cosleeper or basinette?

[kinderdoc]

hello all,
i am expecting my first in Feb. I am hoping to breastfeed exclusively and wanted to get a cosleeper, but we are moving across the country when baby will be 4 mos old and currently don't have a nursery, so I was considering just having a basinette next to the bed for now and getting a cosleeper later that can become a full crib when baby sleeps through the night. I am not comfortable with same-mattress cosleeping. what are your suggestions? worth getting the big cosleeper now, smaller bedside cosleeper, or simple basinette?
thanks!

[fedoragirl]

Well, we're not moving anywhere yet, but we have a full size crib in the nursery and we got a bassinette (with our pack n play) for our bedroom till the baby turns 4-5 months. All our friends advised us to go this route even though I was skeptical about buying a pack n' play. We haven't tried it yet, as baby is due next week, but I am sure it'll work.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I recommend the PnP bassinet method. That way you have the bassinet but you'll also have the PnP, which is very handy as a crib for travel and as a play pen when baby gets older. Just simplifies all you need to get.

We co-slept the first weeks even though we had never planned to do that. We all needed sleep and that was what worked for us. He did nap in his bassinet though so it was worth having. Ds1 went to his crib after 3 w of co-sleeping and ds2 co-slept till 4m.

Beth

[momtobeoverseas]

PacknPlay/bassinet - and by the way, 4-5 months is too long to be in a bassinet IMO. At 3 months, my baby was moving around in the bassinet so we moved her to the crib where she has much more room to scoot around and get comfortable. We also found that once baby was out of our room, everyone slept better (she is exclusively breastfed, wakes up 1 x per night at 4 months)

[srhs]

I don't think a cosleeper would be worth the investment at 4mo, as it would have a very short life as an actual cosleeper.

[Krisrich]

I loved my co-sleeper and breastfed my baby. Like you, I didn't feel comfortable with the baby actually sleeping in bed with us. (Although it did happen a couple of times.) The co-sleeper was a nice compromise. I also think the co-sleeper works better for middle of the night feedings than a pnp bassinet does. (We did also have a pnp bassinet downstairs which I liked for daytime napping.) DD transitioned easily to her crib at night at around 4 months. You really can't use the co-sleeper after the baby begins to push up on hands and knees.

[poppy]

I loved my Arm's Reach co-sleeper. It should last longer if you get the full sized one--about 6 months. I was told by their rep that if you get their Universal crib it lasts an average of 1.5 years, depending on the size of your child. I got the mini and that only lasted for 3 months before we had to switch to a crib.

[Oak]

We were quite content with our two Graco Portable Cribs that functioned first as bassinets and then as little play yards while they were small. They also came in handy in the couple of times we took the twins to stay at Grandma's house or the one time we went to a hotel. We were able to keep them in the living room during the day and they could sleep while we were busy in that area and/or the kitchen and still be watched. We could also separate them so that they wouldn't wake each other up.

[gatorsmom]

Over the past few years I have tried out all three methods- bassinet next to the bed, pnplay with bassinet feature and Arm's Reach Cosleeper. I have to say that they Graco packnplay with the bassinet feature is what I would choose now if I were to get pregnant again. I used the bassinet with Gator my first baby for 4 months. Then he outgrew it and i never used it again. I tried to like the cosleeper but it is difficult to break down (I needed the instruction manual each time), heavy and nearly impossible to move without taking apart, and really doesn't make cosleeping much easier. With cha cha, my second, we attached the cosleeper to my side of the bed thinking it would be easier for me to reach for him and be easier on my c-section incision. but it actually made it HARDER because I couldn't swing my legs over the bed to sit up and you have to sit up to pick the baby up out of the cosleeper. You can't actually slide the baby over to you. So, after while, we detached the cosleeper from our bed and used it as a pnp with bassinet feature. And that's what we did for the twins too. We never even attached the cosleeper to our bed.

The packnplays are just easier to breakdown and travel with. They are cheaper and easier to buy/find sheets for. They are also lighter to carry. If I knew then what I know now, I'd simply have gone with the pnp next to our bed as soon as we came home from the hospital. hth.

[mblackwell]

I like the Arm's Reach Cosleeper bed. The PNP bassinet moves when the baby wiggles and my first did not sleep well in it. The Cosleeper bed does not move since it is attached to the bed and can be used as a PNP later.