This is a place for FTMs to ask questions and S+TMs to share the wealth of knowledge they've accumulated on baby products. Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product to help streamline and make it easier to refer back. This week it's....
sleep surfaces! Cribs, bassinets, travel cribs, mattresses, and anything in between.
Please use the prompts below to try to share as much relevant info as you can in a format that is easy for those reading to absorb/respond to. If you'd like to recommend/ask questions about more than one product, please copy/paste the prompts as needed.
For S+TMs: - Lifestyle (house, apartment, travel often, etc):
- Favorite [sleep surface]:
- Link/picture:
- Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
- What you like about it:
- What you don't like about it, if anything:
- Is there a [sleep surface] you don't have but are considering? Why?:
- Is there a [sleep surface] you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?:
- Additional thoughts on [sleep surfaces]?:
For FTMs:- Lifestyle (house, apartment, travel often, etc):
- [Sleep surface] you're interested in:
- Link/picture:
- Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
- Any questions about it/them for S+TMs?:
Link to past threads:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UyhRAJyRFD8vsNwLsXd7vCCC-9pYjzH3p5HvngpnaOI/edit?usp=sharing
Re: Product Spotlight 1/8: Sleep Surfaces!
We very frequently stay at my in-laws, in my husband's old room. (Eta- we go for a weekend or a week at a time at least once a month) The room is small, has a full sized bed and my toddlers bed at the bottom of our bed. We are going to need a place for baby to sleep while we are there too, but there's no room to put something up all of the time. It would need to be set up and taken down each time and also easily moved out of the way when it is taken down (ie put under the bed, behind door, ect.) Ideally such an item would last until the first birthday as well so we don't have to buy so many beds.
Any tips on travel beds besides a packnplay that may last close to a year old? The packnplay is way too large for the small extra space we will have in the room.
DH: 32
Married 7/18/15
1st born at 35+4 on 6/6/16
Team green turned BLUE!
2nd born at 38+6 on 8/30/18
Team green turned PINK!
Due with #3 on 6/6/20 Team Green
For both my kids so far, and for this one, I set it up in my room with the bassinet, and they can sleep within arms reach. It’s also convenient and easy to bring to hotels, etc.
Favorite [sleep surface]: Her actual crib! We have SO many different sleeping gadgets, but DD has never slept better than when we finally moved her to her crib in her own room at 6 months. Here are all the different things we've tried:
Halo Bassinest I wanted to love it, but hated it. I'm not even sure I will get it out for #2. Reasons I hated it: although it's touted as having a small footprint, I found the legs of it to be really bulky and always in the way, and it's pretty heavy/hard to move. I should add that our room is a pretty good size, so I was completely caught off guard by how much space the legs of this thing actually took up. The mattress is paper thin and just not comfortable. Also, if your baby has reflux, good luck using this thing. You might be able to elevate the "mattress" slightly, but then you are likely compromising the safety of the whole thing in general, which is probably why you bought it. You can't use it for very long because once baby really starts rolling, this thing is done for. I was always worried she would roll right over the side of it because you can push the sides down fairly easily. I wouldn't waste my money on this again.
Rock N Play Lifesaver for babies with refux. It has an incline, and you can plug it in and it will auto rock. Genius contraption. Even if you don't use it for night time sleep, you'll want one of these to hold baby during the day.
Pack N Play DD sleeps fine in our Pack N Play with just the regular mattress it came with, although I've read you can buy special mattresses to put in there and make it softer. I haven't found that necessary. We got the PnP that has the newborn insert and all that jazz, which we didn't use with DD because she would only sleep in the Rock N Play, but might use that this time around (FX baby #2 doesn't have reflux).
Crib We got this crib from Pottery Barn. It was expensive, but worth it IMO. It's a convertible so will stay in the room forever. We already have beds in all our other bedrooms, so we needed to buy something for this room anyway. We've only had it for a year, but so far it's holding up really nicely (no bite marks!!). We bought a mattress at Babies R Us (can't remember which one), but I wish I had gone a bit more expensive on the mattress. Now that DD is walking, I wish it was more memory foam and less springy.
Dock A Tot This item caught a lot of flack on the July board for not meeting safety standards, but we have one and LOVE it. We do not use it to co-sleep and I would never put her in there if I wasn't right next to her, but we did use it for naps during the day on the couch. After we got her reflux under control, DD slept really great in there during the day.
- Lifestyle (house, apartment, travel often, etc): House, travel sometimes.
- Favorite [sleep surface]: Different at each stage of life. I never had LO in our room. Just my choice, I was on leave and DH had to work. So when I got up at night I just went in LO's room. He went through a stage where he would only sleep in the Rock N Play. When he finally did transition to the crib, he slept with the DockaTot in the crib (officially against recommendations). Now he STTN 11ish hours a night just in the crib.
