@MrsLa3 I didn't know that about bassinets. That's very helpful. I was leaning towards getting one of those fancy Halo bassinests off CL, but now that I know it will only be used for four months, I'll skip.
Man, there are just SO many things that are expensive that you only use for < 6 months.
I am a giant minimalist with baby gear. But I think a very good and convenient sleep set up for those first 4 months is really important. I have been lucky enough to be able to borrow a bassinet for DS last time, and a sidecar for LO this time...but if not, I would absolutely, 1000% buy a bassinet. It would be one of like 3 things I would actually buy.
The other thing to consider is that Halo bassinets are so popular, you can probably resell it and get most of your money back.
@hyperangel_8509 I got the pack n play a while ago with that same use in mind. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with the idea of Halo bassinest. But I'm glad this thread set me straight again and saved me a lot of $$$.
We are planning to use one of the two cribs in our room for the first few months. We thought about using the pack n play, but we set it up the other night and the twin one is crap. The bassinets are HUGE and are flimsy. We both took one look at each other and said "we are returning this." The single pack n' plays look great though! They actually have those in store so you can see what they are like and i have to say, the quality seems much nicer (even though they are both by graco. They need to up their twin game).
@Twinkiedoll The bassinet is a waste of money to me. The only reason I had one for my other two is that my mom bought it for DD and I kept it bc I knew we were going to have another baby. I'm just using a PnP for his one and take the bassinet top out when he outgrows it. I also have a side sleeper it's kind of like a portable bassinet, I used to take to IL's when we would visit.
In my case it was I who didn't sleep well with a baby in bed with me. DH and DS would be sound asleep and I'd only be able to half sleep and then wake up panicked that the baby was suffocating. Of course he was not but that made a very short trial of bedsharing for us.
We kept him in our room for just 3 months in an arms' reach cosleeper that a friend handed down to us. I liked it but didn't want to store it so this time we're using the PnP instead.
We're still planning to get the halo bassinet and use that for the first three or four months and then hopefully try to transition the baby to her crib. I do want her with us but I don't want her IN the bed (dogs) For us it's a matter of space, there's not enough (floor) space next to our bed for the pack and play without significant rearranging whereas I think there is room for the bassinet. The price doesn't bother me as we will use it 1-2 more times if all goes as planned. We will be trying to transition the baby out of our room as soon as possible (within reason? because my husband works a lot of hours and they're often unpredictable so he would likely wake her up a lot as she starts to sleep a bit more regularly when he is coming home late. Don't need any more reasons for the baby to wake up in the night!
@Potterphile When I saw the base of the Halo in babies r us, it looked HUGE! Probably some of it fits underneath the bed, but something to keep in mind! A normal bassinet has a MUCH smaller footprint.
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
@GlitterFish I saw the halo at the store too and I did feel like it had a pretty decent footprint if you were looking at the whole thing. My issue is that we have a dog who sleeps exclusively right by my side of the bed and I was concerned with the size of the pack and play. I feel like my dog will be OK sleeping between the supports for the halo (and moving in and out of there if she wants to) but I haven't really looked at other bassinets so I will definitely do that and see what that looks like on the bottom, thanks!
@Potterphile There's no way we could fit a pack n play either. My sister gave us this Arms Reach Cosleeper Mini, but other than that we were only going to do one of the smaller bassinets anyway. The dog sleeps in the bed though, so that's not a problem! haha
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
@GlitterFish I think I need to see one of those in person. At least for the Halo we could put a couple of the legs under the bed (so it only takes up part of the usable space and can still be worked around). Not sure on the arms reach... doubt she could fit under that at all.
... we have three huskies so.. tough to fit them all in the bed at once though they often try In the summer they prefer the wood or tile floors though so I'm worried about their sleeping real estate being encroached upon.
@Potterphile Oh no, a dog definitely wouldn't fit under this thing! Not even a cat probably, although one might like the little cave part! If you have the space for the Halo legs, then that sounds practical. My poor dog is also losing her own space in my room - her "house" is currently in the closet, which we will need to actually use for clothes which are currently in baby's closet I'm thinking about making a dog crate into a nightstand, but I don't want to commit until we see how things go!
