Product Spotlight: Cribs & Sleeping Surfaces

chewie5990

@sunshinesea22 I don't have experience as DS was in our room until 6-7 months, but my SIL had both her kids go straight to the nursery in their own cribs (she also formula fed and said the same things as you about needing to get up anyways) it worked great for them and honestly they are both amazing sleepers and always have been. I know there are some studies that say the breathing of mom/dad help regulate baby's breathing, but I'm not sure if it's actually scientifically proven. I say do what works for you and your family! 

mamaqdubu

I'm sorry if I'm repeating what's already been said by other STM's, but here's my take on cribs & sleep surfaces!

1) I always make sure to have a sleep surface (swing, bouncy chair, bassinet, or pack n play) in each area that I spend it my house. It makes it that much easier to put the baby down when necessary and not have to lug it all around (especially if you have a multi-level house). 
2) Cribs - I got white convertible crib & drawer set assuming I'd make it into a twin bed eventually. well a few things... first the crib front has a "dip"/wave in the design. It's pretty BUT it made it that much easier for my little guys to hoist themselves up because it was lower than the sides. It also has a wide rail.... also another easier way for babies to hold onto. I got a second cheap crib with thin rails that is 100% better. Also, my white crib paint got ruined by teething babies... so really i don't think it's worth i. 
3) I don't usually do "everything organic", but i did splurge for a good organic mattress. I read many reviews about SIDS potentially being linked to mattress off-gassing (and totally realize some of this might be woo, and I'm not trying to start a debate by any means), but it felt like a good decision for us. Also... waterproof mattress pads are a MUST... and get like 3 so you can change a few during a night if you have a pukey or leaking-diaper baby. 

sunshinesea22

@m6agua and @chewie5990 You made me feel better about not following the guidelines on room sharing...mama just needs her sleep and I’ve heard so many baby still in my bed at 2-5-10 whatever age stories and I don’t want to end up like that. You can’t tell me it doesn’t negatively effect a marriage. It might work for some families but I can see it not working well for us.

ruby696

@sunshinesea22 I've also read that baby sleeping in the parents room helps regulate breathing. I was too afraid to put DS and DD in the nursery before they were 5 months (not sure why that was my magic number). But since we're having twothis time, I'm seriously considering going from hospital to nursery. I've been stressing about the bassin situation and I already have two cribs, so it would save us money. 

shamrocandroll

@sunshinesea22 DS went into the crib around 4ish months because he was so cramped in the bassinet.  I regret not doing it sooner.  We both slept so much better once he was in his own room.  He was only steps away from our bedroom door, and we always either had the video monitor (still do at 3 years old) or left the door open.  He sleeps great and has never spent the night in our bed.  I love having our own sleep space.  

chewie5990

@shamrocandroll do you have any plans to stop using the monitor with DS when new baby comes or do you plan to just get another camera? DS still has a monitor in his room and he's about to turn 4. I feel like he will definitely be okay without a monitor as he rarely wakes up and if he does - he can easily come to our room on his own. But the monitor just brings so much peace of mind that I'm weary to get rid of it! 

pirateduck

@sunshinesea22 the main reason I'm really planning on room sharing is because my room is on a different floor of the house than the nursery and I don't foresee my sleep-deprived self enjoying running up and down the stairs several times a night.  I do not plan on sharing my bed and I'm looking at things like bassinets and trying to figure out the best use of my space while getting the function I want as well with a sleeping area and changing area (or something) in the master bedroom.  If you are really worried about the baby in another room, and the possibility of not waking up when needed, you could always set an alarm for a few times in the night so you are sure to wake up/get up periodically to check on baby (not sure how sound a sleeper you and your partner are).  I honestly don't see it as dangerous so much as less convenient.  You have to find what works for you in your home.

tj_2

FTM:

Living in a 2 bedroom apartment with not-huge rooms. Wanted to turn one into a nursery but MIL will be moving in. Sad about the nursery but happy about not having to pay insane daycare costs while baby stays with someone who loves him/her and I can work late nights without issue if need be. It will be okay!!!

DH and I travel on and off but not sure if we will continue with baby in tow. Most likely switch to road trips and short flights only. 

