Product Spotlight- Cribs, Travel Cribs, Sleeping Surfaces

Kathryn0903

Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. Feel free to comment on threads like these throughout your time at the board, not just when they're in their week in the spotlight, if you discover something new OR are new to the board. This week it's.... Cribs/Travel Cribs/Sleeping Surfaces!

FTMs are encouraged to ask questions & STM/+s encouraged to share their knowledge based on experience. You can use any or all the prompts relevant to you below to share info in an easy-to-read format. Pictures/screen grabs, if put in spoilers, are welcome!

For STMs:
Lifestyle(House, Apartment, Travel a lot)?
What sleeping surface do you have?
Link/Picture?
Cost?
Pros/Cons?

For FTMs:
Lifestle(House, Apartment, Travel a lot)?
What are you looking at?
Any questions for others?

To  view the upcoming PSS schedule, see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j7iBv8rbDsTBMXAK7R3NWhG-619XNbpdNza2uci0iYs/edit#gid=0!
Next up: Bath time

Kathryn0903

Lifestyle(House, Apartment, Travel a lot)? We have a house, but baby will periodically spend nights at grandma's house
What sleeping surface do you have? We have a convertible crib. We bought the conversion kit, so we could convert it to a toddler bed as well.
We also have a Pack N Play which is extremely helpful for nights at grandparents and travel.
Cost? Convertible crib was a few hundred. Pack N Play was around $50

krthouse

Lifestyle: Apartment
What are you looking at? I really want a dock-a-tot, as we're planning on co-sleeping for the first little while, and then we'll get a crib that ideally can convert up to a twin bed so we have it for longer.
Any questions for others? Anyone know a way of getting a dock-a-tot in Canada? They don't ship here because of a category confusion in Canada's safety code for baby sleeping items, but I know they're fantastic for co-sleeping from lots of American mamas. Am I going to have to hitch a ride down to Buffalo or is there an easier way?

smallbutmighty77

Lifestyle: House-, but we lived in a condo before and these items just transitioned to the house.
Items: Pack n Play that they sleep in our room for first few months, then we have transition cribs. Kenzie went right from crib to the full size bed with small bumpers and never looked back. 

Pack n Play will come out for this babe and then same crib deal. We also have Pack n Play at grandparents but Kenzie sleeps in a twin bed there now too with bumpers. (She only sleeps there if we are there for dinner or holiday or something.)
Had a rock n play probably getting the graco swing that goes to flat so we don't have to move babe if they fall asleep well or have reflux b/c kenzie had serious reflux and had to sleep inclined for a bit so we are excited to have something that we can lie flat once this one falls asleep.

mysteryship

Lifestyle: House

Items: Augie slept in a rock and play at first, then transitioned to an Ikea convertible crib that's now a toddler bed. He'll move to a twin bed before baby comes. Highly recommend IKEA for cheap cribs, ours was $100 and is holding up fine.

I wish I had just embraced cosleeping with him, I lost so much sleep trying to have him sleep separately. This time I want to try a bedside bassinet or Moses basket type cosleeper.

We have a pack n play but he never liked it. I often wore him in a carrier for naps when he was super little.

KFrob

We do a bassinet in our bedroom for about the first 6 months, then convertible crib.  We also have a Fisher Price swing that we used for naps https://www.target.com/p/fisher-price-sweet-snugapuppy-dreams-cradle-n-swing/-/A-52342460   

kath1414

FTM! 

Lifestyle: House 

Looking at: Convertible crib for nursery, bassinet for our room for first few months. I’m considering getting an uppababy vista stroller which comes with the bassinet and my friend said they used that in their room for baby’s bed at first. It’s approved for overnight sleep and also would be great for travel. I also think it would be useful to have one that rocks!? I guess at that point you could just use a swing. 

