Is a bedside crib really just a glorified bedside table?

[mummytobequestions]

I’m totally overwhelmed with all the options out there to buy.

I want to breastfeed, but I don’t want to cosleep. I have researched how to do it safely just in case but it would be my absolute last resort. Because of this, the side of a bedside crib would always be up in the night for us. I have read that it’s easier to stay alert and awake if you go and feed your baby in another room, like on a nursing chair in their nursery. The side down feature doesn’t seem like it will be that useful to us - though maybe I’m just being naive here!

I know so many people rave about bedside cribs for the convenience, but is it worth it in this situation? I also know a few people who have dubbed it ‘an expensive side table’ and it’s just become storage for baby clothes and quick-to-reach essentials because baby didn’t like it with it being so much bigger than a Moses basket 😂

I’m looking at the larger Moses baskets, like the Shnuggle and Snuzbaskit. They are about the same size mattress wise as a Snuzpod. Wondering if it would be useful instead (certainly cheaper) to have two of these, one upstairs and one downstairs? Or even just two stands?

I need thoughts from people who have been there, done that and got the T-shirt! Much appreciated 😊

I fell asleep sitting up and feeding, so I wouldn't rely upon that as a means of staying alert. Fortunately, DD landed on my dressing gown that I'd dumped down as I staggered to the armchair, rather than down between me and the rather padded arm and supporting pillow. It took my tripping over my own feet carrying her on the way back to the bedroom the following night for me to decide fuck it, at least in bed I'm not going to risk giving her a skull fracture going from me to her cot/moses basket.

I'd stick to the 'bedside table' if I were you and had the room.

Had a snuzpod and desperately tried to use it but my two clingy babies would not countenance it! So for me it was a glorified bedside table but it was so, so handy. I actually missed it when I had to go back to just a regular bedside table.

It's the Kubbie, it's intended as a travel cot but it's really sturdy with a firm mattress and doubles up as a bedside crib with the bassinet level and lowering side. The roomie I think is just a typical bedside crib so would only last 6 months max. The Kubbie can be used at bassinet and a lower level, its compact so baby will probably outgrow it between a year and 18 months but still great value considering you can get one for about £75 now.

Travel cot mattresses can be a bit flimsy which is why I think they say for occasional use but between the next to me, and the clair de lune bedside crib I think the Kubbie has the best mattress.

Moses baskets last about 5 minutes, so I wouldn't waste money on one of those. If your pram has a bassinet use that downstairs, helps you feel like you're actually getting the use out of it too.

You need and will use far less than what you probably already have! I had every gadget imaginable for the first, second I barely prepared for other than some new bottles, a nappy caddy stocked for downstairs and throwing up the travel cot I've mentioned.

100% this.

In the nicest possible way OP, you’ve got no idea right now, so you should go for the solution that gives you the most options.

That is definitely a bedside cot because you can use it: as a stand-alone cot with side up (will last longer than a Moses basket); attached to bed with side down (can rest hand on baby, easier to slide them in after a feed); or as a bed guard if, like me, you end up with babies who wake screaming the second they touch their own mattress but sleep perfectly contentedly on my mattress.

If money is an issue you can get a second hand one and just pick up a new mattress.

Mine wouldn't sleep in his. It was handy for snacks, muslins etc though. It was a pointless purchase and he'd have outgrown it by 5 months anyway as he was long. Best thing I did was buy an Owlet sock and embrace cosleeping. I could feed lying down and just drift back to sleep. I actually felt fairly well rested despite baby feeding quite regularly in the night. I'd have been hopeless having to sit in a chair or whatever to feed. I'd have fallen asleep which would have been far more dangerous. I tried for a week but it was clear it wasn't going to work for me.

The Lua has been great for us, I don’t know what the bad reviews are. I don’t like the snuzpod as thought it looked quite ugly! We’ve taken it up and down quite a few times as well when travelling and it seems good quality.

Anyone reading - please do not follow this example.

Why would anyone randomly follow my example? People will make their own risk assessments and their own choices. Everyone knows that the recommendation is 6 months but then everyone also knows that NHS, Lullaby Trust etc also recommend babies sleep in their own space over co-sleeping too.

Are you going to tell people not to follow the co-sleeping examples too?

Next 2 me was the best baby thing I bought. I was too paranoid to fully co sleep when babies were little but it was amazing for holding hands etc but still being able to sleep.

I got the next to me forever when the standard one was outgrown, wish I'd just bought the Forever from the start.

If I'd had to get out of bed and sit in a chair every time I fed at night I honestly think I would have died from sleep deprivation. Life changing to just feed and then wait for a ferret sleep and put them down next to you.

We have a Moses downstairs - still use it daily (4 months on Monday). We had friends tell us not to get one, but it’s a bloody godsend!

We swaddled from day 3 and it made a huge difference, but the Love To Dream Sleepswaddles are a game changer. She get breaking out of her swaddle and then waking up with the startle reflex, or because her arm was colder.

The love to dream swaddle has been amazing, we’ve got 2 different temperature ones so I also feel safer that she won’t overheat - that was a concern with swaddling for me.

We are lucky, our baby girl does sleep on her own, she always has. I remember that first night being terrified to put her in her next to me and her screaming all night. Then I remembered she slept in the hospital cot by herself that day and she was fine and mostly quiet.

My mum is jealous, I was the child that never slept.