Product Spotlight: Bassinets

JEM2014

We have started thinking about a bassinet for our room, and I’m curious what others are planning to buy!

With my son we used the Arm’s Reach co-sleeper, which worked fine but I thought it was hideous and I hated looking at it in our room 😂. This time I’ve been looking at the Maxi-Cosi Iora, which I love the look of but it’s pretty no frills (in particular, it can’t rock). 

I’m also curious if anyone has or is considering a SNOO?  It’s super expensive, but my son was a TERRIBLE sleeper and I would happily have shelled out for something like this if it actually made a difference!! 

ninrms

@JEM2014 I have the arm's reach clearvu cosleeper and loved it (aesthetically, meh, but practicality, it was great, and just for a few months anyway). It was so great post-c section (we had ours attached to our bed). I'll use it for baby 2, too.

I had a couple friends from my last bump month club that used the SNOO. One mom's son seemed to never ever have sleep issues--lovely unicorn baby that napped great and slept through the night early, with no training/prompting from the parents. Not sure if the SNOO had anything to do with it. 

I'm not planning on getting it, but if this baby is as bad as (or worse than) a sleeper as my first son...I'll start bedsharing way sooner. And if that doesn't work, I'm renting the SNOO lol.

kaf1788

I had the Halo Bassinet (basically just because it was a free hand me down) and it was fine. My son has always been a pretty good sleeper so I never really considered a Snoo but if this baby is terrible I'd definitely consider renting to see if it makes a difference. I have a friend who used one and she said it was fine but not a game changer (but I know some people swear by them!) There seem to be a lot of other brands putting out similar bassinets so I'd be curious to hear if anyone has experience with them (I know 4Moms has and one other big baby brand that I forgot?)

ninrms

@kaf1788 Which Halo did you have? We initially bought the swivel, but could NOT get the bed to stay level except at one very specific angle, which kind of defeated the purpose. Worried we had a defective one but there were so many reviews that said the same thing we returned it for the arms reach. I’m not sure if they’re all like that, or if it’s just a common problem.

brittany_f

@JEM2014 we were looking at the SNOO too because of all the hype, but at the cost per month to rent 2 I’m second guessing it and looking at alternatives. So far my research has the Graco Sense2Snooze as the most comparable to the SNOO and it’s SO much more affordable. 

lexilougolden

I was a nanny of a family that had the SNOO and I think they'd recommend it. The resell of SNOO (at least on FB Marketplace is around $1200). So if you snag one on Black Friday for cheaper (I think they go down to $1400?) then it might be worth a try? I'm considering one but haven't committed to it yet.

kaf1788

@ninrms We had the swivel and had no issues. But IDK if I would spend $200 on it if I dind't get it for free

ninrms

@kaf1788 I wish it had worked for us! (Though I loved my arms reach.) Tho to be fair we might have been overzealous and over cautious lol. I mean there was a definite slant, but I’m not sure if it qualified as unsafe. We switched just to be sure.

angelz429

I bought the Snoo for my loss in February but returned it. Will be buying again over Black Friday. 

makingbacon

I have heard great things about the Snoo from a few friends who have one. We’ve never used a bassinet, and both boys went directly into the cribs in their rooms. They did decently well in them from the beginning. DS1 slept through the night at 6 weeks, and we’re still waiting on DS2 lol. 

livingoffpbjs

With my daughter I bedshared, it was the only way she would sleep, she would sometimes fall asleep in her mamaroo or swing for a couple of hours but after that she would come to bed with me. I dont want to shell out a ton of money on a fancy bassinet for a few months so my plan is to get a mini pack and play with bassinet topper, if the baby ends up in my bed I feel like I will still get lots of use from the mini pack and play then anything else. 

My other option Im looking at is the Graco Duoglider, Its a swing but the thing they lay in actually folds down flat sooooooooooo that might end up being their bassinet if they need to have the motion. 

angelz429

@livingoffpbjs tbf the snoo has a monthly rental option, but also has a good resale market. 