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
The halo bassinet is huge and the legs are so chunky. If you don't have a lot of space I totally recommend the baby Bjorn bassinet - the only problem is it is a bit on the pricey side. We used it in our room. We had a separate crib in the nursery. Baby ended up sleeping in bed with me overnight most of the time but it was still entirely worth it in the early months.
In terms of cosleeping (bed sharing) - it is good to do your reeearch ahead of time for safe practices. For example, it is typically not recommended that baby be sandwiched between mom and dad in the early months and some state that baby should not be next to Dad. I'm really hoping for one of those unicorn babies that will sleep in the crib this time around though. Cosleeping with our first was about survival and instinct, we did not enter into willingly. The little dragon still spends part of the night in our bed now.
Can I just say I'm weirdly jealous of you ladies who had kids willing to bedshare? I didn't want my daughter in our bed mostly because I'm such a light sleeper I felt like I would never get any rest with her next to me (babies be loud yo). When I was having major milk supply issues our pediatrician actually told me it would be ok to bedshare and get more skin to skin at night to help increase supply. I told her I would never sleep that way. She was in her Moses basket/bassinet until 5 months (she was a small baby so we got more use out of it than normal) on my side of the bed---a purchase I definitely do not regret and looking forward to using it again-- and then off to the nursery she went. Of course we had our ups and downs with sleep which I think is the norm with most kids (currently struggling through a long "down" but we're making progress) and every time I've gotten so desperate that I tried bringing her into our bed. She would never fall asleep no matter how hard or how long we tried. I guess some kids are just not into the whole bedsharing thing.
BFP May 2013 - MMC at 8 weeks BFP September 2013 - MMC at 12 weeks BFP February 2014 - early loss/CP at 4.5 weeks BFP May 2014 - MMC/ complete molar pregnancy at 11 weeks BFP December 2015 - DD born 8/18/2015 BFP November 2016 - pending...
Re: Bassinets. With DS2, my ILs bought us a Graco bassinet with the infant insert part. My baby hated it and refused to sleep for more than 10 minutes in there. I ended up giving it away to a neighbor just because I was so bitter at the thing and was mad it never worked for us. Lol This time around, I plan on buying the Halo one. I actually can't wait to try it out and have high hopes it works! Especially since I'm going to be a c-section mama and the idea of swiveling the baby near to me and then being able to take him out of the bassinet without having to get up out of bed is very appealing.
My shirt today smells like a swimming pool. It makes me wish I could go swimming...
Married: 10/13/2013
TTC #1: Mirena removed 5/26/2015; DH - normal SA, me - diagnosed with PCOS 8/4/2016 - on Metformin; BFP - 10/29/2016!!!, EDD - 7/8/2017; DD born 6/29/2017
Re: bassinets. We are planning on getting a Halo, and I also have high hopes for it. I really like the idea of baby being within arms-length away. I considered doing a pack & play but our room is really small, and I'd be worried about our two cats jumping into it or using it as their own personal scratching post/jungle gym. I'm with @virginiaunicorn11 in that I didn't want to make any compromises when it came to sleep arrangements. The price doesn't bother me if it'll be more convenient for us. We will probably move LO into his crib after a few months and then save the bassinet for a future child.
We had a pack and play with a removable bassinet and stand so we kept the actual PNP downstairs for a changing and storage area and the bassinet next to the bed for both babies. Unfortunately the bassinet was toast after two kids. This time we are getting a travel life PNP, which is smaller than a normal PNP and the whole top can be used as a bassinet and then we can put it to stage two where we use the larger bottom half to travel with the toddlers or baby as he grows. Believe me sleep and ease are your friends in the first couple months - there are other things to worry about wasting money on especially if you can go to a nice second hand baby store (once upon a child) or garage sale/CL. Best thing about summer babies is all the steals you can get at the spring garage sale events
Can anyone suggest a basic and small pack and play? My MIL told me to get a portable one so I can bring baby down from the nursery while I'm cooking etc.
Can anyone suggest a basic and small pack and play? My MIL told me to get a portable one so I can bring baby down from the nursery while I'm cooking etc.
Can you not buy a regular PnP that you can leave downstairs? It's going to be a pain if you try to carry it everywhere. Or get a Mosses basket?
