Am I the only one planning to put baby in her room right away?

[PattiB]

Maybe I'm just going through a last-minute panic, but now I'm about 4 weeks away from due date, and a first-time mom, so I'm rethinking everything.....We had all along planned on putting the baby to sleep in her crib in her nursery from the very first night we return from the hospital. It was recommended by the BB book, which was my initial resource, and also our pediatrician advised it as well - he suggested the longest we should use a bassinet in our room if we were to do so would be just a couple of weeks, since it's a good idea to get her used to sleeping in her crib as soon as possible. I didn't see the point in buying a bassinet for a few weeks so we were going to use the crib right away.

Reading through the posts I see that we're in the definite minority so now I'm getting a bit paranoid. Did anyone else use the nursery right away? Honestly in my naivete before reading up on the subject I thought everyone used a crib at first but now I can see I'm wrong.

Should I get a bassinet? Or stick to the original plan?

I'd love to hear from more experienced parents on the subject!
Thanks

[Karenn]

How close is your room to the baby's room? Honestly, I couldn't sleep with the baby in the same room as me for very long. He and I woke each other up. The only reason I used a bassinet for any period of time is that the baby's room is all the way downstairs from our bedroom and that was just too far for me to walk in the middle of the night for a feeding. If you don't have to go very far from your room to baby's room in the middle of the night, I think you could be fine with just a crib.

HTH,

[millerpjm]

I don't know about being in the minority, but we put our DS in his own room in his crib from the day we got home from the hospital. We did not even use the bassinet we had as part of our pack and play, and he did fine. We would swaddle him when we put him down to sleep, but after a while he'd wiggle out of that too. Do not worry.... many babies start out in the crib right away!

Jen

Proud mama to Thomas 2/3/03

[PattiB]

Good point.
I probably should have also mentioned that the baby's room is right next to our room. I don't really mind going next door for feedings (realizing I may very well change my tune later)and it's about the same distance as it is for me to go to our bathroom - which of course I've been getting up several times in the middle of the night to do in my last month. So I figure I'm used to it. My main concern is that I won't hear her - we'll have a baby monitor too even though she's next door because DH has this thing about keeping the bedroom door shut. But will it wake me up when she wakes up? I don't know if it would wake me either way unless she was crying in which case I would hope the monitor would work just as well. And I can see me getting nervous and getting up just to check on her in the middle of the night.

I'm starting to feel a bit better about the crib thing though.
Thanks.

[Jacksonvol]

We had the pack & play bassinet in our room for @ 4 weeks, but really she would only truly sleep in her swing! After we figured out her feeding problem, she slept better and went into the crib at the other end of the house. It has not been too bad to get up and feed at night (and in the beginning we dozed in the rocker after nursing sometimes). Also, you will hear her on the monitor. You will have bionic mommy hearing after the baby is born. (this is not true for all dads, sometimes it seems to actually cause a loss in hearing.) So starting in the crib is fine, just go with whatever works for you.

[amp]

No, you're not the only one. Before DS was born, I too, thought we'd just put him right in the crib. At the 11th hr, I panicked and we ended up getting a bassinet at a garage sale for $12. It's a good thing. We put him in it for about a week before we realized that we were waking each other up. And, more importantly, he was such a big baby and we could not keep him in a swaddle, that when he got out of it, he's flail his little arms and hit the side of his bassinet and wake himself up completely all through the night. He slept much more peacefully...we all did, when we moved him to his crib after those first few nights. So we got about 5-7 days use out of it. Glad it was cheap!

[jec2]

We had anticipated our baby either sleeping in the crib in the nursery or the Pak n Play in our room. Once we tried both and he cried and cried we knew that sleeping with us was what he needed. We still try him in both the crib and P&P so that he can get used to them in an effort to ease him into sleeping on his own. Good luck.

[peanut4us]

We put Sara in her room from day one (well the first night she spent at home). We never had any problems with it. She looked so small in there that we put her in with her head and feet going from side to side, not long end to long end, understand?

She was just fine. We never planned on co-sleeping and didn't own a bassinet, so this was great for us.

Edited to say: I did have a "nursing station" set up in our bedroom. A comfy chair that bounced a little for me and an ottoman... Tons of pillows to smush around behind my back, a boppy, a couple of blankets (you get cold in the middle of the night with the "girls" out!). I also had a table with a water pitcher, glass and nonperishable foods (fruit, granola bars), my vitamins, etc. I would also keep a book and my laptop with a wireless network card for internet connection on my ottoman. I would watch DVDs in the wee hours of the morning because she nursed FOREVER! Just a thought!

[JElaineB]

I planned to put DS in a bassinet in our room for the first few weeks. But in the end, I ended up putting him in his crib at night right away and putting the bassinet downstairs in the living room (though he didn't sleep well in the crib or bassinet until I got a sleep positioner, but that's a different story). You might find that once the baby comes a lot of things you planned on go right out the window and you do what works! So don't stress too much, you will figure out what works best for you once the baby gets here.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[emmiem]

I have two children and am expecting my third. I have always and will put my children in a crib in their own room. My first was a preemie too but I still felt it was better. I wanted to be able to sleep well and with monitors, you hear your children from anywhere in the house. My DH and I have a saying--If you don't want to do something for the rest of your life, don't do it the first time!
Emmie