Since baby will be sleeping with us for the near future my understanding is a pack n play with a bassinet setting would be the best fit. Open to any suggestions on brands or other sleeping arrangements. Our room isn't huge so not looking for bulky furniture pieces but can fit a crib if need to. 

shamrocandroll

@chewie5990 MH dropped and broke our first video monitor, so rather than just buying the monitor portion, I spent a little bit more and bought another complete set with the camera so we'd have 2.  I plan to keep it for a while longer, especially since he's moving into a bigger room and bed soon.  Maybe by the time he's fully night potty trained, I'll stop using it.  Or I'll just be the creepy mom who spies on how cute my 8 year old still looks when he's sleeping. 

catem07

Most people I know who bed-shared had a reallllllly difficult time stopping doing that and most want to stop way before baby wants to stop. 

No one I know who room-shared kept their baby in their room past 6 months unless a) they didn't have a suitable room for baby to move to or b) they were bed-sharing. Most kids grow out of bassinets between 4-6 months so unless you switch to a PNP or want the crib in your room, I find 4-6 months a good time to make the switch. 

I do think room-sharing is a good idea for the first 4 weeks or so. You may find that you are anxious about having baby in another room. But after that, especially if you're formula feeding, it seems reasonable not to room share if that's what works for you. 

rox7777

For those that have worried about sids most of the recognized studies will tell you no soft bedding, a firm mattress, laying in their back, a comfortable temperature and a fan to keep air flow moving are your key concerns. There’s a lot of stuff circulating out there that goes into more in depth stuff, but most pediatricians will follow the list above for safe sleeping. There’s also several great safe sleeping groups on FB you can join. 

daffodilsinmyheart

STM! I’m using an arms reach cosleeper (side car!) which is the same thing I used with DS. It was amazing! He was in that until he outgrew it at around 5m, then he went to his crib in his room. He took literally every nap from new to 6m in a swing. All of them. It was the only place he would sleep during the day! He had a pulse ox/cardiac monitor on though (post NICU) for the first two months so I figured he was safe. Something would have alarmed at me if he had a desat episode. 

So here I am buying all the exact same s to of again hoping we have a baby that sleeps just as well as their brother 😂🤷‍♀️

pirateduck

Pros/cons of a bassinet vs. a pack n play with the raised bassinet feature?

Also when I look at pictures of a lot of bassinets online they don't look very sturdy/stable.  I'm sure there are safety tests, but I totally envision my dog knocking it over in the middle of the night after I trip on the dog on my way to the crying baby.  Is this just paranoia or could this really happen? 

rox7777

@pirateduck You’ll get more use from a pack n play. You can use it for travel, to keep mobile babies contained, etc. Think years of use versus weeks of use with a bassinet.

catem07

@pirateduck the halo is SUPER heavy. the base really weighs it down. If you get an Arms Reach and you fully sidecar it to the bed with the attachment, that's also secure. agree that you get more use out of a PNP, though. 

chewie5990

I do want to throw out there that even if you think "I'll never bedshare" I would still do a little research about safe co sleeping just in case. My SIL works for a company called Child Safe and does SIDS trainings all over the state - with her experience and stories I never ever thought I would bedshare and didn't even see it as an option - until my newborn screamed all night and I had to be up for work in 2 hours. We always started with DS in his own bed, but he definitely ended up in our bed every night for the first 8 months or so. I feel like it's better to know ahead of time just in case then end up exhausted in the MOTN and not know about how to safely cosleep. 

rachelg777

@chewie5990 I agree. Or if you are exhausted and pull the baby in to nurse with you in the middle of the night and fall asleep. Much more dangerous than having a plan about it.

shamrocandroll

@rachelg777 That was one of the reasons I could never nurse DS in bed, even though he slept in the Halo right next to me.  I was so afraid of falling asleep while feeding him, so I always got up and fed him in the glider in the nursery, even before he started actually sleeping in there.

rox7777

@shamrocandroll Same! I always feed in the glider because I can’t fall asleep in a chair and then move back to bed. I fell asleep once or twice trying to nurse in bed and freaked myself out! 

mamaj1220

We coslept for like a month when DS was a baby. I made sure to follow the safest methods to cosleep and never really planned on doing it but it happened. I again am not planning on it but I have learned not to really plan on much with kids 😂. 