- We had the Fisher Price Jonathan Adler Rock N Play that plugs in. It vibrates, plays music, white noise. It's magical. Everyone needs one. Would not have survived without it.
- Is there a [sleep surface] you don't have but are considering? Why?: I don't want to take LO out of his crib when the new baby comes, but I also don't want to own another crib. So I'm thinking new baby will need to sleep in the PnP until DS is 2ish? That's roughly my plan right now.
- Is there a [sleep surface] you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?: I can't think of one? Do what you have to do to get sleep. It's so important.
- Additional thoughts on [sleep surfaces]?: I went into parenting thinking I would never bring the baby in our bed. But you know what? I spent several nights when he was little sleeping in the recliner in his room because it was the only way he would sleep. Now that he's older, if he's sick he wants to sleep with me. I'm very pro-sleep
ETA: I have the 4 Mom's PnP. Don't ask me why. It's way more expensive and I haven't used it much. Maybe #2 will get some use out of it.We started out both times with baby in the "napper" bassinet attachment of the PNP, next to our bed. We gave up on that at 13 weeks with DD1 (she was way too big for it by that point but had been sttn so we were scared to move her earlier) and 8 weeks with DD2 (she was a garbage sleeper so we figured the crib couldn't be any worse). After that they went right into the crib in the nursery which is a separate doorless room inside of our master suite.
DD1 had GERD and until it was diagnosed she would not sleep on her back. She slept on top of me in a recliner for 6 weeks before we got her on zantac, at which point she slept on her back no problem. But once she could roll she preferred to sleep on her belly. DD2 did did a thing where if she woke up motn any time after 3am there was no way she was going back into her bed. I had to let her sleep on top of me in our bed in order to sleep. However she outgrew that on her own around 3 months of age and has been in her crib all night ever since. She will only sleep on her back.
We don't do convertible cribs...we prefer a cheaper crib and then buying a more high quality bed once they age out if it. If we had a super high quality crib it would be another story, but in my experience the kid is like gnawing on the crib and semi destroying it, so we figure when we're done with babies we'll just donate it. We have a foam mattress that is reversible so one side is super firm for infants and the other side is a bit softer for toddlers. DD1 moved to her big kid bed with guardrails on it at 23 months. We may have to get or borrow a crib for DD2 for once this baby arrives because I'm not sure she'll be ready for a bed with guardrails at 14 months. If we get one it'll be an ikea cheapie and we'll get her into her real bed asap.
We have a Dream on Me brand PNP mattress we use for travel. We have the foam one so it's similar to our crib mattress. It fits the true PNPs perfectly and we've had no issues, though it is not advised that you use anything other than the mat the PNP comes with. That thing is not really a sleeping surface though. We only use this when traveling, but we like it.
For those early days, my kids liked to nap in the Leacho Podster lounger. DD1 liked it until 8 months when she figured out how to roll out of it. It's deeper and better than the boppy lounger in my opinion. DD2 likes to sit up straight so she didn't use it as long, but it was still great at the beginning. We have one on each floor of the house.
Leachco Podster Sling-Style Infant Seat Lounger, Sage Pin Dot https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HIXOTQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_y54uAbDGRT793
Get multiple waterproof mattress covers for the crib. Nothing worse that having to change it motn and realizing you have none clean. We have 3 mattress pads and probably 8-10 sheets. I use flannel in the winter, muslin in the summer, and cotton for the in between times. I have at least 2 of each kind just to be safe.
My kids would accept the swing for a quick nap but otherwise have slept basically on top of me or in a bassinet or crib exclusively. So we're pretty bare bones on sleeping surfaces.
Formerly known as Kate08young
August '18 Siggy April Showers:
Married: 7/22/14
Baby L: 8/4/2015 August 2015 Moms
Baby E: 11/18/2016 December 2016 Moms
TTC #3 08/2017 BFP 11/27/2017.
Twin B lost 11/22/2017, Twin A doing well.
Benefits: No extra cost from buying another "thing," DS learned to sleep in the crib from day 1.
Drawback: Crib had to be disassembled when we moved DS to his own room at about 6 months. But this wasn't really a big deal. It's the
Sleep surface you hate/won't use: Anything except a crib. See below:
This may be surprising information to some, but only cribs are regulated by federal safety standards (I only know what the U.S. situation is on this.) Bassinets, rock and plays, etc. do not need to meet any mandated federal safety regulations. We were all set on getting a bassinet because that just seemed what everyone was doing, and then we stumbled upon this information in Consumer Reports. CS recommends cribs from day 1 for safety and that's why we went that route. But, again, since they will sleep in a crib anyways, why not swaddle them and put them in a crib right away?
