Crib or bassinet?

teamblakeley · December 2014

I was talking to a friend who said she put her baby in his crib in his own room from day one... so there'd be no need to "wean" baby off of staying with us in our room. However, my siblings and I all stayed in my parents room in a bassinet the first few weeks and then we transitioned to our crib elsewhere...so I just assumed that was what was done.

What are the pros and cons of each?

tiffbot1985 · December 2014

With DS he "slept" in a bassinet in our room until about 2.5 months when I finally just started bedsharing. We were finally getting sleep again. We moved him into his crib around 8 months because it was just the right time and he didn't really have issues with it.

With that experience, I learned a lot more about going with the flow and not planning on how sleeping will work. I have no problem bedsharing with my next one, but if we find we can let them sleep on their own and it's working for us, we'll probably do that first.

Edited-realized I meant to write bedshare

blu-eyedwife · December 2014

We had him in the crib from day 1.

Pros of bassinet in room:
*Recommended by most medical organizations (doctors, AAP etc.) to reduce the risk of SIDS.
*Often leads to periods of prolonged sleep for infants (ie baby sleeps better)
*More convenient for nursing.

Pros of crib in separate room:
*No transition to crib issues (and I jokingly say this was more me than him. My niece and nephew 14 and 11 both still often sleep on the floor of their parents room because mom has a hard time letting go)
*Better sleep for the parent (babies are noisy. "Sleep like a baby" actually means grunting, crying out, and frequent wakes)
*Better sleep for the child in the long run (debatable and if anyone disagrees I'm not fighting for it, but I'm throwing this in here because there are studies which show that children who sleep in their own space end up having less wakeups later down the road)

veggiemo · December 2014

JimBobCooter said:

We will have a bassinet in our room, where he will sleep at night. The rest of the time he will sleep/nap in his crib in his own room. This is what we did with DS and we had zero problems making the change to only his crib when he started sleeping six hours at a time.

This is what I did too. For the first while, it's really helpful to just reach over and pick them up from the bassinet to sooth or nurse in the middle of the night. However, we wanted to make sure he was comfortable in his room/crib too. I put him in his crib awake and for naps, just so he knew that was also a "safe" place. We transitioned after 3 months with no issues. Obviously, every baby is different, but this is my experience.

missjenniebean · December 2014

Haven't even thought about that yet! I'll have to discuss it!

Schnurette · December 2014

DD was in a laundry basket turned bassinet (we used a thin memory foam pillow as a mattress) for a couple days then she went straight into the crib. Baby monitor was cranked to full volume the first few weeks so I could hear her move and breathe.

angielayne926 · December 2014

JimBobCooter said:

We will have a bassinet in our room, where he will sleep at night. The rest of the time he will sleep/nap in his crib in his own room. This is what we did with DS and we had zero problems making the change to only his crib when he started sleeping six hours at a time.

This for us, except we used a pack n play. He was in our room for about a month when he started sleeping longer stretches and we were not sleeping well because of his little grunts and moving. He went to his crib or swing for naps, so he got used to sleeping in multiple places. We had no issues transitioning to crib.

taraperez04 · December 2014

We will have a bassinet in our room for the first few weeks until we move then we'll transition from the bassinet to the crib once the nursery is done.

alvell · December 2014

JimBobCooter said:

We will have a bassinet in our room, where he will sleep at night. The rest of the time he will sleep/nap in his crib in his own room. This is what we did with DS and we had zero problems making the change to only his crib when he started sleeping six hours at a time.

I did the same thing with DD, and had zero problems. Now, at 16 months she prefers, and gets the best rest, in her own room and in her own bed. Also, I would add that by familiarizing her with her own room early on, we didn't deal with any crying at bed time. She goes to bed at bed time, and sings to herself for a few minutes before she's out for the night.

cnoelle92 · December 2014

My boyfriend and I are having the baby sleep in a bassinet for the first few months. One, it'll be much easier because the baby will be right there when he/she wakes up in the middle of the night. Two, it'll give me peace of mind knowing I can keep an eye on the baby, and make sure he/she is safe and sound. Once baby starts sleeping through the night, we'll start putting baby in his/her own crib.

leenziepops · December 2014

blu-eyedwife said:

We had him in the crib from day 1.

