Product Spotlight: Places to Sleep

meggyme

Cribs, bassinets, co-sleeping, sidecar, etc...

meggyme

I'll probably keep our little bassinet downstairs for baby to sleep in and upstairs use the crib since the nursery will bein our bedroom anyway. The pack and play we have has a diaper changing attachement, so I'll probably use that as a changing station in our room and leave DD's dresser/changing table in her room. We'll see when she gets her big girl bed in a couple weeks how it all jigsaws into place.

lovesclimbing

As an infant, she slept on a couch cushion covered with a crib sheet in a box, haha. We were broke. It was right next to our bed. I'd nurse her in bed and put her in. If she woke up, I'd nurse again and put her back in bed again. The third time, if she woke up, she'd stay in bed with us. 

Not long before she was going to outgrow the couch cushion, we were gifted a pack n play, and she's slept in that ever since. We put crib sheets over the mattress. It was in our room for awhile, and then switched over to a separate room once she started waking up when we would come in around 5 months or so. 

swanbrooner

Until she was at the weight limit, DD slept in the elevated portion of her pack and play in our room. After she hit the weigh limit, we took the elevated part out, and she continued sleeping in it for the first year next to our bed. We transitioned to her crib in her room after her first birthday. She had been napping in her room, so she was familiar with it.

I LOVED having lots of places to plop her as a newborn for naps throughout the day. The Boppy Lounger was a favorite, but we also had a vibrating bouncer chair that came with the PNP and a swing as well.

flyingmombula

Ugh. With DS the first 3-4 months he slept in the pack n' play bassinet next to our bed (it has the changing station too, we will prob reuse it for this babe). When I tried to move him to a crib he just screamed and screamed so for MONTHS i slept propped up in bed with pillows and he was in the boppy in my arms. Insane and probably not the safest, I know. When he got a little bigger we bed shared and just used a fitted sheet and he slept in a wearable blanket. It worked pretty well with nursing & MOTN wake ups (I didn't have to get up). He napped in the swing a lot. This time around I want to try a rock n play, and I might try a sidecar crib instead of the bassinet. Hopefully this one will be an easier sleeper... DS is 2.5 and STILL has never slept through the night 

maggiemadeit

With my first someone let us borrow one of those really expensive halo bassinets. I absolutely loved it, but my giant baby outgrew it within a few months, so I was very happy not to have purchased such an expensive item.

This time around I am thinking to just put a smaller travel type sleeper into the full sized crib. Either way the baby will stay in our room until we move to a place with more than two bedrooms. 

brookepdavis

DD slept in the bassinet part of the pack and play in our room at first, but we moved her to her own room and her own crib at 6 weeks. It was sooner than we originally planned, but we all slept so much better with her in her own space. When she was in our room every little noise or shuffle would wake me up. She was a noisy sleeper. 

This little one will probably be the same, but we might move him to the nursery even sooner. He'll stay in the pack and play for a while though. DD isn't quite ready for a big girl bed so we're going to move the crib into her big girl room for a while and then move it back to the nursery when baby boy is a few months old and DD is ready for a big girl bed. I refuse to buy two cribs so this was the compromise.

mamaoftwomonkeys

With my first we had a crib and bassinet and port a crib and... she ended up sleeping with us in bed. She was a terrible sleeper and is a high anxiety kid so cosleeping was what worked best for us. We’ll definitely try the bassinet/crib again with this baby, but we’ll see! For FTMs I would definitely suggest going in with a plan but be aware that your baby’s personality/needs may mean that you may have to abandon the plan and whatever happens it will work out totally fine

mamakate1616

- pack n play with napper / diaper changing attachments. We loved ours. It was the chicco brand and it also had a side diaper caddy and a huge storage bag that we can fit everything in. We found this to be super helpful in our colonial style house but now that we are in a split level I’m not sure it still makes sense to keep it in the living room since bedrooms are just down the hall. 

- dream on me bassinet. We borrowed this from SIL and it worked great for the first ~2 months when I wasn’t comfortable having DD in an open top bassinet. I was worried our cats would try to get in with her and this had a full zip top to keep them out. FWIW they never showed interest in bothering her. 
 
