What is a Moses basket used for?

[daisybooflower]

Hi everyone,

Im going to be a first time mum in November and everything is still new to me. Can I ask what a Moses basket is used for? Is it a permanent place the baby sleeps in every night or is it just for naps and you can move it from room to room? Any advice would be great, thanks

Both mine slept in theirs for naps and at night until they got too big- can’t remember how old that was (long time ago now)

I found a Moses basket invaluable for the first 3-4 months - you can put them in it for naps and carry it around the house while you get things done. They're not supposed to sleep unattended for the first six months and I took this very, very seriously - I even took the Moses basket into the bathroom with me

Laundry. Had great intentions but in reality both my babies resolutely only slept on me / a person or in the pram for months. So I used it to store the blankets and stuff. Then they got too big for it anyway.

Mainly for looking adorable! They are definitely not essential as it's likely your baby will outgrow it by 4-6 months. We used it for naps sometimes. I placed it on the floor next to me while I watched TV, or on the patio sofa outside, and he lay in it during family dinners so he felt part of things! We lay the basket across two dining chairs. We had a cot upstairs for night time sleeping. Also, don't worry about watching your baby sleeping for the first six months. I was never given that advice and I've had both my babies in the past five years.

It’s started as a place to nap downstairs and be taken up every night when we were ready for bed. It quickly got tedious taking it up and down the stairs with the stand so got a side-sleeper that remained upstairs and the moses basket stayed downstairs for naps. It was fine for overnight sleeping though.

It was handy for naps during the day but mine outgrew it at 8/9 weeks so do feel like it wasn’t money well spent. If I was to do it again now I’d just use the free baby box as in Scotland (or get a second hand basket).

It’s not about watching your baby sleeping. Babies regulate breathing from adults. This is basic safe sleeping advice and I’m shocked that you were not given this advice in the last 5 years. Popping out for a few minutes to use the loo or make cuppa is fine, but it is not advisable to leave a sleeping baby under 6 month unattended for long stretches.

I kept mine downstairs for day time naps, I had a next2me upstairs for night sleep. We got a cot when he was 5/6 months and was sitting up and trying to escape the N2M.

Newborns sleep a lot and shouldn't be unattended for more than a couple of minutes at a time (e.g. when you go to the toilet) so unless you plan on living in your bedroom all day and night for the first few months then I'd definitely recommend a moses basket!

My granddaughter, age 6 weeks, sleeps in her Moses basket all the time, it is moved downstairs during the day. My daughter has a next to me cot but the baby does not like it and is hard to settle when placed in it but will sleep in the Moses basket. My daughter was keen to avoid contact naps so is happy using the Moses basket.

My daughter did not buy a new Moses basket or next to me cot, she bought them both second hand off FB Marketplace then bought new mattresses. In fact most of her baby equipment is second hand which made it difficult for me to treat them to a gift to welcome the new baby - my daughter is a high earner but hates buying new things if she can find a bargain!

Her intention is to move her into the next to me with her next growth spurt if the Moses basket seems a bit small, she was 6 lb 13 oz at birth and now weights 9 lb 13 oz so is still pretty small.

The Moses basket will be sold as soon as it’s no longer needed as they live in a small house with little storage.

We started with just a Moses basket (no cot). They are great for carting your baby around with you at home i.e. if you're lucky enough to get your baby to sleep at, say, 6:30pm, you then have the baby in the room with you while you have dinner, watch telly etc. Little babies sleep really soundly so you can still chat and make noise etc.

They are also good in the nighttime if you are having a rough night and want to leave one person in peace. For us, our DD's "bedroom" was our spare room and had an adult bed in it... meant one of us could easily decamp there with her if needed during the night, so we weren't both up with her for every feed etc. Likewise going downstairs to the sofa...

We had one that you could put on a stand, which was cool, and probably nice and safe so you're not tripping over it on the floor at night.

Moses baskets don't last that long because babies outgrow them, but they don't have to be expensive at all.

Starting with a Moses basket also means you can pick your cot when you're a couple of months in and know what your needs are.

For example, when DD got too big for her moses basket we actually picked a small cot on wheels to maintain some portability. We'd get her to sleep in her bedroom, then wheel her into our room when we went to bed (so she would be in with us during night). Made it easy to get her sleeping in her own room when we hit 6 months, because she was used to doing her bedtime routine in that room.

But some people might decide to do co sleeping or what have you instead. By the time you're ditching the Moses basket you probably have an idea of what sleep arrangements you want.

And congratulations! Hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

We did scheduled naps from about three months which were in the cot while I was downstairs. And they went to bed hours earlier than us at night. Absolutely fine. It's guilt tripping mothers to say that you need to be next to your baby full time for six months, apart from taking a hurried wee. We shared a bedroom for 18 months, but naps? Not a chance I was giving up that free hour, or those precious hours in the evening to sit silently next to a sleeping baby. I've seen mums break down from the pressure of that, and that's how you get mums saying "I haven't washed my hair for six months".