We do use a PNP for travel, but even then, we have found that many hotels have cribs if you ask for them in advance. And my parents bought a crib to live at their house, so when we visit, there is a crib, which is great.
DS: Born 5-17-16
Currently we live in a 2-story with all bedrooms upstairs. This baby will be sharing our room for about the first 6 months. With E we were in a split-level and all the rooms that we spent time in with him were on the same level.
Halo Bassinet: Huge, clunky and those damn legs are the perfect toe-stubbing torture devices. I was so excited because the mesh sides mean you can stare at your beautiful bundle of joy all night. Plus it has a little light and some soothing sounds and all these pockets for middle of the night diaper changes... yada yada yada. All the bells and whistles in the world mean nothing if your kid can't sleep in the thing. And if they have reflux it's the worst.
Fisher Price Rock and Play: Gold. Pure gold. I'm getting 2 this time, both with the auto-rock feature. It's lightweight, baby sleeps at an incline and has a white noise generator. E slept in his until about 3 months and then we started transitioning to the crib.
Crib mattress: we got the Newton Wovenaire and it's been amazing. The mattress is advertised to be made of "woven air" which is pretty accurate. It's these fibers that hold the whole thing together but in the event of a huge blowout, you unzip the cover and spray the whole thing down in the bathtub. Plus the extra air circulating is supposed to reduce the SIDS risk. E will continue to sleep on it in his crib after this LO arrives and I think we're getting a whole new crib / mattress / everything for the new baby.
Pack and Play - we use this rarely. We also got the one with the changing table, bassinet, etc and never use any of the accessories.
Most important sleep surface, though, in my honest opinion, is mom / dad's chest. You'll likely get stuck under a sleeping baby a lot! Have some snacks / water / tv remote handy. Know that if baby starts screaming if you attempt to put him / her down in the first few weeks it's totally normal. Get used to not being able to get everything done and ask for help if you need it.
Me: 37 Him: 38
Married 11.07.2015
Dream On Me Full Size 2 in 1 Folding Stationary Side Crib, Natural https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030E9VL2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_TR5uAbTPFF64V
August 18 Siggy Challenge: April Showers
I get so overwhelmed thinking about all the things that I "need" and have no idea where to start.
I only have two bedrooms, ours and the guest room, which gets used fairly frequently. Our bedroom is larger than my kitchen and living room combined, so I was just going to put the crib and things in there with us anyway. So it's a relief to hear others do that and I won't have to feel like a lazy poor.
My mom has been saving the crib she used for me, and I'm not sure how to tell her I think it's ugly, antiquated, and it being a drop-side that didn't half ass work the last time I put it together, that I don't want it. I want my own stuff...that suits me, and not her antique fetish.
So thank you, thank you for the advice so far in this thread!
As far as all the things you need, as much as you prepare you still won't have everything. Thank goodness for Amazon prime, I have no idea how anyone Mommed before that existed!
And even then I set up the bassinet because I wanted her right next to me and not like 5-10 feet away haha
1. Halo Bassinet Cosleeper
Pros: Connects to your bed, has a lot of
storage. DS slept here for a few weeks as a newborn.
Cons: Hard to fold and unfold. Super firm.
2. This crib from IKEA: https://m.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/art/90371949/ (bought it for much cheaper. At least half price, I think).
Pros: inexpensive (which goes for IKEA in general), extra storage.
Cons: Somewhat bulky. It wasn’t easy to get it out of his room, but we managed. Basically this was a play pen. I can count on one hand the amount of times DS slept in it.
3. Graco Pack n play. We really just bought this as a play pen for when we travel and not everything is baby proof.
Favorite [sleep surface]: Rock N Play - hands down. Gold. Lifesaver. Saved my sanity. We had planned on him being in our room in the PnP, but he had bad reflux and could not handle laying flat. We borrowed a friends RnP (not battery powered, just the original manual one) and he slept in that at night and for most naps for the first 3 months. We transferred him to his room around 2 months. I would just go to him and sit in the rocker when we had MOTN feedings. Ultimately he ended up sleeping best in his crib though. We got a middle of the line mattress for BRU and a Delta brand crib from there as well. It was a 3 or 4 in 1 that we now have as a toddler bed for him. They have both held up well and he's been sleeping 10-12 hours a night since he was 10 months old!
We will be purchasing our own RnP this time around, possibly 2 to have 1 on each floor. I will also add the one we had was great for traveling because it folded up and was lightweight! Our families both live 3-4 hours away, so are visiting one of them every couple months.
