Building a Crib onto the Bed

I decided that I would rather have Clairelin's crib built onto my bed rather than standing alone in our room. First of all, it saves space by a LOT. It feels half as cramped by putting the crib into the corner of my room. Second, it makes more sense for our family since we are co-sleepers anyway. Giving Claire her own space to sleep that has a barrier (me) between her brother and her is ideal. This allows that, while also giving me direct access to her for night time feedings.
For those of you interested in co-sleeping, I HIGHLY suggest you read through the Safe Sleep Seven, which is a guideline on how to ensure that co-sleeping is not only right for your family, but also as safe as possible. Since I'm a breastfeeding mom who might have a glass of wine once a month, never smokes or consumes pills, etc. this works for us. This format of sleeping is just as safe as an other since I follow the guidelines to a tee.

That being said, my inspiration for building her crib onto my bed is simple and common.

image source: follow pics

The supplies I needed were simple:

• crib. I stuck with an Ikea crib that I bought for cheap and used from a friend.
• nylon straps with a ratchet so that I can tighten it easily

I first removed both beds' mattresses and pushed the beds close together, but still apart with enough space for me to get in. I attached her crib to my bed and my headboard (again, no spaces between the three) with the nylon straps. I would dive deeper into instructions on this, but there really wasn't a method to the madness, and I think everyone's bed setup differs.

Once all was attached, I pushed my bed close to her crib since she is in the corner of my room. I then tightened the nylon straps so that my bed was snug close to hers.  

Since I opted out of drilling new holes like some other people do (I'm not that wood savvy), I needed an alternative to lift the bed up another inch. It is important that both the bed's mattress and the crib's mattress are even heights. There should be no gaps of fabric or differences in leveling. This is when I decided to use a piece of wood that fits the width and length of the crib. I put in between the wood slabs and the crib mattress. 

excuse the wrinkles... I was trying out bedding ;)

I am paranoid about her bed's stability, so I filled in the space underneath with boxes stacked underneath. I also chose to do this for extra security in case she is a jumper one day and for extra storage. I hide all of her "too big" boxes of clothes under it.
I then replaced the mattresses and sheets. Ready for baby!!