Anyway, sorry for the derailment OP, moses baskets are very sweet!

Not a guilt trip, it is safe sleeping advice. If people want to ignore it, that is up to them, but people should at least understand why the advice is there. Babies regulate their breathing from adults. Just because your babies were fine doesn’t mean that all babies were fine. That’s why safe sleeping advice exists.

In the UK, safe sleep advice is to share a bedroom with your baby for the first six months. For baby to sleep on its back on a firm surface, with nothing else in the cot. I followed these rules. The advice I was given never included naps, as they're much shorter duration. Of course I checked in every half an hour, but what you're saying about regulating breathing has never been official advice. How is it not a guilt trip to say that you need to be next to your baby 24/7 for six months (apart from a few minutes) otherwise they may die, when it's not actually true. If you're a single parent, how can you do this?

They are probably the most Marmite baby item I know, and for that reason I would never buy one new. I finished up buying a second one (they are often available on FB marketplace or via friends) to leave at my parents.

i found that they gave you a safe place to put the baby down if answering door / going to the loo / drinking tea). Mine lived downstairs on a stand (I had a Caesarean and would have struggled to pick her up off the floor at the beginning) and I used it until she was about 8 months (on floor once she was sitting). I also used it for naps - lots of people seemed to use infant carriers (v much against advice) instead. My November baby spent quite a lot of time in her pram and some of them can be used instead of a Moses basket to sleep in

Checking in every half an hour?! Why is it so difficult to have a sleeping newborn in the same room as you?

I’m going to post the official guidelines from The Lullaby Trust:

“Babies should always be in the same room as you for at least the first six months for sleep, day and night. This doesn’t mean you can’t leave the room to make a cup of tea or go to the toilet, but for most of the time when they are sleeping they are safest if you are close by.”

Whether people follow or not is up to them but they should at least understand the guidelines.

Mine stayed in the same room as me until a year day and night (and beyond but that wasn't planned!) ok leave them to use the loo or fetch a drink but they stay close to you so for the first 3-4 months when they need to be flat, either a Moses basket or a pram bassinet that sleep safe is ideal downstairs in the day and take upstairs at night if you are in a house, if you are on one level as I was even easier. Reality can be different though mine preferred to be held all the time

Yes that's what it's for. They look a bit lost in a cot at first. A hammock worked better for me.

I don't understand what you're not understanding. How bizarre! We did very carefully follow the safe sleep guidelines as we were told them. The biggest factor is back sleeping. But I don't know any parent that stayed with their baby as much as you're saying so it's pretty alien to me.

You're not talking newborns, you're talking babies up to six months. Sure, newborns contact nap, but 5-6 month old babies are perfectly able to sleep independently with occasional check ins. My babies went to bed by 8pm but my husband and I stayed awake until 11pm or later to reconnect and have some downtime, do housework, have dinner, chat, work, watch a film, do general adult stuff that creates noise and disruption to sleeping babies. The babies needed to be in their cots for bedtime and their cots were upstairs. My babies also napped outside in their prams in the garden while I did gardening, where they couldn't possibly hear my breathing 🤦‍♀️ I've never heard of never being away from your baby day and night for six months, not even to have a bath. No wonder so many relationships break down after having a baby if one of you is expected to be sitting on watch silently next to the baby day and night (and let's face it, it would be the mother). There's safe sleep and there's over-anxiety. And if you want to talk safe sleep, breastfeeding is a factor in reducing risk but let's not talk about that...But really, this is such a weird derailment, sorry OP!

Laundry.

How tall are you and your DH? We are both tall so we didn't bother. Our baby was long too and would've outgrown the basket in 2 months! We used the pram carrycot for her naps downstairs and when she was about 4 months we started putting her down to nap upstairs in our bedroom and checking on her regularly.

Our Moses basket was mainly used for carrying stuff (never a baby) from room to room in the end. Neither of mine would sleep in it or even lie in it. One of them was actually too long for it after about a fortnight. I'm glad to see that others managed to get some actual 'baby-sleeping-in-it' use from theirs

I said nothing about silently watching the baby - my husband and I did all those things too on an evening, but with baby in the room and took her up when we went up. Babies don’t need silence to sleep, we could talk and watch films fine.

I agree with that babies of 5-6 months can sleep independently but this thread is about babies younger than that. Babies are usually grown out of moses baskets by then.

I’m sorry if you think it’s a derail but I don’t know anyone that put a sleeping baby under 6 months in another room so I think it’s a reckless suggestion.

I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

We use Moses baskets for night sleep until 3-4 months and then move to the cot in their own room.

We bought a proper sleep mattress for the pram carrycot and used that instead of a Moses basket. It fitted onto a baby bath stand perfectly and could obviously be lifted onto the pram chassis when we went out.

We used one as an actual bed for ours to sleep in at night, I had it right by my bedside. A friend lent me hers for my second so I could have one downstairs and one upstairs, really handy for newborn naps.