Pros of bassinet in room:
*Recommended by most medical organizations (doctors, AAP etc.) to reduce the risk of SIDS.
*Often leads to periods of prolonged sleep for infants (ie baby sleeps better)
*More convenient for nursing.

Pros of crib in separate room:
*No transition to crib issues (and I jokingly say this was more me than him. My niece and nephew 14 and 11 both still often sleep on the floor of their parents room because mom has a hard time letting go)
*Better sleep for the parent (babies are noisy. "Sleep like a baby" actually means grunting, crying out, and frequent wakes)
*Better sleep for the child in the long run (debatable and if anyone disagrees I'm not fighting for it, but I'm throwing this in here because there are studies which show that children who sleep in their own space end up having less wakeups later down the road)

I always enjoy your responses. They always seem to be well researched (they actually are or you're just really good at sounding right!)

willowprincess · December 2014

I'm sure there are pros to putting baby in their own room from day one, but I wouldn't have survived. Bed-sharing seriously saved us!

redrocksmama · December 2014

We used the newborn napper (sort of like a bassinet) that was on our PNP the first week we were home with DS. But after a week I moved him to his crib because we were all waking each other up at night. Even though I had to walk down the hall when he woke, it seemed like we were all much more rested after he went into his crib. I'm leaning towards just starting this baby in his crib from day 1.

NoeliaV · December 2014

We bedshare. And then co-sleep (where you and the baby/child share a room but not the actual sleeping space). I'm sure we'll eventually get to having the kids in their own room, but first I'd like to get through a full night's sleep :P

leenziepops · December 2014

NoeliaV said:

We bedshare. And then co-sleep (where you and the baby/child share a room but not the actual sleeping space). I'm sure we'll eventually get to having the kids in their own room, but first I'd like to get through a full night's sleep :P

How do you bed share? do you use a separate thingy (words are hard) where the baby goes in and is protected from getting rolled on?

leenziepops · December 2014

willowprincess said:

I'm sure there are pros to putting baby in their own room from day one, but I wouldn't have survived. Bed-sharing seriously saved us!

Can you please tell us how you did bed sharing as well?

LadySif · December 2014

blu-eyedwife said:

We had him in the crib from day 1.

Pros of bassinet in room:
*Recommended by most medical organizations (doctors, AAP etc.) to reduce the risk of SIDS.
*Often leads to periods of prolonged sleep for infants (ie baby sleeps better)
*More convenient for nursing.

Pros of crib in separate room:
*No transition to crib issues (and I jokingly say this was more me than him. My niece and nephew 14 and 11 both still often sleep on the floor of their parents room because mom has a hard time letting go)
*Better sleep for the parent (babies are noisy. "Sleep like a baby" actually means grunting, crying out, and frequent wakes)
*Better sleep for the child in the long run (debatable and if anyone disagrees I'm not fighting for it, but I'm throwing this in here because there are studies which show that children who sleep in their own space end up having less wakeups later down the road)

This exactly. But also be flexible. You don't know how you or the baby will be; we moved DS into his crib in his room after a week because I couldn't sleep at all having him so close.

willowprincess · December 2014

leenziepops said:

willowprincess said:

I'm sure there are pros to putting baby in their own room from day one, but I wouldn't have survived. Bed-sharing seriously saved us!

Can you please tell us how you did bed sharing as well?

I just sleep with baby in my arms. You would be surprised at how aware you are of baby. It also allowed for side nursing so I could nurse almost in my sleep. That's the biggest thing that helped.

NoeliaV · December 2014

leenziepops said:

NoeliaV said:

We bedshare. And then co-sleep (where you and the baby/child share a room but not the actual sleeping space). I'm sure we'll eventually get to having the kids in their own room, but first I'd like to get through a full night's sleep :P

How do you bed share? do you use a separate thingy (words are hard) where the baby goes in and is protected from getting rolled on?