It just doesn't make sense to get a small PnP to try and carry, they're still heavy.
@GlitterFish I think I need to see one of those in person. At least for the Halo we could put a couple of the legs under the bed (so it only takes up part of the usable space and can still be worked around). Not sure on the arms reach... doubt she could fit under that at all.
... we have three huskies so.. tough to fit them all in the bed at once though they often try In the summer they prefer the wood or tile floors though so I'm worried about their sleeping real estate being encroached upon.
I got the arms reach instead of the halo for two reasons...it's bigger so it will last more than 4 months, I'm anticipating using it for more like 6....and I liked the fact that it was open on the side, having to push the rail down every time didn't appeal to me...but there's no way a dog is going to fit under it!
Can anyone suggest a basic and small pack and play? My MIL told me to get a portable one so I can bring baby down from the nursery while I'm cooking etc.
Arms Reach makes a 3-in-1 now that can become a small pack n play, but yeah, I would definitely just get an extra. Or a bouncer chair or rock n play for downstairs.
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
Can anyone suggest a basic and small pack and play? My MIL told me to get a portable one so I can bring baby down from the nursery while I'm cooking etc.
Get a swing, bouncy chair or rock n play. I wouldn't want to move a pack n play multiple times per day. We had a pack n play in our room, mamaroo on the main floor and a small swing in my bathroom (so I could shower).
abmommy15 said:Get a swing, bouncy chair or rock n play. I wouldn't want to move a pack n play multiple times per day. We had a pack n play in our room, mamaroo on the main floor and a small swing in my bathroom (so I could shower).
+1. I had the bouncer chair in the kitchen with me a lot. PnP in the family room, rock n play in the bathroom.
+1 to the swing. Im just keeping a little rocking chair/swing in the kitchen for cooking
Hubby and Me Friends since 2008 Started dating: July 1st, 2013 Engaged: July 1st, 2014 Married: July 1st, 2016 R born: July 8th, 2017 N born: June 30th, 2019 Baby #3 Due: July 7th, 2022 (maybe I only ovulate in October XD)
I got a travel swing so its really portable.. It does work off if batteries, but I heard they do last awhile.
we had a travel swing also. It was nice to be able to bring it with us to visit the grandparents' houses. Just make sure you have extra batteries on hand because they die without warning at the worst times!
@Potterphile I feel your pain!! I had a similarly gross experience on Monday. I was waiting for my Starbucks order when this man kept making comments about how pregnancy looked good on my body and was doing wonderful things to my curves. It was horrifying! even after ignoring him and snapping that I'm married he tried to give me his card "in case my man stopped treating me right." Made me realize there are definitely folks out there with a preggo fetish. Yuck!
Joining the bassinets convo... We considered the Day2Night PnP (the one with the portable bassinet w/ bassinet stand) but ultimately decided against it because 1) some people said their babies barely fit in the portable bassinet, 2) others said their babies wouldn't sleep in it because of the hard metal bar under the padding, and 3) apparently you aren't technically supposed to carry a sleeping baby in a bassinet... I doubt people actually pay attention to #3 (?), but it was enough to simplify the decision for me.
I've decided on having the crib next to my side of the bed in the beginning - it will be set up so that the mattress is halfway-ish up rather than at the bottom, and it converts to a toddler bed later (we got an IKEA crib, recommended by BIL and SIL). Then we'll have a PnP with a removable rocker downstairs, so she can be in the rocker or go into the bassinet level of the PnP for naps when we're downstairs.
I will DEFINITELY get the Halo Bassinest if I end up with a c-section though. That's a game changer.
@lanie1000 why do people have to say anything at all??? I feel like that applies almost everywhere honestly.
Yea... so I was picking up some takeout food at a local sports bar chain and as I was walking out two guys were coming in and they ended up holding the two doors open for me. As they did this, the first one was like "oh hey pretty lady" (felt semi harmless but yuck) and then the second one was like "oh I like your hair, you are just- oh girl! I like all.of.that." and continued to make comments about my body as I walked to my car. You know the types of comments where it's like largely noises/grunts and lip smacking and generic sexually intended exclamations (I.e. "Damn girl!") honestly idk if they realized I was pregnant but if they did they were obviously into it.
