting your son used to sleeping on his own prior to the cruise, I think you need to seriously consider exiling your husband to the sofa bed while you and your son co-sleep on the bed. At least for part of the night. Although I'm guessing that's not the romantic vacation you were hoping for...

I think the "queen" sized bed on the ship is a bit larger than my queen at home...it's not kingsize, but it's larger than a standard queen.

The sofa isn't the same height as the mattresses....I don't see how this will work. I think I'd start the weaning now...and hope for the best!

Yes, I believe that you could move the sofa and push it against the bed. (geesh I remember those nights of little sleep and breastfeeding - trying to slide a sleeping baby back into the crib)

Do you think the pack and play would be too far of a drop for him? Would it wake him when you would move him? I am thinking pack and play - next to the bed. You could breast feed him in bed then slide him into the pack n play to sleep?

Thanks for the input. ; )

Yeah, weaning him isn't really an option at this point. It would be pretty selfish and not very smart to wean him just so we could have the bed to ourselves. It's actually super important that he gets a good amount of breast milk, since it will help protect him from illnesses through the winter and on the trip. And imagine, if he gets the dreaded norovirus, he can nurse his way back to health (since breast milk isn't hard on the tummy like formula or solids). So, night weaning before 18 months isn't an option.

I think we will just start to use the pack and play more at our home and hope he will associate it with sleepy time. He is a terribly light sleeper. I've never been able to move him once he was asleep and have him stay asleep. It's awful!

Last August, my husband and I along with my then 15 month old, went on the Mariner of the Seas. We were in an inside cabin and still managed to co-sleep on the "queen" bed and slept comfortably. I think this is because it's 2 twin beds pushed together. I think it's more of a king size bed than a queen because I would nurse my little one to sleep and push her over a bit and then I was able to scoot over a bit and sleep very comfortably with my hubby. I hope this helps. :) I understand and support you in ur b/f ur son as long as you can.

Good luck!

Thank you all so much for your advice and replies. I really do appreciate it!

i dont know if you are willing to put out a little money but this pack and play turns into a cosleeper that attaches firmly tothe adult bed. no chance of child getting wedged between the sofa and the bed and not be able to breathe. There are other ones out there like this.

I had to look up cosleeping. Old term sleeping in bed with mom and dad. Honestly the Queen should be big enough, put your son in the middle. My family has allowed sleeping in bed till the child wants to sleep alone, and that includes my parents, grandpareants and the greats. The cosleeping thing throws me as a word. Like it is something new.

Totally out of cruise context, but I appreciate the idea of using the twin mattress next to the regular bed mattress when at home. We have been struggling with co-sleeping as DS is getting older and that suggestion may be what we use rather than investing in a larger bed.

If the "queen" size bed is created by pushing together two twins, it's larger than a standard queen but a bit smaller than a king. Last time we cruised, I was pregnant, and already accumulating a bunch of pillows for knees and such, and the size really seemed comparable to our king sized bed at home.

Have you had occasion to cosleep in a queen? We did it with a 17 month old at the in-laws, and it was doable, though we're normally in a king. Factors include size of mom and dad, sleeping positions, and how much of a "flopper" the child is. I freely admit to still working on baby weight and being 30 pounds heavier than I'd like, and DH is a solid 210. I'm a side sleeper, but can't get DH to side sleep, or he'd be less of a bed hog. We were pretty comfortable for 5 days. With another 5-6 inches, I think it would have been perfect, and I'd say you have at least that 6 inches with the cruise line "queen."

May I also say good for you for breastfeeding and cosleeping. There are a wide spectrum of parenting options out there, but there seems to be so much "peer pressure" and judgment from people who have made the more "conventional" choices, that I really applaud people who are mindfully parenting and doing it in ways that may seem unconventional to some. And props to this board for not heaping on with comments about how you "need to get that child out of your bed" or some such, but for simply responding with appropriate information to your question. :)

I agree that this board has been very nice about answering my questions and not questioning my question. ; ) Does that make sense?

I am a midwife and sleeping with your baby and nursing until the child is done with nursing is very normal to me. ; ) I wouldn't think of doing it any other way.

Seems like the bed will be big enough. DH is on the big side at 6'6" and over 300lbs and I'm not tiny. I am a terrible sleeper and like to get some space. Having the two beds together gives me some time to sleep without a baby on my (boob) and having the twin bed on a box-spring only (no frame) puts his bed at a different level. That way he isn't rolling into us all night. I'm sure we will do fine on the bed. I'm going to bring a side rail. I wish he was a better sleeper. Today I dropped a remote control in the living room and he heard it in the bedroom and it woke him. Sigh......

Thank you for the suggestion about the cosleeper type pack and play. We own the Arm's Reach co-sleeper. He is too big to sleep in it in the co-sleeper setting anymore. ; ) It's only 10" deep or so on the top. The problem with my little stinker is that he cannot be moved once asleep. Drives me nuts! That's why we now use the twin bed next to the big bed. I can nurse him and then pop up onto the big bed to be with hubby or just be by myself and sleep! We do use a bed rail on the opposite side of the twin bed. ; )

I don't know about the suites but I recall on RCL which we have cruised half a dozen times the bed seems to always have a 'canyon' appear in the middle somehow (because it's really 2 pushed together) through the night, even with just DH and myself. My concern would be an infant falling into this trough and not being able to breath, be crushed, etc.

We did the co-sleeping thing with DD, but I'd be wary of doing that on the cruise ship's bed.