@korthouse Also in Canada here and would love a dock a tot! I’m hoping my cousin who has one will lend me hers (she’s already offered to lend me all her baby stuff) Otherwise I’ve seen them for sale used on fb marketplace etc. Is it even possible to have them shipped to Canada from the US? (I’m guessing no) 

mandarenee898

We’re planning on using DD’s crib for both twins at first, then once they start rolling over, we’ll buy another convertible crib. We’re leaving our spare bed in the nursery and I’ll stay in there during my maternity leave. 


*tw*
DD was stillborn but we never got rid of the crib. I’m glad these two will be able share something of their sister’s as all of DD’s other things were all donated to places that would give them free to people in need. We just never got around to donating the crib. 
*end tw*

doraleigh35

For STMs:
Lifestyle(House, Apartment, Travel a lot)? 3 bedroom townhouse, but we are planning to buy a new house in the spring.

What sleeping surface do you have? We had the Arms Reach Co-Sleeper Bassinet in the beginning. Then a convertible crib by Baby Cache.

For travel, we used the Graco PNP.

Link/Picture? Here is the co-sleeper- https://www.armsreach.com/collections/shop-all/products/mini-ezee-2-in-1-co-sleeper

The crib is now discontinued.

Cost? Co- sleeper was around $160-$180, crib was $500, PNP was $200ish.

Pros/Cons? Everything worked well for us and we plan to use all of these items again. 

We did not buy the conversion kit for the convertible crib and by the time DD moved to a toddler bed it was discontinued in Canada and would have been hundreds of dollars to get from the US. So we ordered a toddler bed rail from Amazon For $20 which works great. We don’t plan on using it as a bed frame later on as it would be way cheaper to just buy her a new frame when she switches to a bigger bed. I was initially upset that we didn’t buy the conversion kit when we bought the crib, but I’m actually happy now that we didn’t make that investment.

Need to buy- I’m trying to figure out what to buy as a replacement for the RNP since it’s recalled. We used it a ton for naps in the beginning. I like having something on the main floor since we have lots of stairs. I’m thinking of getting another bassinet like this: https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/fisher-price-stow-n-go-bassinet/6000198646201?cmpid=sem_google_en_pla_none_868545286_78397405596_None&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuMv9_eyW5QIVkiCtBh1umA0NEAQYBSABEgKHGvD_BwE

or a bouncer, we already have a swing. I want something that is more portable and can be moved from room to room. That’s one of the things I loved about the RNP.

krthouse

@kath1414 From what I've seen the only way to bypass the shipping is to use a service that provides a US mailing address and then they ship it to you. However! I've been checking out YouTube product reviews and the SnuggleMe Organic is very similar to a dockatot and it is sold in Canada. I know they have it at West Coast Kids (canadian baby store), which has an online store.

NiceyMeany

Lifestyle(House, Apartment, Travel a lot)? House (different house from when we had our first, though!)
What sleeping surface do you have? We are safe sleep acolytes, and firmly believe in the ABCs of safe sleep.  No cosleeping or unsafe sleep surfaces for us.  We used a Halo Bassinest in our bedroom and a PNP in the living room for the first couple of months.  My son settled into a long stretch of sleep from around 6-10pm pretty early, so we would put him down in the living room and then transfer him to the Bassinest after his 10pm party time.  We moved the PNP upstairs to our bedroom after he started to pull up, and moved the Bassinest downstairs to use as a changing table for a good long time.  Then we would start the night with him in his bedroom in the crib, and transfer him into our room when we went to bed.  We planned on room-sharing with him until he was 1, as per recommendations, but we found that he was sleeping better in his crib, so we knocked off the transfer around 7 months.

Link/Picture? But I'm so lazy...

Cost? Bassinest was around $230 at the time?  There are cheaper options now that still comply with safe sleep recommendations, but they didn't exist then.  There were lots of sidecar options or "sleepers" that were not safe sleep compliant, and I was already so anxious about his safety at night that I was really glad we didn't mess with that route.  We also got a very expensive furniture set that my parents purchased for us, so his crib is the convertible kind that will eventually become a full bed.  We'll need another crib for B2, but the jury is out on whether my parents want to shell out for another furniture set...