The PnP has been great for travel. We take that whenever we are going overnight somewhere and it's been perfect. As said above, we travel enough where we've gotten good use out of it. We never once used it at home. I could see it being used more as a 'playpen' this time around since we have a 2 story house with double the space of where we were before.
DS hated the swing and bouncer. Thankfully we were in a small space, so we borrowed a swing from a friend and just returned it when we realized he was not a fan!
Additional thoughts:
- Do what works for you and your baby and don't worry about anything else! We were never good at sharing a room (still aren't!!) and DS has never slept in our bed. I am not opposed to it, it just never happened for us. Just keep an open mind and if one thing doesn't seem to work, try another!
- +1 to waterproof mattress pads!
- Sometimes less is more - We kept it to just the RnP and crib mainly (although we tried others). Once he was around 4-5 months it was strictly the crib. I think it helped he also slept in a crib at daycare, but he's always been a champion sleeper and I credit some of it to the consistency of sleeping in his room from early on. But again, find what works!! I am well aware that #2 will probably be completely different.
DS: 5.28.15
DS#2: EDD 8.31.18
But mostly, whatever gets everyone to sleep is probably the healthiest thing.
One thing that came up after we brought our DS home was blackout shades. We had regular blinds and had to replace them to help make it darker in our room. Especially because it will still be very light out for very long when these bubs come home. The total blackout shade really helped DS sleep.
Also, lots has changed since our parents raised us and I've had to stop my mom on a few things. Sleeping on their backs and no blankets in the crib to name a few. As long as I gently explain she's pretty My mom made us bumpers for the crib and I had to tell her we couldn't use them. I ended up using them as a kind of crib skirt. She brings all of our old toys over too, and sometimes I have to set them aside because I think they're too far out of today's safety standards. I just kind of read her excitement level and figure out how and when to tell her that I've done something for a safety reason, but that I still appreciate what she gave us.
Then she moved to her own room and crib. Which was a total game changer.
During the day she would sometimes nap in her swing, but I think I want to make sure LO naps in his/her crib this time around.
Another big fan of waterproof mattress pads and convertible cribs. Ours has since turned into a toddler bed with a toddler rail, and will transition into a double bed eventually.
Although DH and I were guilty of it at times, please please please try not to fall asleep with baby on your chest.
*TW*
My mom's coworker lost her newborn when her husband fell asleep with baby on his chest. Baby rolled and suffocated between dad and the arm of the couch.
- Lifestyle (house, apartment, travel often, etc):
Small house all on one level.- Favorite [sleep surface]:
We used the Arm's Reach Clear Vue Co-Sleeper until he outgrew it at about 5 months, then moved to a convertible crib in his room. He just turned 2, and is actually still in his crib. He's not very adventurous and doesn't try to climb out, so we're sticking with it for the time being.- Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
It says it's $139 now, but I think it cost less 2 years ago.- What you like about it:
I was pretty paranoid about bedsharing, so I liked that I had him right next to me and I could touch him, but he wasn't actually in bed with us. I worried a little about blankets or pillows falling into his space, but it never happened. DS was also not interested in cuddling in bed and slept better on his own, so it worked well for us. We never actually figured out how to nurse lying down, either, and DH complained that nursing in bed kept him up, so we always moved to the glider in the nursery next door to nurse.- What you don't like about it, if anything:
Having it strapped to the bed made it awkward to get in and out, but I got used to it. He also outgrew it pretty fast, but it was about the same time that we were wanting to move him into his own room for other reasons. Babies are loud, and we could tell that we disturbing his sleep, too.- Is there a [sleep surface] you don't have but are considering? Why?:
We had a hand me down bouncy chair that we used around the house for playing and naps. I think I'd get a new version of that, or maybe a rock-n-play. We also used it occasionally when DS would get really congested.- Is there a [sleep surface] you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?:
There were a few times we tried putting DS in our bed, especially when he was sick. He hated it, and we didn't do well either. He's an affectionate kid when he's awake, but he really needs his space when he sleeps.- Additional thoughts on [sleep surfaces]?:
I'm hoping I can figure out how to nurse lying on my side this time. DS wasn't great at nursing for a long time, and I suspect my very small breasts made it really hard. But if we can figure that out, we might reconsider the bedsharing, at least occasionally.we do have a crib that I usually try to use, if nothing else but naps. And I like having a pnp etc on the main floor for diaper changes early on or a spot to set baby down if needed.
11/18/16 missed m/c 9w1
08/03/17 no hb 8w
Me: 37 Him: 38
Married 11.07.2015
Me: 37 Him: 38
Married 11.07.2015
August 18 Siggy Challenge: April Showers
August 18 Siggy Challenge: April Showers