What are you planning to have your newborn sleep in?

whirlygirl00 · June 2011

I've been trying to decide between co-sleeping, a traditional bassinett, straight to crib or something like the Fisher Price Rock and Play sleeper.

I think I've decided against a co-sleeper because our dogs sleep with us and I would worry that a dog would try and get in the co-sleeper and suffocate the baby (this may be irrational but it's still a fear).

I'm leaning towards the rock and play sleeper next to the bed or at least something similar. I like that it angles the baby up a little. A few of my friends have had babies recently with acid reflux and this is usually an idea solution for it, plus it can't hurt even if the baby doesn't have acid reflux.

Has anyone else decided up on what you are going to do and why? Especially 2nd time moms, what works and what doesn't?

GreenEyedBri · June 2011

With DS #1 we used a bassinet that has been in my family for over 30 years, both of my brothers and I slept in it as newborns. It was nice having that right by my side of the bed so I didn't have to go to far when he woke up in the middle of the night. It also rocks which was a nice feature to have, DS really like the rocking motion and that seemed to calm him down a lot. I'm definitely planning on using the bassinet again this time, at least for a couple of months, or when the baby is finally sleeping through the night.

DiademChi · June 2011

Although I'm a 1st time mom, I will only be using the crib. We have two wonderful, affectionate cats that do not understand boundaries. They see warm children (and adult laps and bodies) as places to curl up and sleep all the time. I would not be surprised if they accidentally smothered a small infant or baby -- my cat Shiro is large and already tries to smother me in my sleep!

So we are getting a crib tent to protect the baby from the cats while sleeping. As I haven't found any practical bassinets with a tent option (and since you only get to use a bassinet for such a limited amount of time), I'm sticking with just the crib.

kwcw · June 2011

With DD we used a bassinet that we put right next to our bed. I plan on doing the same this time. DD slept in her bassinet until she was around 6 months old this time I plan on trasitioning soone but it was so nice just to reach over and pick her up when she needed to nurse.

Mass-girl-at-heart · June 2011

Ideally #2 will sleep in the pack 'n play as was the plan for DD. Unfortunately DD hated it so she ended up sleeping with me most nights and on really bad nights in her swing. Not the safest place for a baby to sleep and I was never fully rested so I'm going to do my best to resist this with #2.

FTR, I know there are safe ways to bed share however my husband has a head injury so using the products you put between you and your partner would have much more dangerous for her since when he sleeps he has no awareness of the things around him. DD slept in the crook of my arm with her pack 'n play (With raised bassinet feature inside) next to the bed to "catch" her if she fell. (flame away)

As for your dog, my cat sleeps with me but for the month I had DD in my bed she was not allowed in the room at night. She wasn't really happy about it but got over it quickly and is now back to sleeping happily next to me.

Fletcha · June 2011

Arms Reach co-sleeper or side-carred crib.

I'd love to plan on baby going straight to crib in their room, but from a lot of lurking on the newborn and recent month boards, plus advice from other mom's, it just doesn't happen that way 99% of the time. Plus, as a brand new person to this world, it I wouldn't expect my baby to be happy sleeping all alone in a strange room with mommy no where to be found. I'm ok with that coming later on in life.

Carrie3102 · June 2011

We are planning on just using the crib. The nursery is right across the hall. If need be though we'll be getting a cradle from my mom.

kylayton · June 2011

I'll be getting a Playard to put in our bedroom. I like that the bottom raises so the baby isn't so low to the ground. Then we can continue to use it as the baby grows!

Pocky873 · June 2011

We kept DD in a Pack 'n Play in our room until she was too heavy for the bassinet (15 lbs. is the limit). She was around 4 months old, and that's when we moved her to her crib in her room. DD never had reflux, so she was fine sleeping flat on her back.

We will do the same thing for this LO. If he/she has reflux, I will consider the Rock n' Play sleeper - I've heard excellent things about it from other moms here on TB.

octoberbridesrule · June 2011

I loved the Rock and Play sleeper with my DD. She liked being snuggled in. I put her in the crib occasionally the 1st three months but she slept longer in the Rock and Play. And sleeping longer is good for moms!

Jillylauk · June 2011

We live in a hundred year old house with smaller rooms. We plan to have baby go straight into crib. Our house is so small it would be silly not too. plus my husband who is a contractor and does not get paid when he does not work will be going back to work very soon after baby.I would prefer to leave the room and tend to the baby so my husband will be able to get some rest since I will be taking 12 weeks off after baby.

