Arm's Reach co-sleeper, any experience

[alaible]

Hi all,
I am expecting baby #2 in late march and we are considering getting an arm's reach co-sleeper and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them and if you liked it or not.

I'll tell you a little bit about my situation. I will be breastfeeding the baby. With baby #1 we had latch issues because of flat nipples so I had trouble nursing laying down. Since I couldn't nurse laying down I moved Paige from a basinette in our room and into a crib in her own room. It wasn't that big of a deal for me to get up in the middle of the night because if I tired the next day I just layed down when Paige took a nap. But Paige is now down to just 1 nap a day and she may well give that up before the new baby arrives so I won't be able to nap during the day this time around. I have the flat nipple problem solved and should be able to nurse laying down this time around. So I was hoping that a co-sleeper would help give me some extra sleep since I won't have to get up and down out of bed in the middle of the night to nurse the baby.

So let me know if you have tried the co-sleeper and if you liked it or thought it was a waste of money.

TIA

[Melonious]

The Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper was one of the best purchases we made out of alllllll the stuff we bought. I loved having my son right next to me while we slept, I loved being able to just pick him up when he woke for his 1:00 and 4:00 feedings, I loved waking up in the morning and having the first thing I see be his face.

It is not completely level with the bed, though, so you do have to sit up a bit to get baby out. Another thing: it is hard to assemble and difficult to take apart. My husband still mutters a string of 4-letter words then he thinks about the whole process.

So, put it up and leave it up (and then when baby outgrows the sleeping part, keep it by your bed as a playpen or "safe spot" in the bedroom). Enjoy!

[jenjenfirenjen]

I second pp opinion. I love the co-sleeper! DS would not sleep in Pack n Play bassinet, only in my arms for first two weeks. I was not comfortable having him in the bed all night with us, so we got the co-sleeper. Problem solved! I too was a little surprised that it isn't even with the bed, that's what I was expecting. So you do have to sit up to get baby in and out but then you can lay right back down and nurse and then put baby back when you're done. It is great for when baby just needs a little soothing to get to sleep! My only problem is trying to figure out when/how to transfer DS to his crib.

[anamika]

Another vote for the cosleeper. We had the mini and it was great for night time feedings. Plus as first time parents, my dh and I just loved having her near us.
GL,

[debh2005]

I lucked out and got one free from a friend who is done having kids. We ended up using a regular bassinette instead (from another friend) for the first 3 weeks. However, for our situation everyone slept better when we moved DS to his own room and crib after that time. - we all kept waking each other up when he was in our room.
BTW I was and still am exclusively breastfeeding so as you know you don't have to be in the same room.
Anyways, we actually got the best use out of it when he was 3 & 4 months old on trips to visit grandparents (all out of state).
DS slept great in it and didn't seem to notice that it was not his crib.
One grandma borrowed a packnplay w/bassinette which was never used - there was just no comparison in quality.
We checked the co-sleeper in its bag with the rest of the luggage and it is still in perfect condition after being loaded and unloaded from 6 airplanes.
So we didn't really find it that useful for the main purpose but it was great for travel!
I think quality-wise it is worth the money but only if you are going to actually use it a lot. It is a great product (I do agree with pp on assembly though).