Also along the falling asleep while holding baby lines, I started to fall asleep holding him when he was hours old (I had him at 9:47 pm) and I will say do not be afraid to call the nurses if this happens, my nurse came in and even though they didn’t have a nursery took DS for a couple hours until he was hungry again so I could rest too. (DF wasn’t allowed to stay the first night because I had to have him on a night where there were 10 other active labors and 12 other births at the hospital so I was sharing a room with another mom and baby), this time they have redone the entire maternity ward and it’s like 30 or more rooms with a birthing tub in each, I’m so excited lol

jhysmath

@chewie5990 totally agree. I said no way would I bed share. My sister's daughter is 10 and still wants to bed share I said absolutely not. Especially because MH is a heavy sleeper and sometimes rolls into me. Well when we hit that 4 month regression and I had to work on top of being up every hour sometimes she ended up in bed with us. I could feed her without getting out of bed and she'd go back to sleep. It was the only way I got any sleep. MH had wanted her in bed when she was younger and on really tough nights would pull her into bed to sleep on his chest and I would wake up and see that and freak out so he was a little pissed when I finally did it regularly and I had yelled at him about it. You do what you've got to do when you're running on 4 hours total of sleep and it's been weeks since you've gotten more than 1.5 hours of consecutive sleep. 

sunshinesea22

@chewie5990 I will definitely do the research on safer cosleeping because I’m sure at some point I will be tempted. Sleep is my best friend and I’m really not good at functioning on minimal sleep. I did somehow manage through nursing school on about 4 hours per night, but it wasn’t pretty. When I told my coworkers the news yesterday, one told me: don’t say never for anything because you always end up caving on things. She also specifically mentioned cosleeping as an example. I just want to tell myself it’s not even an option with the hope that I can stick to my metaphorical guns.

brettanomyces

With DD1 we lived in a one bedroom apartment so we had a mini crib, but when she hit the 4 month sleep regression she started waking up every hour and the only way I could get proper sleep was to bring her in bed with me. I did a lot of research on safe cosleeping. When DD2 was born I couldn’t go back to the sleep deprivation so she coslept with me right from the beginning. She was also really congested as a newborn and her breathing was way clearer when she was close to me. The mini crib is now basically a railing to drape clothing over when I’m too lazy to hang it in the closet. 

brettanomyces

@chewie5990 Agree x1000! Statistically a high percentage of moms end up sleeping with their babies at some point and it’s really unfortunate that safe co sleeping isn’t being taught in the mainstream. 

bananapanda

@sunshinesea22 yes I was just coming here to make the "never say never comment" around all things parenting related.  It's so easy to judge others until you are the one going through it.  I was also very adamant on safe sleep etc and no intentions of my daughter being in my room still at 2, but if that's the only way you can get sleep then that's what you do.  She did sleep in her bassinet as a newborn though sometimes in the morning when she woke up early I would put her on my chest where she might let me sleep another couple hours.  As she got older it was much easier to calm her down and get her back to sleep by putting her in bed with us than getting up and rocking her or walking with her so we were all getting better sleep that way and she was old enough I felt ok with it.  

allie456

can I just say I'm obsessed with this crib? I can't afford it and there is no reason to spend this much on a crib for any reason, but I think it's gorgeous https://kalonstudios.com/shop/caravan-crib/

also I found it via an Instagram ad, they totally have my number 😂

pirateduck

@allie456 if money was not an issue and I wasn’t saying to myself I’d better save my cash to pay for labor and delivery, I’d have a whole nursery from Restoration Hardware.  I have seen some really good deals on used RH cribs/dressers/changing tables on CL though, so I’m tempted.

rachelg777

@allie456 have you looked at the Babyletto Lolly? It’s somewhat similar! Though I’m sure the quality is not quite the same.