06hoky · June 2011

My dad made a cradle for us as babies and they have been saving it for future grandchildren so we will keep that in the bedroom while nursing and then move to the crib.

MrsT2008 · June 2011

My plan is to use the crib from Day 1. The nursery is right across the hall from our room and I'd prefer not to have to break any other sleeping arrangements later.

secretsout · June 2011

The nursery is only a few steps away from our bedroom, so I think we're going to go straight to the crib. If that doesn't work, I've heard good things about the Rock n Play so maybe we'll get one of those to keep in the bedroom with us. I don't want to get a bassinet that we will only use a short time, and I don't think we're going to get a pack and play for our house since everything is on one level for the most part, and we don't really have the room.

Happyappy · June 2011

We plan to use the pack-n-play with the newborn napper. It angles them up, just incase of reflux. It also vibrates. It is very cool, for those of you who plan on registering for a pack-n-play I would check it out.

I am not a co-sleeping fan, and our two little dogs sleep with us. The rock-n-play worries me because we have a big dog who could easily knock it over. It just seems very flimsy to me.

klafle3 · June 2011

We plan to sidecar the crib by our bed. My friend offered to give me her bassinet, so we'll probably use that downstairs during the day (we live in a townhome and the bedrooms are upstairs).

Leap08 · June 2011

With my daughter we planned to put her straight into the crib. That did not work at all. She would not sleep in the crib. As soon as we would lay her down, she would wake up. She was really tiny and I think she just needed something a little more snug around her. We ended up getting a pack-n-play with a newborn napper. She slept in that for about 2 months and then we were able to transition her to the crib. This time I think we'll go straight to the newborn napper. If the baby doesn't like it, we'll experiment until we find something he/she does like.

domesticatedhuman · June 2011

I'm planning on doing a bassinet in our room at first, then having the baby sleep in the bassinet placed in the crib as a transition, then hopefully just in the crib. My mother did it this way for all of us and she said it worked really well, so here is hoping!

2gr8pits · June 2011

I am a 1st time mom and I am planning on just the crib, because the nursery is right next to our bedroom. But I am registering for a pack and play and a rock n play sleeper. We have a 2 story house and the baby will be at my mom's quite a bit. So I figure we can always use one next to the bed, the first floor of our house or my mom's if needed. So we will play it by ear!

whirlygirl00 · June 2011

Thanks for all the responses, looks like there are lots of different thoughts on this. From the beginning I didn't want too much baby gear in the house, there's not a ton of room so maybe I'll do the pack and play with newborn napper as I was going to get a back and play anyways and just forget about the rock and play sleeper. Decisions decisions...

tetedefromage · June 2011

Well, I was thinking of maybe having the baby sleep in a pack 'n play in our bedroom at first, before moving to the crib. But it just occured to me...at least one of my cats would be determined to jump in there with baby. That wouldn't be good. Guess I need to rethink it.

jenine482 · June 2011

I'm going with a bassinett, acutally the one my mom used for me! But only for the first few months, until he/she starts moving then it's right into the crib. I like the idea at first of having the baby near me to help with the night feeds.

Conniebird · June 2011

We have the RnP sleeper from when DS was a baby, and a Pack n Play with a bassinet for when Im downstairs with DS all day!

Phelia325 · June 2011

With my first we started with the arms reach co-sleeper set up like a bassinet (it didn't fit right on our bed as a co-sleeper). That didn't work, because he cried every single time we put him in it - whether awake or asleep. We tried a swing (kept in our room) - also unsucessfull. We also tried the carseat (worked for about a week). Ultimately we ended up co-sleeping. I nursed him exclusively so co-sleeping really worked for us, and I felt comfortable doing that, while recognizing that it must always be done in a safe environment.

uncharch7 · June 2011

Straight to the crib, nursery is down the hall.

oasis16 · June 2011

Well, we have a number of extenuating circumstances. We have 3 animals who are very loving and affectionate and are constantly in and out of our bed overnight. So, co-sleeping is out.

DH is actually going to be 3 hours away for work (coming home on the weekends) from September to February. We're not sure what we're going to do once the baby comes, but I will either take the baby and animals and stay with him in his extended stay hotel, or go stay with my mom (90 miles north of us).

And finally, we're moving to Germany in February.

SO - we are not setting up a nursery in our current house. We have already purchased a crib (couldn't pass up the sale we found), but will not be taking it out of the box until we arrive in Germany.

