Product Spotlight: Beds/ sleep surfaces

zamoraspin

This week's spotlight is on beds/sleep surfaces: cribs, travel cribs, pack n play, bassinets, sheets, etc. 

There are so many options for safe sleep so tell us What worked for you and your family? What is your home set up (different sleep spaces if you have a different levels, etc.)? what did you like/dislike?

As a reminder sleep and sleep surfaces can be a hot topic and the current recommendations can be found here: 
The American Academy of Pediatrics has these recommendations for safe sleep  Canadian Safe sleep recommendations 

(Sorry, posting late because I’m on vacation and have lost track of time 😆)

beccaneu

With my son we used the halo bassinet for the first three months.  Our master bedroom is super small so larger options like a crib or pack and play were simply not options for keeping baby in our room.  The legs of the halo are designed such that half of the support could simply go under out bed which allowed it to fit next to our bed (although it was admittedly a tight fit). I loved it because I ended up having a C-section and being able to get my son for those late night wakings without getting out of bed was so nice.  I was also able to easily see him while laying in bed which helped a lot with that early new mom anxiety.  It is a bit pricey and I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a must have though.  

After three months we moved my son to a crib in his own room. I would have preferred to keep him in our room longer as recommended by the AAP, but that just wasn’t an option so I put an extra twin mattress that we happened to already have in his room so I could stay with him a little longer. The crib we got was from IKEA.  It was like $80 and worked out great.  

willrunforcookies

@zamoraspin hope you're having a great vacation!

What worked for you and your family? 
We started with baby sleeping in a pack n play in the upper insert/bassinet (as weight and mobility allowed) in our room for the first 8 months, then transitioned to a crib in their room.  
Cotton sheets for both pack n play and crib.

What is your home set up (different sleep spaces if you have a different levels, etc.)?
Sleep spaces are/were in bedrooms for us, I had friends who had a pack n play on their first floor for naps for the first while because they'd had c-sections and it was easier to avoid stairs while healing.

What did you like/dislike?
I liked the rock n play for supervised naps during meals until that was recalled and returned, don't judge because getting my first to nap for more than 20 minutes while not being held for the first 6 months was utterly impossible.  

cc_clark

FTM question. I understand some of the safety guidelines, but aside from being safe is there a real difference in cribs and bassinets? Not between the two, as in differences from one model crib to another model crib, etc.
We’re thinking bassinet in my room (husband works nights and has a separate room so we don’t disturb each other’s sleep) or in the downstairs guest room if I need to stay downstairs after delivery. And then a crib in the nursery to eventually transition to. 

I just keep seeing cribs with huge price tags and others without and wonder if there’s a reason some are so much more expensive?

thankfullyamama

So as someone who ended up bed sharing out of desperation I also want to add https://www.llli.org/the-safe-sleep-seven/
as a resource. 

Also as someone who said she would NEVER bed share prior to having her own baby, please do yourself the worlds biggest favour and also prepare your sleep space to be safe for baby IF you end up needing to use it by following 

THE SAFE SLEEP SEVEN

1. nonsmoker
2. Sober and unimpaired
3. A breastfeeding mother and your baby is:
4. Healthy and full-term
5. On his back
6. Lightly dressed
and you both are:
7. On a safe surface (aka firm surface) 

thankfullyamama

I highly recommend getting a GOOD crib mattress. I truly believe that one of the reasons my baby did so poorly in the bassinet and crib was because the “mattress” were like rich hard and had a plastic film that crinkled when they moved. As soon as I bought a good crib mattress (I got an avacado) my little guy would sleep in it! (We ended up taking off one rail of the crib and attaching it to our bed frame for safe co-sleeping) 

I HATED the halo bassinet but my SILs had a mamaroo and a snoo and both raved about them. I just couldn’t justify spending that much lol as for an actual crib I’m pretty sure they all follow the same safety guidelines so there isn’t much difference between the designer $10000 one and the $100 ikea one lol 

willrunforcookies

@cc_clark the price is mostly brand/aesthetics markup. Like @thankfullyamama said, get a good mattress (that's also firm). 
The Snoo is supposed to rock your baby to sleep and sense movement hence the price. I know people who swear by it, though the price stays high, some have bought used ones and resold it after baby was done with it for the same used purchase amount. 

jennifer_louise

We have a second-hand crib (though new mattress) and also used a Halo bassinet at the very beginning. No complaints for either of those! We didn't use a bassinet for DD because I thought it was pointless but I actually liked having it with DS. It was nice to keep him close and have a somewhat portable sleep space (although the base is reassuringly heavy!).

We also have a Pack n Play for traveling and camping. The default mattress that comes with most PnPs is pathetic! Both kiddos slept horribly on it until we got a thicker mattress. Something like this (although ours is not foldable):

Normally I'm a baby minimalist but if you're sleeping away from home, that mattress was a game changer for us.

Knottie1433187098

If I could go back I would have gotten a way less expensive crib! Don’t worry about it. I’d have rather gotten a cheaper crib with decent mattress. We have two expensive cribs and I don’t see the benefit and only used them as convertibles for a short amount of time before big kid beds. As long as a crib feels sturdy, you’re good. Hindsight is 20/20! 

Knottie1433187098

We had the best luck with a mini crib in our room at the foot of the bed until baby moved to own crib in bedroom around 6 months. Don’t waste your money on a Snoo! Tried twice with two babies and just meh results.