The baby sleeps on my chest and/or in the middle between me and DH. The benefit to having him/her sleep on my chest is that the rooting wakes me instead of a crying baby, lol.

There are safe bedsharing practices and it's extremely important to follow them to the letter, or else go with co-sleeping. We may tether/side-car a mini-crib to our bed this go around, as DD still finds her way into our bed more nights than not, and having a toddler and infant in a bed together makes me nervous.

leenziepops · December 2014

@willowprincess Thanks for the reply. My mum did this for all 6 of us but I don't know if I trust myself to not roll on my own baby. I will have a King sized bed to myself during the weeknights as well since DH will get his beauty sleep in a spare bed. I know DH 100% doesn't want to sleep in the same bed with our LO. I might try naps first to see how I feel about it.

willowprincess · December 2014

leenziepops said:

@willowprincess Thanks for the reply. My mum did this for all 6 of us but I don't know if I trust myself to not roll on my own baby. I will have a King sized bed to myself during the weeknights as well since DH will get his beauty sleep in a spare bed. I know DH 100% doesn't want to sleep in the same bed with our LO. I might try naps first to see how I feel about it.

When dd was born I REFUSED to bed-share. I was so terrified of rolling over on her. Dh felt the same way. Then we had a child who woke up Every. Single. Hour. She literally nursed 24 times a day. We were driven by necessity as I hadn't slept in over 3 days. Now I don't even bother trying to put the baby in the bassinet. They just come straight into bed with us. We only have a full and it gets crowded sometimes when DS1 comes in every once in a while, but it works.

NoeliaV · December 2014

willowprincess said:

leenziepops said:

@willowprincess Thanks for the reply. My mum did this for all 6 of us but I don't know if I trust myself to not roll on my own baby. I will have a King sized bed to myself during the weeknights as well since DH will get his beauty sleep in a spare bed. I know DH 100% doesn't want to sleep in the same bed with our LO. I might try naps first to see how I feel about it.

When dd was born I REFUSED to bed-share. I was so terrified of rolling over on her. Dh felt the same way. Then we had a child who woke up Every. Single. Hour. She literally nursed 24 times a day. We were driven by necessity as I hadn't slept in over 3 days. Now I don't even bother trying to put the baby in the bassinet. They just come straight into bed with us. We only have a full and it gets crowded sometimes when DS1 comes in every once in a while, but it works.

Or, you know, every 45 mins. (:|

Bedsharing saved my life.

leenziepops · December 2014

@emilyzemily Me too! I love the look of it. Is this the exact one you are buying? I haven't decided yet. We have family who have offered to buy us a big ticket item and I think I'll ask them for something like this.

@teamblakeley sorry i feel like I've hijacked your thread a little bit. But hopefully you find all this just as interesting and useful

tiffbot1985 · December 2014

DS nursed constantly too, and we all got so much more sleep when we started bedsharing. I'm exactly the same as @willowprincess‌, bedsharing was not an option in my mind. Then one night while BFing I was sitting up in my bed with him and fell asleep, opened my eyes to find out it was 3 hours later and DS and I were both so peaceful, it was a big 'aha' moment. He very gracefully transferred into his crib at 8 months too.

ETA: (I keep having additional thoughts today) DS was also premature and spent 2 weeks in the NICU, so it did extra wonders feeling a connection with him after spending time apart.

effthisnoise · December 2014

The baby will be in the crib from day one. Our room is just too small for even a bassinet. Our bedroom door is maybe two feet away from the nursery door and it will be impossible not to hear the baby with the doors open so I'm not too worried. I'd do a bassinet if we had the room or if the nursery was too far away.

leenziepops · December 2014

@emilyzemily Oh I found the exact same one stocked in an Aussie store for $399. Putting it on my list!

sammyca · December 2014

My plan is baby in cot in his own room from first day home from hospital. It worked well for my 2 big kids. Having said that, we do have a Moses basket (bassinet) so I'm open to changing the plan if we need to.