https://www.crateandbarrel.com/babyletto-lolly-natural-3-in-1-convertible-crib/s470604?localedetail=US&a=1552&campaignid=1712429706&adgroupid=67277874376&targetid=pla-306651559129&pla_sku=470604&pcat=HSW&ag=baby&scid=scplp470604&sc_intid=470604&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh-7I-5X_5QIVAZSzCh3tXwayEAQYByABEgJSwPD_BwE

allie456

@rachelg777 that crib is really similar and so much less expensive! thank you!

ruby696

@pirateduck DD's nursery furniture is from RH. One thing I was SO upset about was when we converted her crib to a toddler bed, the rail was this beautiful curved rail, but the edges are at 90° angles - so if she hit her face on it (she did - twice) she was slamming into basically a corner. Such a poor design for something that cost so much. I'm still pretty bitter about it, in case you can't tell. 😆

rox7777

@ruby696 I think you’re the one that mentioned bassinet options for twins. My bump app had an article about them today and the Joovy Room 2 was recommended for doubles. The price point didn’t look bad either. 

pirateduck

I went to Target yesterday to see things in person. It was a disaster of a trip.  Overall I was disappointed in how flimsy and junky a lot of stuff (especially pack n plays) seemed in person.  It’s making me rethink sleeping solutions among other things.

mamaj1220

@pirateduck I’m sorry. I will say even though the pack and plays seem flimsy they are built well (at least the Graco one I had was in getting the update version this go around because I gave mine away).

ruby696

@rox7777 Thanks! I've been looking at the Joovy Room 2 and the Pack n Play. We'll see which one is on sale on Monday...

@pirateduck We have two pack n plays. The first we spent a ton of money on and used it as a bassinet. It's solid. The second we bought while we were away for the weekend and realized we left the other one at home. It's Graco, but we picked the cheapest one we could find - and it shows. They are not the same quality. I've found that most quality bassinets - whether they're PNP's or stand alone bassinets - usually start at $250 or $300 and go up from there. Make sure you're looking at the nice PNP's, if that's what you're interested in.

pirateduck

Thanks @ruby696 and @mamaj1220 I think it was compounded by the fact that some weren’t fully assembled properly too...  so it was really tough to adequate judge most of the display products at this particular store, which was frustrating because the whole reason I drove an hour to Target was to try and see the quality and functionality of some baby gear in person vs. just internet pics.  Also most all displays at this store were without price tags and information.  I might have to suck it up and make a day trip to the city for this.

ruby696

@pirateduck One other thing - I go to Target ALL THE TIME for baby supplies. Diapers, wipes, etc. However, I would never register with them because they don't have a great selection of the bigger items. If you have a Buy Buy Baby or similar store somewhere near yoy, you may want to go there. Target had a lot more online, so you can always find what you want somewhere else and then add it to your Target registry later.

pirateduck

@ruby696 Target is an hour from my house and the only place that sells baby stuff that is remotely close to me.  I did look for a Buy Buy Baby and there is one in the city 2+ hours away.  I figured I should do a Target registry as it's closer to my work and close to my OBs so it gives other people I know a chance to shop in person and gives me a place I could return/exchange stuff in person without having to re-package and ship it back, we'll see.  I think I'm just feeling a bit hormonal and a bit overwhelmed by all of this.  Trying to sort through all the products and figure out what I actually need, which right now is diapering supplies, a carseat, and a place for baby to sleep.  Anything else can get added later.

sunshinesea22

@pirateduck I also felt super overwhelmed by all the options. Add in the accessibility issue of store proximity, ugh! Someone in another thread had mentioned Lucie’s list (lucieslist.com) and I found that website to be super helpful for all things baby gear. She rates the best items and gives a legit review, it’s not some paid advertisement. I always find it helpful to have an impartial “expert” opinion and this site is my new favorite. Plus she’s pretty funny, so that helps!

pirateduck

Yes, I have been looking at Lucie's list, it's great!

rox7777

@pirateduck Register for your small stuff at target and your big ticket items on amazon. Amazon tends to have better prices for big stuff and I find that most people have prime these days. I also highly suggest making a trip to the baby store. Seeing products in person makes a world of difference! I had my heart set on a specific swing last pregnancy and when I went in and tested functions/size I was not impressed.