I stayed with a friend on a militay base when she had her first baby. She was pretty sick, in and out of ER several times, couldn’t
eat or sleep without drugs that weren’t nursing friendly ect, and husband was packing parachutes of detonating explosives, not
exaclty the someone you want frazzled and sleep deprived so the baby generally slept with me. They had a spare bed with a normal
mattress, a comforter and pillows. I’m a heavy sleeper and I move alot at night. At first I was afraid I might over lay the baby,
so I just slept on my back and put him on my chest, impossible to squish him in that position. It was hard, to force myself to
sleep the whole night on my back because I’m naturally a stomach sleeper, but he loved it, and I got used to it. After a while I
realized I wouldn’t roll over and sleep on him and sometimes I would put him next to me. Most nights I’d start out in the middle
with him next to me, and when he bumped into me I’d roll away to give him more room. But since I wieghed more than a hundered
pounds and he weighed ten he would fall into the dip I created and bump into me making me move over agian, and I’d wake up wedged
along the very edge of the bed. It was a little like waking up wedged into a corner while your 12 pound cat has somehow managed to
steal the entire bed. Somehow even though I was comotose, my body was always very aware of where the baby was, so I’m not
worried to sleep with my own child. I should probably mention the parents and I were both under 23.

I discussed it with my mom and she was pretty resistant with the idea! one of her questions was what happens when the baby gets used to being able to leave the bed and explore the room at any time, and then he has to sleep at grandmas house, or we travel or there is some other situation where the usual sleeping arrangement is not possible. wouldnt he get frustratef, bored, etc?

Also, how do you minimize the urge to play too much when it’s time to sleep? If the baby is a roller, how do you keep him from waking up multiple times a night if he keeps rolling himself off the bed (or can you)? How high should the mattress be? I’ve seen examples from a think 2 inch mat to a regular twin mattress (which i think would not be a good idea as it seems too high if the baby were to roll off!). What about the possibility of mattress mold? Even if you babyproof the whole nursery, it still seems like a much harder place to control than just a crib. How do you make absolutely sure that a little baby will be completely safe crawling around in there on their own?

Sorry for so many questions. I really like this idea, as i’m not a huge fan of cribs, but I want to know as much as possible and be safe! Sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming to do something like a floor bed. And there are tons of cribs that havent caused accidents. And if they have been used for so long and are so standard in a nursery, there is obviously something that works…