I also kinda felt like as the future mom of a girl, should I be telling them to go f*ck off or will they be dead by the age/time theyd notice her body...?
Re: Weekly Randoms 4.17-4.21
The other thing to consider is that Halo bassinets are so popular, you can probably resell it and get most of your money back.
We kept him in our room for just 3 months in an arms' reach cosleeper that a friend handed down to us. I liked it but didn't want to store it so this time we're using the PnP instead.
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
... we have three huskies so.. tough to fit them all in the bed at once though they often try
My poor dog is also losing her own space in my room - her "house" is currently in the closet, which we will need to actually use for clothes which are currently in baby's closet
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
In terms of cosleeping (bed sharing) - it is good to do your reeearch ahead of time for safe practices. For example, it is typically not recommended that baby be sandwiched between mom and dad in the early months and some state that baby should not be next to Dad. I'm really hoping for one of those unicorn babies that will sleep in the crib this time around though. Cosleeping with our first was about survival and instinct, we did not enter into willingly. The little dragon still spends part of the night in our bed now.
When I was having major milk supply issues our pediatrician actually told me it would be ok to bedshare and get more skin to skin at night to help increase supply. I told her I would never sleep that way.
She was in her Moses basket/bassinet until 5 months (she was a small baby so we got more use out of it than normal) on my side of the bed---a purchase I definitely do not regret and looking forward to using it again-- and then off to the nursery she went.
Of course we had our ups and downs with sleep which I think is the norm with most kids (currently struggling through a long "down" but we're making progress) and every time I've gotten so desperate that I tried bringing her into our bed. She would never fall asleep no matter how hard or how long we tried. I guess some kids are just not into the whole bedsharing thing.
BFP September 2013 - MMC at 12 weeks
BFP February 2014 - early loss/CP at 4.5 weeks
BFP May 2014 - MMC/ complete molar pregnancy at 11 weeks
BFP December 2015 - DD born 8/18/2015
BFP November 2016 - pending...
It just doesn't make sense to get a small PnP to try and carry, they're still heavy.
ETA: Oops, February I guess.
Met: 08/2001 ~ Dating: 07/2004 ~ Engaged: 11/2009 ~ Married: 06/2011
TTC: Since 09/16 ~ BFP 10/28/16 ~ EDD 7/5/17
Team Pink * Canadian Bumpie
Highly monitored internet and no cell service in the office, so I'm postin' and ghostin' while I'm workin'
Friends since 2008
Started dating: July 1st, 2013
Engaged: July 1st, 2014
Married: July 1st, 2016
R born: July 8th, 2017
N born: June 30th, 2019
Baby #3 Due: July 7th, 2022
(maybe I only ovulate in October XD)
Married: 05/26/2012
DS Born Happy and Healthy via C-section: 10/04/2013
Natural M/C: 07/08/2014
DD Born Happy and Healthy via Emergency C-section: 06/30/2015
BFP #4: 11/15/2016
EDD: 7/27/2017
I've decided on having the crib next to my side of the bed in the beginning - it will be set up so that the mattress is halfway-ish up rather than at the bottom, and it converts to a toddler bed later (we got an IKEA crib, recommended by BIL and SIL). Then we'll have a PnP with a removable rocker downstairs, so she can be in the rocker or go into the bassinet level of the PnP for naps when we're downstairs.
I will DEFINITELY get the Halo Bassinest if I end up with a c-section though. That's a game changer.
Yea... so I was picking up some takeout food at a local sports bar chain and as I was walking out two guys were coming in and they ended up holding the two doors open for me. As they did this, the first one was like "oh hey pretty lady" (felt semi harmless but yuck) and then the second one was like "oh I like your hair, you are just- oh girl! I like all.of.that." and continued to make comments about my body as I walked to my car. You know the types of comments where it's like largely noises/grunts and lip smacking and generic sexually intended exclamations (I.e. "Damn girl!") honestly idk if they realized I was pregnant but if they did they were obviously into it.
I also kinda felt like as the future mom of a girl, should I be telling them to go f*ck off or will they be dead by the age/time theyd notice her body...?