Amby Baby Bed - Any thoughts?

[mrsmac]

I just ordered one this morning. It looks like something that would've been priceless with my DD (baby #1) since she had to be held and swaddled constantly. But I didn't know about it. Now with baby #2 on the way I'm hoping this is a good purchase (especially b/c I didn't exactly get DH's approval first either. He just doesn't adapt easily to new, out of the ordinary concepts.)
Does anyone have one? What do you think?
TIA,
~Tanya

[lovesflowers]

We have one and I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be. My son did not like it at all for awhile. He likes it well enough now and will sleep in it, but only if we are pulling the spring up and down to gently bounce him. If we stop, he almost always wakes up within minutes. Also, the cover on the mattress is supposed to be handwashed and drip-dried. I mistakenly washed in the washer and dried on low in the dryer and the thing seemed to shrink and it wouldn't fit back on the mattress. I re-wetted it and eventually stretched it enough to go back on the mattress, but it was a pain. Also, I think it's ridiculous that something that a baby sleeps on cannot be machine washed and dried. Those things constantly need to be cleaned and you only get one of the mattress pad/cover in the kit so you can't just pop a new one on if the current one gets dirty. Another issue I have is that my son leans his head to the side and then it throws the whole balance off and his face is right against the side fabric. That makes me very nervous as far as him being able to breathe. I don't think I would leave him in it at night because I would be too worried. It hangs straight down when he's not in it so I think it must just be the weight of his head that makes it list to the side.

Sorry to be so down about it :( I think it would be OK as a day entertainment item if it weren't so expensive and the handwash/drip-dry issue. Maybe you'll have better luck with it and your baby will enjoy it. I've seen at least one person say they really liked it on another message board.

[mrsmac]

Thanks for your review. I didn't realize it couldn't be machine washed. That stinks! I machine wash everything (and often!)
I am so hoping this works for us b/c DH will give me the worst time about it if it doesn't! I have bought so many baby items that didn't work out. But you never know until you try. I wish it wasn't so expensive...

Oh and here is the link for anyone who wants to see what I'm talking about. www.ambybaby.com

[ak_becky_book]

I also had one, my daughter was not into sleeping on anything that was not mommy. Turned out she was a frustrated tummy sleeper, which when she fell asleep on a person it was sorta that position.

She did grow to like it quite a bit, but when she started trying to get out I stopped using it. The picture I attached is her sleeping in it when she was about 6 months old. But then my husbands nephew came up to Alaska with their 2 month old baby and he loved it, slept like a rock and he was not a good sleeper for them. They really wanted to take it home with them, but they were pushing the limits on luggage so they did not. Now one of the other neices is pregnant and is planning on using the baby hammock, the crib, high chair (she is making out pretty good).

What my mother and I did was make our own sheets that were machine washable and cut down a waterproof mattress cover to the size of the matteress so the main cover would never get too messy (I do not handwash much of anything).

Hope this was helpful.

Rebecca
Mom to Samantha
12/1/02

[jiskafo]

My son slept in one from birth until 8 month's old. He never had a problem sleeping in it. Works great if you want to keep the baby next to your bed instead of in it. Couple of bounces and it's of to dream land. It is also a great travel bed when going to grandma's or on vacation. BYOB :-) I had no problems washing everything in the washer. My only regret was having to take him out and putting him in a "real bed" when he got too big. My husband was the same way as your, but once he actually got to see it in use, he was the biggest proponent. Itried to attach a picture of him sleeping in it but was unable to do so. I'll email it to you if you want me to.

[coffeemom]

We have had our amby since ds was about two months old. He had to get used to it at first - and not sleeping on my chest - but soon grew to like it. Appears to enjoy the security and rhythmic bouncing the hammock provides. Still using it at 6 + months and hope to for a bit longer. While ds sometimes rolls himself up against the side, the fabric is light and breathable - and there does not appear to be an issue of safety. I recommend this product for its innovative design - not to mention the adorable picture of your little one nestled inside. :)

[NYSarah]

I was loving the look of the Amby hammock too -- but you should know that a defect has been uncovered -- metal shavings are coming off the spring and at least one baby was hospitalized with metal fragments in his eyes!

Story here: Amby bed has metal shavings defect

[mrsmac]

I emailed Amby's customer service to ask about the metal shavings issue. Here is their response. (I am still excited to use my Amby and I've checked the spring and there is no metal rubbing at all. But I did give them my address to send me a sleeve once they are made, just to be safe.)

"Thank you for your notification. I just want to sincerely apologize for this occurrence. I can assure you that we are taking proper action to eliminate this from happening again. We endeavor to make the Amby as safe as possible and to date there has been no problems. In Australia thousands of hospitals and child care centers have been using the Amby for the last 14 years. Although they have replaced the hammock (sling) part many times, they have used the same frame and spring attachment for all these years and fortunately there have been no incidents. All told there would have been about 30,000 Ambys used world wide since 1991. Fortunately, this is the first time that this type of incident has occurred.

