Is a co-sleeper worth it for me?

[aidansmommy]

Hi everybody! I'm new here. I'm a new mommy to a DS Aidan who is 6 weeks. I have a question for those whose babies like the Armsreach co-sleeper. My son has a beautiful crib, a lovely cradle parked right next to my bed, a snuggle nest, a PNP with a bassinet attachment, and guess where is the only place he will sleep at night? Yes, right in bed with us. I like having him close by, but I'd like to have more space in bed and not have to worry about pillows, blankets, etc. So, for people who've used the co-sleeper, my question is, would it be flush with our mattress, making my son think he is actually in bed with us? If it might be a solution I'd go ahead and buy it, otherwise I'll keep trying what we already have. I'm trying hard to outwit my infant, and it's not working! HELP! Thanks, Heidi

[toomanystrollers]

I have the Arm's Reach co-sleeper. We are still using it for Neve b/c we're plain out of space while construction here is going on.

The co-sleeper mattress will not be flush with your mattress - only the rail of the co-sleeper is flush (I hope this makes sense??) There's still a couple inch drop from the top of our mattress to the top of the co-sleeper mattress.

IMO With everything you have already, I would skip the co-sleeper. Good luck, trying to outwit your son :)

[neeter]

we haven't fully installed our co-sleeper yet (have only set it up as a bassinett so far) but i think the answer depends a little on how tall your mattress is. our mattress is really high off the ground, and we bought leg extension kits to make it hopefully flush with our mattress.

[toomanystrollers]

Actually it doesn't matter on the height of your bed, it's the design of the co-sleeper. No matter what the height, the mattress pad in the co-sleeper (in the co-sleeper position vs. the bassinet position) is still a couple of inches lower than the co-sleeper rail - similiar to a pack 'n play.

HTH

[shanknrehder]

Wow! Sounds like you have a lot of stuff for Aidan.

Here's our experience - we bought the Arm's Reach co-sleeper and intended for Elise to sleep in it from the beginning. Well, she had other ideas, and ended up sleeping in our bed at first. But, the cool thing was, the co-sleeper made a great barrier. She slept between me and the co-sleeper for several weeks, until her wiggling kept me awake between feedings. We rolled up some receiving blankets and wedged them in the crevice between our mattress and the co-sleeper, just to be extra safe.

I know babies should have firm surfaces to sleep on, but the co-sleeper pad just seemed HARD, so we bought a firm foam mattress for a play yard that fit just right, and put it on top of the co-sleeper pad. That actually made the sleeping surface just about flush with our mattress, but there was still a small barrier between the adult mattress and the co-sleeper mattress, so she couldn't roll out onto our bed, but we could be practically nose to nose. I have no idea what the safety experts would say about raising the level a couple of inches, but it worked really well for us, she slept great, we slept great, and didn't roll out of the co-sleeper until she was about 7 months old (then she moved to the crib).

I couldn't be happier about our experience with it. However, it wasn't cheap, but since we used it for so long, as a bed and a changing table, and we use it now as a portable crib when we travel, it has been worth the money for us. Maybe you could find one to borrow for a bit to see if Aidan likes it.

Since you already have the play yard with the bassinet attachment, have you tried pulling that right next to your bed?

Good luck,
Kathleen



Good luck!