Co-sleeping fail... advice?

[devotchka]

So I think we officially have to get M back into the crib again. We started co-sleeping when he was 5 months old because he had this crappy virus while DH was away for the weekend and it was either not sleep at all for me, let him cry it out all night or get him cuddling in bed and sleep peacefully and I chose the latter. Combined with sleeping in our bed for naps bc that was easier too, we basically ended up co-sleeping ever since. It's been mostly ok for us and I actually like it other than the fact that our bed is a little small for the 3 of us (a queen.) We've had a guard rail up and it's worked well for us. However, M recently started climbing out of bed. He knows how to climb down really easily, which I think is good bc it's better than falling out of bed at least and he knows how to climb down the stairs, etc (supervised of course.) However, last night we came upstairs to find him sleeping on a pile of laundry that I put at the foot of the bed and hadn't had time to put away yet (yeah, I am a slob...) - we were like WTF. Did he climb down and decide to settle there? No idea. We've had success in transfering him from the bed to the crib once he is asleep but now that he is older and kind of rambunctious, opinionated, etc (toddler esque?) I really have no idea how to transition him while he is sleepy/awake. I guess I have to finish reading "the no cry sleep solution" tonight! Ugh. I am a little horrified that he did this because we do have a tall dresser that is not nailed to the wall/supported and could probably fall on him if he were to tug on all the drawers and it became too heavy on that side. This terrifies me to no end. There is so much crap we have to do now, incl. the sleep transitioning thing that I am totally overwhelmed. 
I know people have posted on here about transitioning from co-sleeping to the crib but if you have any non CIO advice for me, I would appreciate it! I really thought we would just co-sleep until he was a toddler and ready to sleep on his own but with the getting out of bed thing, I am just too paranoid to continue. Although, frankly, I am still nursing and my sleep is WAY better if he sleeps w/ me (waking up and going to nurse him in his room is going to such.) I don't expect him to fully sleep through the night although he doesn't wake up usually until 12-1 or so and sleeps 4.5-5.5 hour stretches lately at least! 

[shevacc]

I don't have any advice for transitioning him since I still co-sleep, but if the actual sleeping part is working for you, can you instead buy furniture straps for the dresser and otherwise baby-proof your room? Or move him to the crib once he's asleep, then back to the bed when you're ready to sleep (if you want) and worry about "sleepy but awake" later on?

[Dorothy Zbornak]

Well, I just shove the monitor in Butteebaby's face when he's alone in bed and hope that he lunges for it when he wakes up, making enough noises for me to know i have to run upstairs.

[devotchka]

Apr 8, 2013 16:23:08 GMT -5 shevacc said:

I don't have any advice for transitioning him since I still co-sleep, but if the actual sleeping part is working for you, can you instead buy furniture straps for the dresser and otherwise baby-proof your room? Or move him to the crib once he's asleep, then back to the bed when you're ready to sleep (if you want) and worry about "sleepy but awake" later on?

Yeah, I think we can do that. The other idea is to put the pack n play in our room since it actually fits through the door, unlike the crib We tried to transfer him to the crib but our house is so creaky that he woke up and we couldn't get him back down for a while. So he's still in the bed. Argh! Fail!

[devotchka]

Apr 9, 2013 0:50:52 GMT -5 Dorothy Zbornak said:

Well, I just shove the monitor in Butteebaby's face when he's alone in bed and hope that he lunges for it when he wakes up, making enough noises for me to know i have to run upstairs.

Brilliant