Did your newborn sleep in the same room as you? Opinions on NCT Bednest or any other bedside sleeping cots for newborns

[kjh5]

I'm due to have my first in 10 weeks and am beginning to think about sleeping arrangements for when we bring him home. He'll have his own nursery but I'm hoping to breastfeed and even if that doesn't work out, considering how often they need to feed to begin with, having him in our room to begin with seems like a good idea. I should add that reaction from both DM and MiL (who 'aren't interfering - honest!') is one of horror that we would even consider having a newborn sleep in the same room with us - apparently DH and I both slept in the nursery right from the start...

Anyway we have a really small two-bed flat and so I half thought having him sleep in his pram carrycot would be a good idea to save on money and space but I've just seen links to a few bedside cots like the NCT bednest or the SnuzPod. They seem to have rave reviews but are on the expensive side. I just wondered if anyone on here used them and had any advice or opinions on how good they are? I'm also slightly concerned on how having the baby in the same room as us is going to affect DH's sleep as he'll be taking two weeks off when the baby first arrives but then going back to work. There is no space for me to sleep in the nursery, but we do have a tiny flat and it is a 10second walk away from our room, if that.

Any thoughts or advice from experienced mums welcome!

[CreditCardProblemS]

You're meant to keep the baby in the same room as you until 6 months as it reduces the risk of SIDS. Obviously you don't have to, it's up to you. With my two, I just took the side off a regular (non expensive cot) and put it up against my side if the bed. I got a lot more sleep this way as I didn't actually have to get out of bed.

Congratulations by the way.

[YippeeKiYayMakkaPakka]

We had a Moses basket beside out bed until it was outgrown (about 4-5mo). Then DD1 went into her own cotbed in her room. DD2's cot was in beside us until she was 1yo, but that was because she wasn't sleeping through and we didn't want her disturbing DD1.

I think the guidelines are to have them in with you until 6mo. It reduces the risk of SIDS (I think your breathing helps regulate theirs somehow).

My DH went back to work when the DDs were 2 weeks old as well, and it wasn't a problem. If the baby woke I'd bring her in beside me to feed her, and he just went back to sleep.

A Moses basket is also handy as you can move it around the house to keep the baby near you during daytime naps. Some pram carrycots aren't recommended for nighttime sleeping. Maybe due to lack of ventilation, so a risk of overheating. And pram mattresses tend to be less comfortable, I think.

[SilverSixpence]

I looked at the bed nest too but was put off as it's expensive and only up to 6 months. We bought an ikea cot and took one side off and it was fine

[ilovepowerhoop]

we kept our 2 in the same room until 8 months. 6 months is recommended as it helps guard against SIDs. We used a crib and then managed to fit the cot along the bottom of the bed when the crib was too small. Dh managed to sleep through most of the noise unlike me who woke at every murmur (ended up using earplugs)

[Hopelass]

4 mo DS sleeps in an NCT bed nest next to me and I wouldn't be without it. I got it second hand but unused from a well known auction site for £100 than rrp. I absolutely love it and will be keeping it for any future babies we might have.

[NaturalBaby]

I used a bedside cot from mothercare but there was a gap/dip between our bed and the cot because of the frame of our bed, which was bit of a pain. I had to stuff the gap with cushions! It was great though because he was it from day 1 so we didn't need anything else till he grew out of it (when his baby brother arrived).

[SweetTeaVodka]

We have a cot with the side off secured to the bed. Cheaper in the long run as we can just put the side back on of we want to move her into her own room.

Her waking for feeds rarely disturbs DH. Studies suggest that breastfeeding and co-sleeping (which bed nests and sidecar cots pretty much are) mums don't sleep as deeply and are in tune with their babies sleep cycles. I have always stirred just as she was and she has rarely needed to cry to wake me. Although now she's older she just shuffles over and helps herself!

I think the NOT hire bednests out if you would prefer that option but I'm not sure where it factors price wise.

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

I have hired a bednest and would highly recommend it. You can hire directly from Bednest or from the NCT and I paid £99 for six months, which includes a new mattress and fabric side panels. DD is a big baby (91st centile for weight and length) but still fits fine. It has meant that we've been able to keep her with us for six months which is ideal. Several friends have had to move their babies earlier than they would have liked just because their baby outgrew the Moses basket.

[FastWindow]

My 19 wk old sleeps on a curved orthopaedic pillow, one of those memory foam jobs. She sleeps in it lengthways iyswim. Been great for 3am feeds!

Need a new way now though as she can roll...

[AmandaCooper]

We bought our bednest on an auction site, used it for just over 6 months and sold it on again for the same money - the only actual cost was the mattress. It was the ideal setup for me and DS until he moved into our bed completely.

[drawohamme]

Loved my babynest bought second hand off eBay. Didn't take up more room than my friends Moses baskets.

I'm not sure if I'm breaking MN rules here but I have one going spare now my DS is in his cot. I'm far too lazy to EBay. It's absolutely fine but you'll need to get a new mattress (I got ours for about 20 quid from amazon.) If you decide to get one feel free to PM me with an offer. I'm in Bedford.

