Do I need a moses basket and bassinet...if crib is a few steps away?

[bee]

We live in a one story home about 1500 sq ft. We were given a moses basket as a gift from my parents and my brother/sister in law let us borrow their bassinet. We're wondering if we really need all this stuff. Our nursery is very close to the living room and husbands office. It is at the opposite end of the house from our bedroom.

Do we really need a bassinet and a moses basket? I was thinking of keeping the bassinet in the living room during the day when I'm home and doing things. Then I wonder if he or she will enjoy the security of the moses basket and I could carry he/she around when I do stuff in the house.

Obviously I'm new at this and I'm not sure what I really need.

Another thought is that I want this baby to know it's crib early on!!!! I don't want it to get use to sleeping 10 different places.

HELP PLEASE!

[Momof3Labs]

You're actually not supposed to carry the moses basket by the handles with a baby in it, so it isn't as portable as it seems at first. We had a moses basket and used it for the first 4-6 weeks at nighttime, just to spare me having to trek down to Colin's bedroom every time he woke up at night (he was bf'd). During the day, he napped in our arms (would NOT nap in the crib or basket, we tried).

It doesn't hurt to have all of these things, especially since they are gifts/loaners. I'd suggest waiting until your baby is here and then you can figure out what works best for your baby! Trust me, many of us imagine our baby sleeping in the crib from day 1, but most newborns just don't do that! And it can be nice to have a baby that will sleep somewhere other than his/her crib - otherwise, you'll never get out of the house.

[amp]

I just wanted to agree with Lori, but also to add that you don't *need* a bassinet or a moses basket. We used a bassinet for about 3 nights before we realized that DS hated it and slept better in his crib. Thank goodness we bought it from a neighbor for $12! We used a PNP for him to nap in since we have a 2 story house. If I lived in a 1 story house, I might try to get away with just the crib and no bassinet, PNP or moses basket. Like Lori said, you can't carry baby in it anyway. Borrowing is great. Waiting until the baby gets here and seeing how it works with just the crib is probably a good idea. Then you can tell how you like just using the crib or if you wish you had another option for your room or the living room.

[mik8]

I just wanted to add that the first 2 weeks post delivery was really tough on me even just getting in and out of our bed (or even sitting and standing from any chair) because I had a second degree tear. I was swollen for a good 2 weeks so just hopping out of bed was painful. It became handy at night. Since the moses basket is a gift, I'd give it a try and see how it would work out for those early few weeks when you need extra bit of help recuperating. That said, I have used my moses basket extensively during the first 2-3 weeks. My DD almost exclusively slept in the moses basket right next to our bed those first trying weeks. After I healed, DD moved to her crib completely at night around almost 3 weeks post delivery and has been fine. We've continued using the moses basket until around 3.5 - 4 months only during the day in our first floor. As what Lori said, one cannot carry a baby inside the moses basket. Every baby is different so I'd say, give it a try. If it doesn't work out, maybe you can just return it. We're now using the moses basket to store her stuffed animals.

[Jen in Chicago]

Our condo is 1500 square feet and we only had a crib and did fine. Jude went in his crib right away without problems. I thought I would use the PNP some, but never did. It is a play pen, but a place to sleep.

[supersparkee]

Our one story house is not much bigger and our nursery is right next to our bedroom. However, we used the PNP bassinet next to my side of the bed for the first 6 weeks because it was easier to have DD in the room with us (BF'ing and no steps versus 20 steps was much easier on little sleep!). She napped in her crib, so the transition at 6 weeks wasn't too abrupt.