- arms reach mini cosleeper. This was our low rent answer to wanting the halo bassinet but not being willing to splurge on it. It was light weight and easy to move close to the bed at nighttime / near the wall when we were done sleeping for the night. 

- crib. I tried to transition her to her crib around 4 months when I went back to work. This was incredibly unsuccessful as we weren’t willing to cry it out and she just wasn’t having it. We co-slept from months 4 thru ~11. It did not get easier after that, but that’s a story for a different, future thread. As @mamaoftwomonkeys said, have a plan but be prepared to do something different!! 

- swing was used often for naps and extra sleep in early mornings 

- halo bassinet. I’m excited to try this with this LO. SIL was gifted one for her last kiddo and I’m totally stealing it since they are done with it. 

Eta: any dock a tot reviews??

ashley14598

So we did the very controversial rock n’ play next to our bed for the first 3-4 months. I liked it but our bed has a pillow top mattress and is very high. I’d like to get something that is more similar to the height of our bed for the first few months. We have 3 bedrooms but the 3rd is very small and pretty well storage/DH office. We are going to clean it out and put the rocker and a dresser in there. We plan to move when the baby is younger than 5 months. 

AprSnow59

We did the arms reach Co sleeper. It is fairly small and can be moved around easily and broken down like the pack n play. There is a ton of storage underneath so that was a plus. I really liked having the baby close enough to me to easily reach from the bed, but not in the bed, but at the same height as the bed, so I didn't need to twist in any funny angles to pick him up to nurse in the middle of the night.

shrub

We used used bassinets until they transitioned to the crib. I loved the bassinet with wheels last time because when my toddler would wake for the day, I'd wheel the newborn out to the living room. I'll be looking for that again.

I really like the little swing close to the ground. My newborn napped like a dream and its a good spot to put baby when you have to pee. 

Trying to talk my husband into a king size bed before baby comes so me and my 3 kids can snuggle every morning and if need be, a kid can crawl in during the night.

lelkcot

DS slept by our bed in the rock and play for the first two months, transitioned to the pack and play in our room for another few months. Moved him to his own room and crib at 5 months.

peacebubblebaby

I did a ton of different things for my first, she was a terrible terrible sleeper. At 18 months we finally saw a sleep expert that helped, but before that we tried everything. The one that worked the best, that I did with my second and will do again with my third, is to side-cart the crib. The crib and my bed are almost exactly even. Crib goes against the wall with the face off, bed butt up against it. I can nurse without sitting up and then push them back into the crib without moving my body. It’s co-sleeping with extra space and walls to prevent falling when they start to crawl/scoot around. My second is a wonderful sleeper. Hoping to get that lucky again, but positive nothing can be worse than #1, so I’ll be prepared either way. 

Other than that, we do a lot of naps in baby carriers. I didn’t as much with my second, but plan to with my third because it means they will nap no matter where you are or what you are doing...and we are busy people these days, so I really want to encourage “up-up naps”

Other favorite things to sit upon: the rock n play (they have a plug in rocker now!!!! I want to get one!! Cool new features that didn’t exist back in the day) and a bouncer. Our swing only ever got use when they started putting babydolls in it, both kids hated it. 

The thing about all all those items to sit in/sleep in is that you will find one or two that you actually use, and the rest will be a waste of money. I encourage FTMs to buy used when it comes to that stuff...too much money is wasted on them especially considering that you can find almost all of them for under $20 on the marketplace or craigslist. (Just make sure to meet in safe places ) if you do find one that is “the one” and you want to buy it new because its falling apart, at least you know it will be worth it.

violetmarie61516

Am I the only one that had LO sleep right in crib in her own room from day 1 at home?

sejica

We put dd in a big girl bed with a firm mattress from basically day 1. We had a rolling bassinet that we could also set on the bed, so we did that until she outgrew it around 3 months. At 4 months she wiggled enough that we dropped her mattress to the floor (it was previously on frame and box to save me having to bend down). We plan to put her bed back on it's box spring and eventually frame, once she is tall enough to easily climb in and out.