The baby will be sleeping in a pack and play while we're still in the States and in a PeaPod while we're traveling to Germany and getting settled.

iluvmylab · June 2011

I will NEVER co-sleep. I don't agree with it and I watched a friend deal with the loss of her son because of it. We will probably use a bassinet for the first few months, but I'd lke to use the crib as much as possible during the day and while we are awake.

JNicMTek · June 2011

We will attempt a bassinett. It didn't work out with DD and we ended up with her in the Boppy in our bed. Not what the "rules" say, but we were all sleeping, so that's all that mattered. If this baby is going to have sleeping issues like DD did, we'll look into the rock and play or something else.

PDX7868 · June 2011

From day 1 we had DS sleep in the crib and I'm glad we did. He learned how to put himself to sleep and we got more rest. I am a light sleeper so co-sleeping wasn't for me. I am also concerned about safety with co-sleeping. I know there are ways to ensure it's safe, I just wasn't personally comfortable with it. We will do the same with baby #2.

FWIW, my first baby had severe acid reflex and we ended up getting a special wedge made up by a physical therapist to help him sleep. It helped a lot.

amanda~mm · June 2011

I have a travel lite https://www.amazon.com/Graco-Stages-Bedroom-Bassinet-Notting/dp/B004IEBOVS/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1308082702&sr=1-2

We will use it in our room for a month or two depending on how loudly the baby sleeps and when he/she sleeps through the night.

I have a basinett also, but I think this is sturdier.

capulet · June 2011

We used an Arm's Reach mini co-sleeper for the first six months. The only thing I disliked about it was it was a pain to break down for travel (for Christmas we had a 12-hour drive each way and I had a heck of a time taking the thing apart early in the morning after DD woke up). I think a PNP with a bassinett or anything like that would have worked for us, as long as it had a high enough weight limit that we could use it until DD slept through the night, which took a long time. The only thing I really care about is that I don't have to get out of bed to nurse at night because I'm lazy like that.

At six months DD decided she would only sleep in bed with us, so we co-slept for a few months until we moved and set up her crib and transitioned her into it. I wasn't planning on co-sleeping, but by the time she was that old I was comfortable with it.

brandywine2010 · June 2011

My friend is letting me borrow this. I am super excited about it!

After the bassinet, we will move the baby to a crib in the nursery.

getnmarried910 · June 2011

We've always started out in the pack n play bassinet, but I usually would bring baby to bed with me to nurse, and would fall asleep nursing, so we ended up co-sleeping most of the time. I really want to get a co-sleeper that goes next to the bed, but our room is small, so I'm not sure where I'd put it.

KMZ1983 · June 2011

DiademChi:
Although I'm a 1st time mom, I will only be using the crib. We have two wonderful, affectionate cats that do not understand boundaries. They see warm children (and adult laps and bodies) as places to curl up and sleep all the time. I would not be surprised if they accidentally smothered a small infant or baby -- my cat Shiro is large and already tries to smother me in my sleep!
So we are getting a crib tent to protect the baby from the cats while sleeping. As I haven't found any practical bassinets with a tent option (and since you only get to use a bassinet for such a limited amount of time), I'm sticking with just the crib.

We plan to go straight to crib.

I love your idea about a tent...I have never heard about this! I also have two wonderful, loving, and smothering cats and I fear they will try to "cuddle" the baby. I will have to look into the tent as well!

chankins14 · June 2011

We used a craddle & put it next to my side of the bed. This worked great for us & it is what we will do again. DH was WAY too nervous about co-sleeping to even try it, even though that is what I would have preffered since I BF.

EvenAngelsFall · June 2011

iluvmylab:
I will NEVER co-sleep. I don't agree with it and I watched a friend deal with the loss of her son because of it. We will probably use a bassinet for the first few months, but I'd lke to use the crib as much as possible during the day and while we are awake.

THANK YOU!!!!

So glad someone finally said this! Not only is it totally unsafe, but what a great way to kill the intimacy between you and your partner! No offense to any co-sleepers out there, but our marital bed will always be just for us and our marital activities! "Sex after baby" is hard enough without having a newborn (then infant, then toddler) in between you at all times..... some boundaries need to be drawn right away!

Nichole06 · June 2011

With DS we had him in the Pack n Play bassenette right by my side of our bed (I loved having him close). or he slept some of the night in the swing for the first 2 weeks. He slept better and longer on a slight incline so I am looking at doing the rock and play for this baby. DH was working oot with DS and you try anything and everything that works for you and your child to get some sleep. I also learned after having DS that nothing you plan to do works out just like what you think and to be open for different ideas.

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