I bought it for $1200 I think after all was said and done on Black Friday last year, but the resale market near me is $600-900, so it’s a pretty good return on that. And from what I hear… it’s worth double. 

photographerwife

I haven’t 100% decided. I’m thinking of just using our pack and play that has the bassinet topper since they only get used for a couple of months anyway. If I find one of those Graco bassinets on sale that rocks like the snoo, I might buy that and resell later. But the snoo is totally out of my price range for the use it’ll get. I don’t think resell would be worth it in my area either. I really wonder about those causing bad sleep habits too when they’ll be moved to a solid, unmoving surface. We created so many sleep dependencies with my son, just not knowing any better, that id really love to avoid that this time. My son was a terrible sleeper as a baby. 

JEM2014

photographerwife said:

I really wonder about those causing bad sleep habits too when they’ll be moved to a solid, unmoving surface. We created so many sleep dependencies with my son, just not knowing any better, that id really love to avoid that this time. 

This is what I’m worried about. But I’ve read a bunch of reviews suggesting that it has a weaning mode, it’s just that people don’t use it (because if it’s working, why change anything???) and then their baby ages out of it and they have to go straight to crib cold turkey and it’s a nightmare!  

On the other hand, when we moved our son to a crib at 6 months it was a nightmare anyway, so I feel like any transition for a bad sleeper will suck no matter what you do… our son is 6 now and STILL goes though periods of bad sleeping (he’s in one now where he’s suddenly started refusing to go to bed without one of us sitting with him until he falls asleep, which I think might be tied to the baby on the way 🙄). 

I’d love to do the rental to try the Snoo, but that’s only offered in the US so our only option here is to buy. But I think we could resell it in Brussels without too much trouble. I asked my DH about it because I was sure he’d say it was ridiculous and talk me out of it, but he was all for it!  So I think I’m going to see if they do a Black Friday sale in the EU. 

angelz429

@JEM2014 they do and they had a better Black Friday sale there then here!

babyodo

My daughter refused to sleep anywhere but her Graco Sense2Soothe swing for the first 3 months of her life (until I had a nightmare one night about positional asphyxiation and moved her to the bassinet cold turkey). 

We had the Fisher Price Soothing Motions bassinet. It worked okay, but a word of caution: the soother (has buttons for vibration & white noise) is battery-operated and is set to shut off after 30 minutes. We learned that the hard way. After the first week or so, we didn't use the soother at all except maybe the nightlight once or twice.

She slept in her bassinet until she was about 4 or 5 months old. It wasn't the she outgrew it length or weigh-wise, she would startle in her sleep and hit the sides of it with her hands and it would wake her up. So, we transitioned her to the Pack n Play with the raised bassinet feature until she started sitting up (around 7 months). She still sleeps in her Pack n Play. We plan to transition her to the crib in her room around her 1st birthday next month.

My SIL bought a Snoo second-hand for their son who was born in July. She said it works amazingly. I'm keeping my fingers-crossed that they'll either let us borrow it when DS is born, or let us rent it from them. Their son should have just outgrown it by then, so here's hoping! If not, then we'll just use the bassinet we already have.

JEM2014

angelz429 said:

@JEM2014 they do and they had a better Black Friday sale there then here!

Good to know!!!

JWatt5

I had the Halo last pregnancy and hated that I couldn’t easily move it. Then got the Nuna Mini Sena which I love but doesn’t look at nice. I’m think I’m going to give the new Skip Hop bassinet a go. 

JWatt5

@livingoffpbjs - I just went for another mini Pack N Play - I just bought the Bugaboo Stardust. It's nice looking since it'll be in my room for awhile and more portable. I bed shared (and still do) a lot with Parker.

angelz429

So. The Snoo is what we’re going to get

but you can buy for like $1500 (Black Friday deal is 25-30% off usually) or the rental fee for Newborn Special is $149 per month for months 1-3 and $30 per month for months 5&6. 

That’s $510 plus $90 cleaning fee. So $600 instead of $1200-1500. 

Since I’m not planning on having another baby after this, I think this rental option is actually the best for us and then I don’t have to worry about trying to sell it after. 

JWatt5

@angelz429 - the rental idea is kinda brilliant because it really is such a short term item for decent amount of money. Then you just don’t have to deal with it afterward - selling etc. Does it also come with a sheet/protector etc in the rental?? 

I think Im going to rent my pump this time - the hospital grade Medela. I hope to pump the first 4 months then go to formula. 

photographerwife

@angelz429 I think the rental is an awesome idea! Depending on your babies weight, they might be out of it by 3-4 months!