We are now designing a sleeve to cover the spring, bolt and the knob of the cross bar to make it doubly safe. Unfortunately, our manufacturing plant has to purchase the materials and make the covers and new parts. This will not arrive until approximately May. Please provide me with your current address and I will send you the covers free of charge when we receive them."

[lmh425]

Thank you for sharing this response from Amby. My husband and I are leaning toward co-sleeping with our baby, but we're concerned about where she'll sleep when we're not in bed with her (see my Apr. 4 post, topic # 11497). The Amby seemed like a great option until we heard about the metal shavings incident. It's nice to know that the company addressed the problem quickly. I'm more inclined to consider it now. I hope your baby loves it!

[Melanie]

I am in the exact same position as you. Ds would have LOVED this. He ended up being a swing or infant-seat sleeper until about 5 months, then co-sleeping. He needed the "cuddled" feeling to fall asleep and even though his cradle rocked gently when he moved, it didn't matter.

I'm currently considering this or a co-sleeper. Problem with a co-sleeper is Ds would not have liked that either! Can I get a crystal ball into my belly please?

[center]http://lilypie.com/baby4/011106/1/2/0/+10/.png[/img][/url]

Expecting #2
http://lilypie.com/days/050904/0/0/0/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[Hannah1873]

After months of sleepless nights, I bought an AMBY baby hammock. My daughter loves it. She would only sleep in her car seat, swing, or my arms. She hates to lay flat, loves to move, and be snuggled. I used the positioners for a couple of nights until I saw that she centered herself on the bed. My family and friends think I'm crazy for using this instead of "teaching" her to use her crib. My husband and I both agree that as long as she is happy in the hammock, why rock the boat.

As far as the medal shavings, I don't really see how that is possible on my hammock. I bought mine in April, maybe the manufactures have fixed the problem already?

[mrsmac]

I just wanted to reply back that soon after that e-mail from Amby I did get the new cloth sleeve for the spring in the mail. I put it on easily, even though I didn't see any problems with my spring. Although we probably don't even need it it does look nicer to have the spring covered IMO. We have been using our Amby for almost 2 months now and have been very happy with it!
HTH
~Tanya

[[email protected]]

I was also thinking about purchasing the Amby bed instead of a co-sleeper or a bassinet and then transitioning the baby into a crib. Has anyone done this and is it easy to do?

[cbridgers]

We bought the Amby hammock for our daughter when she was 4 weeks old because she was having such difficulty staying asleep, even in bed with me. She only slept when carried in a sling, and I was getting exhausted carrying her (and taking car of our preschooler as well). She would fall asleep on her stomach, but I was nervous about that because of the higher risk for SIDS in that position.

We are very frugal people, and I was concerned because the Amby company has a "no refunds" policy, so I really researched this product and hoped it was worth the money.

I think it is fantastic, an absolute godsend. Our daughter would fall asleep in our arms and then we could transfer her to the hammock and SHE WOULDN"T WAKE UP. (She always woke up when we put her flat on her back in a crib or bassinette.) The hammock is nice and rounded and she would just snuggle in. Those first few weeks we did have to rock her a bit to get her to settle. The key was persistence, she didn't just miraculously fall asleep but at least she didn't HATE it, the way she hated the bassinette or crib.

One of the best things about the hammock is that you can just pull up a chair next to it and rock or pat the baby's back until she falls asleep, and then you can leave. (You can't rock a baby in a crib, and you can't sit down and pat her, you have to stand with a crib. After the first few weeks of using it, I can just put her in it, set it to rocking, and leave, and she falls asleep!

The hammock took me about 30 minutes to assemble the first time, but now I can take it apart and put it together in about 2 minutes. We take it when we go to a friend's house for a day visit, because it is so easy to bring along for naps and such. Our daughter is now 3 months old and sleeps very well. When she wakes up at night, I rock her back to sleep in the hammock and if she doesn't settle right away it is because she is hungry or wet. Many times, she just looks up at me and smiles and then falls back asleep. (I *never* had this experience with our firstborn.)

One thing I love is how breathable the hammock fabric is; supposedly the product has never had a baby die of SIDS while sleeping in it. I don't know if that is true, but if so it is likely because it keeps the baby on her back and allows good airflow through the sides. For that reason, I don't think you are supposed to cover the mattress with any kind of plastic to keep it from getting dirty. If you are concerned about the mattress getting dirty, you could order a second one; I wouldn't recommend making one yourself unless you are sure that it is a breathable foam. I have washed the sheets in the washer with no shrinkage. And my hammock, which I bought in June 2005, came with a nice cover for the metal spring. I think the company has made an extremely safe product. I can't see how a baby could seriously hurt herself in this hammock.

So, I highly recommend this product, whether new or used. As a friend of mine pointed out, these hammocks have pretty good resale on Ebay so if you try it and it doesn't work out for some reason, you would really only be out say $60 rather than $230. Hope this helps someone!