This time we'll use a mini crib in our room, a pack n play in the living room, the rolling bassinet in the first 6 wk pp recovery room (basement) and a big firm bed in the baby's room, which will become a floor bed too, likely around 4-6 mo. The crib/packnplay is mostly to keep the baby safe from the toddler this time around.

I want to say that the floor bed has worked great for us. I have been able to lay next to dd and nurse and get back up without having to move her. Plus, it's essentially the only bed she's ever known, so there have been 0 rough transitions to cribs/big girl beds. And its kept our bed for us, as either one of us can climb in her full sized bed to cuddle/comfort dd, instead of her climbing in our bed. She also sometimes climbs in her bed on her own to nap if she gets tired while playing in her room. I can't say enough good things about the floor bed.

brookepdavis

@peacebubblebaby I completely agree with buying stuff second hand. Obviously certain things should be bought new, but we got so many things second hand if I wasn't sure she was going to like them. She ended up loving the swing, but if she hated it, it was only $25 and I can probably resell it all when I'm done with babies. This time around I'm looking to get a bouncer and sit-me-up chair second hand.

3rdtime_charmed

@violetmarie61516 I am glad to hear that!! I have been reading that it might make the transitions easier if you just start where you want them to end up. I understand that breastfeeding and exhaustion certainly play into it though. We are talking about setting up a place for grown ups to sleep in the nursery if needed instead of sleeping in our room.
I know AAP says share a room until 4 months, but the nursery is right across the hall, if we left the doors open they would be just as close.
We are also having twins so we are going to have some space issues cramming everything into one room.

southerngirlinwi

FTM here: I wish I had room for a crib/bassinet/pack 'n play in my room. Our room is tiny and the bed/dresser already take up just about all the space we have. Our bed is also super tall, so I doubt that anything will be near the same height. I have a feeling that LO will be in his/her own room and crib from day 1 because there are very few other options.

dtspmama

@violetmarie61516 Nope!  We did the same, though I did routinely put both of my DD's down for naps in rooms other than their rooms to get them used to falling asleep in random places (so we wouldn't have issues napping at aunts or grandparents, or when we travel).

momofmanyinthemitten

We used the pnp in our room for the first 4-6 weeks for our first three. Our 4th had horrible reflux and would choke after nursing, so we keep him upright  in a rnp in our room for two months. We have a bouncy chair that they all slept well in as newborns, but none of them really liked the swing. There were periods with all four of them that I bedshared in our guest room.

violetmarie61516

@3rdtime_charmed We have a super comfy recliner/rocker that also spins all the way around if needed. It's SUPER comfy and I slept on it many times.  DD's room is right across the hall and while we did close her door, we have a video monitor that lives on me when she is in there still at 2 years old.  FWIW, my sister had twins.  They slept in one room across the hall but everytime one of them would make a peep she would run to get them so they didn't wake the other one.  By the time she got the first one down, she'd have to run and get the other one because they would start making noise.  I think 1. if she would have let me cry a bit so they got used to having noise, they may be better sleepers even now at 4.  They wake up at the drop of a pin.  2. I think if one woke, she probably should have gotten the other up at the same time and tried to get them into a "nighttime schedule" at least for the first few months.  She almost lost her mind by the time they turned 1.

@dtspmama I wish we would have put her in more places for nap time and such.  I don't know if it would help or not though.  She doesn't sleep anywhere except her crib or her pack and play at my mother's house in a specific room.  Never sleeps in the car, never in another home, it makes it REALLY difficult.  BUT, her older sister is the exact same way so I don't know if we could have changed it.

meggyme

@3rdtime_charmed @violetmarie61516 That's definitely one of the #1 pieces of advice I've heard for multiples. I have a friend who is a triplet and she said her mom would wake all of them up to feed them at the same time so that they're kind of all on the same schedule.

lucysmom2016

@southerngirlinwi We are also working with a small space for our LO. My best friend recommended a rock n play for the first few months. I found one second hand in great condition, and I think it's going to work well in our bedroom, and it folds up nicely, so will be easy to keep out of the way when not in use.