Instead of a full sized pack and play, try looking to the Mini Co Sleeper crib it's made by Arm's Reach and you may have to order off Amazon to get the MINI convertible version. it's pretty portable, attaches to the level of the adult bed, so your baby would be safely asleep next to you but in his own little "area" so to speak.

I don't know about the suites but I recall on RCL which we have cruised half a dozen times the bed seems to always have a 'canyon' appear in the middle somehow (because it's really 2 pushed together) through the night, even with just DH and myself. My concern would be an infant falling into this trough and not being able to breath, be crushed, etc.

I may have missed how old OP's child is, but older babies and toddlers will squawk if they end up in a canyon and typically have the mobility to move head or body if they get stuck. DS manages to get himself perpendicular to DH and I and up behind our pillows, sometimes down into the crack that can appear between mattress and headboard over the course of a few nights' sleeping. With very small infants, I'd be concerned, but since the minimum age to cruise is typically 6 months, and it seems like OP's child is older, I doubt that entrapment/SIDS is a real concern in a child that can reposition him/herself.

I mention it only because there's a lot of "backlash" against cosleeping, and certain members of the public and the medical community tend to exaggerate the risks. By far, the vast majority of cosleeping-related injuries or fatalities involved parents who had consumed drugs, medication, or alcohol before going to sleep, and who were unable to respond to an infant in distress. Many of what are called "cosleeping" deaths are really situations where a caregiver unintentionally fell asleep with an infant, such as on a sofa, and the child was suffocated by pillows or the adult's bodyweight, which is a different situation than a parent that is deliberately and carefully cosleeping.

Oh, and my DS outgrew the Mini Cosleeper by 6-8 months, it really is pretty small, so it may not be appropriate for OP's situation. I'd give the XL queen size bed a try, with the sofa bed a backup plan. Good luck, OP.

Those sofa's are really heavy and Im not sure there would be enough room to push it against the bed. You may try visiting a consignment shop near you for a cosleeper. Or have hubby sleep on the sofabed and you and baby sleep in the queen or vise versa. We have done that in our cabin. DD was scared so hubbt slept in her bed and she slept with me on the queen.

How about an air mattress that you bring from home?

I may be wrong, but I don't think you could push the sofa up to the bed. My experience is (I have only been on Celebrity, but I am assuming cabins are similar), the pull-out sofa is not easily movable. Even if it were movable, I doubt it would fit near the bed. One idea is to put your child in bed with one of you....... probably mom....... and dad sleeps on the pull out sofa. I know it's not romantic, but..................

Thank you all for the advice. He is 14 months now and will be 18 months when we cruise. The child cannot be moved once asleep. I would love to just nurse him and put him back in the pack and play, but it ain't happening. ; ) An air mattress is an interesting idea! It sounds like (from what I have read now) the beds are about king size, but rounded at the bottom (so not fully a king). It should be OK. We are going to take a bed rail to stick on one side. I suppose 6'6" daddy can try to sleep on the sofa if it comes down to it (though now I am not sure if all Junior suites have sleeper sofas). I think we will be fine. : )

As one who went to great lengths to assure DS's travel sleeping situation when he was younger, I would only add that you might be surprised at how adaptable your child is. I once went so far as to rent a full-sized crib for DS to use in a hotel for one night when is he was nearly 3. He was still in a crib at home, and I was afraid he wouldn't sleep (and we wouldn't sleep) if he was in something different. In retrospect, he probably would have done just fine in a mattress or some blankets on the floor. So, do your best, but don't over-think it. You will figure something out for him, and it will be fine.

You might also mention the novelty of having a sofa that makes into a BED! My daughter thinks this is the bee's knees, and demands to sleep on the Transformer bed, versus next to me. *laughing* I try not to be too upset over being demoted below a sofa bed.

If you decide to try an air mattress, be sure to try it out at home. Some of the cheaper ones don't have many baffles inside, and they can be pretty bouncy to sleep on. Everytime you roll over, your light sleeping son would likely wake up (or be bounced right off :eek:.) Decent quality ones may not have this issue. As well, they can be kind of heavy to pack, especially if you are flying to the port.

When our DS's were little, DH often took the extra bed, rather than squeeze into the main bed. Some of the cabins we had had a bunk that dropped down from the ceiling which were more comfortable than most sofa beds. It's not ideal for a romantic getaway, but it is a short time in the grand scheme of things. Next thing you know, they will be taller than you and will be going off to high school :rolleyes: :eek:.

I know first hand about the concern about nursing to protect against illness whether travelling or not. On one trip we took when our eldest was 18 mos., he came down with a high fever and there was concern that he had come down with dengue fever. It turned out to be strep throat, but being able to nurse him when he was so ill and so far from home was very reassuring. I was also really glad that I had packed an infant first aid kit including a thermometer, baby tylenol, and my go-to baby book that had chapter on infant illnesses among other things.

I'm sure that you'll have a great time.

I have a different suggestion. Would your son sleep through if you nursed him to sleep in the sofa bed and then you move over to your bed. If you can pull this off you may get a few hours of roomier shut eye before he wakes up and moves into bed with you (at 18 mos he should be walking and therefore can walk over to your bed I would assume - or at the very least call for you)

This is what happened on our cruise

:) Not really - that was after we had woken for the morning anyway - but he did wind up in our bed. We started him in the sofa bed so we always had a few hours of sleep without being kicked or falling off the side of the bed.

Would there be room for a roll-away bed to be brought in and put next to your bed?

How about just 4-5 pillows on the floor for the child to sleep on? Right next to the bed. Or the steward may be able to get you a crib-mattress?