ReadyforBaby2 · December 2014

With DD, we started in our room with us. After one month, doctor recommended moving her to her room. She moved a ton and made noises (and I know DH and I do too) ALL night long. We weren't getting any sleep,...doctor said we were probably waking each other up. So, her room she went and we all slept sooooooo much better. I intended on keeping her in our room until about 3 months. But, things change.

AlyLynn07 · December 2014

DS slept in a rock n play sleeper in our room for the first 4 months. It was definitely more convenient for nursing. It also made it a lot easier to check on him when he was making all those crazy gurgles and other baby sounds we weren't used to hearing. We did try to put him in the crib for naps or even just watch his mobile for a few minutes every day. No problems with transition to crib.

ruby2315 · December 2014

x

willowprincess · December 2014

rebecca159 said:

FTM, but I only plan on keeping the baby in my bedroom if I don't move before giving birth (bedrooms on separate floors in the current house). Otherwise, the baby will be sleeping in it's own room right away. I figure I can sleep in the baby's room if needed, but I think it would be worse to have the baby in the room with my husband and I, meaning that we both would wake up each time the baby gets up.

FWIW even though we bedshare, my husband has never woken up by the baby waking up. Not once in all 3 kids. And he's not a deep sleeper in general.

ktbear9512 · December 2014

We kept DS in our room in an Arms reach Cosleeper mini for 3 months, until I went back to work. The biggest advantage to me was not having to leave the room for MOTN nursings. The Cosleeper was nice because he had to have a binkie to sleep, and if he lost it and woke up, I could just reach over and give it back half asleep instead if having to get up. PPs are right though, babies make a LOT of noise when they sleep and it definitely took some adjustment on my part, so beware of that.

ETA to add: I did also bedshare occasionally if DS woke up at like 5am and I needed another hour or two of sleep. I just slept on my side with him sort of cradled next to my torso. It was impossible for me to roll over on him with my knees bent and elbow placement, and as @willowprincess‌ said, you are very aware of your baby as a nursing mother. HTH

Trampslikeus · December 2014

Damn - that Chicco one looks much cuter than the Arms Reach - but it looks like its not available stateside. We will be trying out the Arms Reach Co Sleeper and hoping for the best for the first couple months before transitioning to the crib. I don't parent-judge bedsharing, but its definitely not for us. I get cold at night and like to be under a lot of covers, and my husband uses like 84 pillows - both huge no-nos for bedsharing.

blu-eyedwife · December 2014

willowprincess said:

rebecca159 said:

FTM, but I only plan on keeping the baby in my bedroom if I don't move before giving birth (bedrooms on separate floors in the current house). Otherwise, the baby will be sleeping in it's own room right away. I figure I can sleep in the baby's room if needed, but I think it would be worse to have the baby in the room with my husband and I, meaning that we both would wake up each time the baby gets up.

FWIW even though we bedshare, my husband has never woken up by the baby waking up. Not once in all 3 kids. And he's not a deep sleeper in general.

Conversely even with my kid in the other room my husband woke up a lot when the baby woke up. He was in charge of diaper changes in the beginning so I could just nurse and go back to sleep. He came in, changed diapers, re-swaddled and put the kid back to sleep.

poppyc8 · December 2014

emilyzemily said:
In the UK we have crib, moses basket and cot.

A cot is the main bed that goes in the nursery that people tend to move the baby into at around 6 months maybe sooner, or that some put the baby into straight away. A crib is a mini cot that generally goes in the parents room and I think a moses basket is the same as a bassinet.

So we will have a crib in our room next to our bed, I have found one where the side comes down so you can reach over and be within arms reach of the baby while still laying in bed. We're having a separate moses basket downstairs and the baby will be moved into the cot in the spare room at around 6 months

@emilyzemily‌ this is exactly what we are doing

ksimo6 · December 2014

We used the Rock N Play in our room for the first 8-10 weeks. We transitioned DD to her crib 2 weeks before I went back to work and she took to it without an issue. Honestly, that transition was harder for me! We will do the same with this little boy.

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