[BertieBottsJustGotMarried]

Honestly, just go with the flow and do what works best when the baby arrives. Please don't get all set on the "perfect" solution when it may not work for your family anyway - you'll just end up feeling guilty and that's a shame when you should be enjoying those first early weeks.

Personally I had a bedside cot and found it fantastic - I loved co-sleeping and it worked really well for us. Really helped BFing get off to a brilliant start and I got loads of sleep

You don't need a special cot though - your options if you want to convert your own are any ikea cot which converts to a tiny "bed" (totally pointless as a bed, BTW, but it means they stand up sturdily with 3 sides) - or most cotbeds, which again will be designed to stand up securely with 3 sides.

I'd say pick an ikea cot (the Gulliver at £60 is suitable) if space in the bedroom is at a premium, but the cotbed would be better if space in the baby's room is tight because long term they turn into a toddler bed which is good for 5-7 years.

Take side off, drill extra holes to get the height correct, bunjee cord cot to your bed and push the mattress across to plug the gap. Then stuff rolled up towels or firm foam on the opposite side. You can convert them all back into a normal cot when you need to or straight into a toddler bed :)

[BertieBottsJustGotMarried]

I'd say that your DM and MIL are giving you slightly outdated advice, BTW, as current SIDS guidelines say that you should keep the baby in your room for at least 6 months.

But, as I said before, you should do what works for your family. Lots of people find they can't sleep with the baby in the room. I couldn't sleep unless mine was there

[defineme]

I just had them in a moses basket - bed very low so felt very near them and then brought my ikea very basic cot in the room with us-it really didn't take up much space. Dh went in spare room when we worried he'd fall asleep at the wheel, but he was ok most nights even with the twins. I'm just not sure having to reach into the cot 3 times a night was that much of a faff? But the bednests do look sweet

[callamia]

My nearly 4 month old is in a bednest in our room, and I love it. He doesn't cry very much, so he doesn't disrupt my husband's sleep - I can usually get him across to feed him when he starts to make noise in the night. Importantly for me, I can check on him and see that he's ok easily. That was really important for me when he was brand new.

Our baby is a bit on the large side, so I think he'll need to move into a cot soon (next month or so), and my husband has asked whether he can stay in our room - so he can't be that bad...

[TeaOperated]

I hired a bednest and just loved it. DD was in it till 4 months when she started to get very noisy in her sleep and we moved her to her own room.

I loved it so much. I tended to keep the side between us up halfway. It was easy to lift her out to feed her, and I could lie there watching her sleeping. I was too nervous to co sleep, but it was perfect - within touching distance, but in her own space.

[mrsbug]

We also took a side off a normal cot and pushed it up against our bed. Really surprised that so many others have done this too - we thought we were so clever

Dd stayed in with us till she was about nine months and still comes back if she is teething or poorly

In the nicest possible way, practice smiling and nodding when you are given unwanted advice...then do it however YOU think best.

[AHardDaysWrite]

We have the cheapest ikea cot converted in the way BertieBotts describes. Dd is 10m now and starts the night in her cot in her room, but always ends up co- sleeping at some point in the night. The side cot gives us more room and means I don't worry about her falling out of bed. It was great in the early days as I didn't even get out of bed to feed her.

[breatheslowly]

We converted a cot from Freecycle and bought a new mattress. It worked really well for us.

[MadameJosephine]

We used a babybay and I was fantastic. We bought the maxi version so it lasted until DD was almost a year old and I ordered it directly from the manufacturer in Germany and it only cost £185 with the mattress and fitted sheets. It was fantastic, I could feed her without getting out of bed.

[BertieBottsJustGotMarried]

Ooh does it work with the cheapest one too Write? That's useful to know. I always recommend the next one up but if the cheapest is suitable then that's even cheaper - £35!

[AWimbaWay]

I had a bednest, it was fantastic, I sold it on for not much less than I'd paid afterwards.

[Millie2013]

Another vote for a cheap space saver cot, with one side left off. Ours was a godsend for the first few weeks, when I was pretty much bedridden

[kjh5]

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice! Hugely appreciated. Space is at a premium in our room thanks to DH insisting on buying the world's hugest bed so think one of the smaller bedside cots might be the best idea. Seriously considering the SnuzPod - I like the look of it and it seems the most versatile (and cheapest) and has the advantage of being slightly narrower than the bednest...

[LittleBabySqueakSqueak]

DD slept in her pram for the first few weeks and then into her moses basket. I found that I needed the light on to check her latch and make sure I didn't fall asleep and we couldn't get the hang of feeding lying down, so a bednest wouldn't have been a huge advantage to us. She went into her own room at about 3 months, once she was reliably doing longer stretches at night. Other risk factors were low, we're non-smokers and she's fully breastfed so I was ok with that risk, but you might not be. It's your choice, not your mum's or MIL's. You'll find what works for you.