Pros/Cons? I got a ton of use out of the Bassinest and will use it again for this baby.  It has an enormous footprint and I constantly stubbed my toe on it, but other than that, I'm super happy with it.  We will also reuse our PNP, although I would have bought a less fancy one if I had to do it all over again.  We didn't really use any of the special features of ours.  We also love having a very high-quality crib for our son, so I'm hopeful that my parents will offer again.

littleredm

I’m not sure if we will end up in a two story or ranch home yet but we’re aiming for a two story with a bedroom/bath on the first floor for my mom. If that’s what we get then the plan is for a pack n play downstairs for naps or when my mom is watching them. A bassinet for our room and a crib for the nursery where we’ll transition after a few months and will be used for naps upstairs.

mwill291

Third time mom and we live in a house and each kid has their own room.  We keep each baby in our room for the first 4-6 months in a bassinet. Then, they transition to a crib in their own room. I buy convertible cribs so I dont have to rebuy bed frames every few years! We have used the swing for naps in the past as well; we just put it in whatever room we're all in and that way we can keep an eye on baby and they used to the noise of siblings being around so they don't need silence to sleep. I do have a pack n play that we use when we travel. Also, my daughter had an episode that caused us a scare and without getting into it, we got an Owlet and used that with her. We will most likely use it with the new baby as well, just for peace of mind. I have found that my kids sleep better in their own rooms with white noise machines. However, my daughter who just turned 2, has been really stubborn since I got pregnant and keeps trying to get in bed with us around 2am every night. I figure she just senses something is different or is going through a phase so I havent fought it too much. I do know some of my friends co-sleep but it's hard for me to sleep with little feet in my back, so hopefully we can break her of that soon. We did co-sleep with my son until 5 months old but we just did what we did to get sleep because he wouldn't stay in the bassinet. Regardless of what your plan is, it's okay to be flexible. My oldest is 12 now and wants to be around us less, so I'm trying to just enjoy this time with my daughter because it does fly by! 
Oh, I didn't mention brands or cost. Our crib was maybe $275 and I think it's Delta Children. The pack n play is Graco (bought at consignment for $30) and the bassinet is Simmons I believe (around $100). The swing we have is the infant bouncer and swing in one (Graco I think but not positive). It wasnt my fave. I liked the Fisher Price papasan style seat and swing much better but it does take up less room. 

literatureandink

For FTMs:

Lifestyle(House, Apartment, Travel a lot)? House

What are you looking at? We're planning on doing the Halo bedside bassinet and then after 6ish months into a convertible crib in the nursery. Naps will be in the Dock a Tot, assuming she tolerates it, otherwise in the MamaRoo swing.

Any questions for others? Do all convertible cribs require a specific conversion kit? If it's convertible, shouldn't it just convert?

krthouse

@literatureandink Ditto to that question! Why so many extra add ons?

mercury94

@literatureandink Every convertible crib I’ve seen requires the conversion kit. We’re skipping the toddler bed feature and just buying the full bed conversion. We need the crib for this baby, so we’ll just buy a toddler bed for DS. It’s cheaper than a new crib. 

literatureandink

Thanks @mercury94 - I was clueless!

babybison

@literatureandink The side rail for toddler is shorter than the infant crib side, and the twin bed conversion pieces are very long. I don't think it makes sense from a manufacturer perspective to ship all the pieces at once when you might not use them anyway. We have a conversion crib just because I liked the crib style, but we'll probably never convert. Hope that helps!

Lifestyle: house with bedrooms for everyone. 

We have a Halo swivel sleeper basinet for the first few months. DS was too long by 3 months I think 😆. And like a previous poster, I also stubbed my toe on it all the time. But it was easy to see baby from our bed. For the living room we use the Graco PnP. 

We still have a RnP even though it was recalled. From what I read, people used it inappropriately and against recommendations for use. We wouldn't use it for long term sleep, but a nap in the kitchen wouldn't be a problem. 

babybison

Anyone have recommendations for toddler mattresses? Our toddler's new bed is crib size, but I don't know if I should just move his current infant/toddler one and buy a new baby one?