cot bedding / bumpers

[amoney]

Hi All

First time mum so bear with me with this question but i'm getting myself all confused about what bedding etc that a baby actually needs.

I know it will be in a moses basket with me and husband for the first 3+ months, so does it just need some blankets in its moses basket?

Also, I've read conflicting stuff re: cot bumpers and quilts, some say fine to use others say they are a SIDS risk?? Lots of places say sleeping bags are best for babies?

Any advice from experienced mums would be very gratefully received as i am driving myself nuts trawling the internet..

Cheers all

Hi amoney,

When my little one was in her moses basket, I just bought some cot sheets. I had some which were just a basic sheet, and some which were elasticated so you just pop it over the moses baskets 'mattress'. ( ask in Mothercare etc and they'll show which ones )
( Also I would have lots of these to hand. My baby would always do a late burp and there would be a puddle of milk!! )
As for cots, my little one had a cot bumper which we made sure was well secured and there were no gaps between the bumper and the mattress. She was born in the summer so just went to bed in a vest and a baby grow. She HATED her sleeping bag because it got twisted when she turned over so I just bought a really nice and warm fleecey baby grow and that was perfect.
Hope this helps!!

In the Moses basket you will need a cellular blanket. We swaddled our baby every night in one (no need for a special wrap) and he slept like a log. Get the midwife to show you how to do it, it's very simple. I'd get two or three so you can use one in the day and have a spare - swaddle, swaddle, swaddle in the early days and weeks - they love it.

In the cot, definitely get a couple of sleeping bags. No quilts or duvets or loose sheets. Ignore GF on the tight sheet thing, by the time they go into a cot, most babies like to roam around a bit and I don't think it's fair to keep them wedged in. You can get summer and winter weight ones. When it was very hot we didn't put him in anything at all apart from a vest and nappy. Always go with too cool over too warm.

We didn't have a cot bumper to start with and DS would regularly wake himself up by getting a limb stuck in the bars. I bought the Airwrap - look in JoJo Maman Bebe, they have the full one which covers all sides - depends if you have cot up against a wall. Now, he likes to sleep pushed right up against the side of the cot but doesn't get caught up and can still breathe through the soft mesh. It's the only bumper the cot death charities are ok with. Not very stimulating but then you don't really want them stimulated when they're supposed to be asleep, do you?

Can I give you another tip that was given to me? Always lay a muslin at the head end of the Moses basket and tuck it in under the mattress - they will be sick a lot as newborns and this saves you having to change the sheets all the time, just replace the muslin. Genius!

Hope this helps - DS is 7 months so it's all quite recent to me. Good luck

Agree, sleeping bags were our saviour. DS is 3 and dd is 1 now. One winter baby and one summer baby, so DS was in one from birth and it very quickly became his comfort. Same wtih DD when it became cooler.

Cot bumpers are a touchy subject. I never saw the need personally....both of mine outgrew the moses basket at 7 wks(they were head to toe in it, very long children) and went in a cot, side down, next to my bed for 6 months as they were breatsfed, so I would just feed them and then pop them in their own bed, but it was like co-sleeping, just they didn't technically sleep in my bed. If i had another I would not get a moses basket.

Fleece sleepsuits are brilliant, just watch if you are co-sleeping tho, a normal sleepsuit would do otherwise the baby would be far to warm.

Whatever you put them in to start with, I agree muslim is great as they are sick, lots. ANd its easier to change this than a whole sheet. I cut up an old bath towel into strips and used this instead tho.

I would say no to bumper, a waste of money and a risk if the baby roles into it but has not learnt to role away. Just not worth it IMO

Thank you all

this is such a great help...

Cheers

I would definately not bother with a cot bumper when it comes to safety they are a debatable point and I never saw the need. Quilts are definately not before 1 year iirc but you are better off with sleeping bags imho.

Use a sleeping bag as soon as possible (may not be possible from birth) but my daughter loved hers. Plus for night feeds unless you need to change them it means they can stay snuggly warm rather than hitting a cold bed and sheets again. Even if you do need to change them the likelyhood is the bag will still be warm. Plus, as they get older they can't kick them off like sheets so no waking you up because they are cold. Finally, once they learn to stand they can't climb out of cot because the bag doesn't allow them enough wiggle room.

You will still need a couple of blankets for the first few weeks probably and also while you are out and about. I found fitted sheets for both cot and moses basket are the easiest to handle a couple of each was enough with the muslin underneath to catch any posseting.

As for swaddling not every baby loves it my daughter hated it and some MW/HV are also very anti.

Like most things with babies/children all the advice is conflicting you just have to go with what works best for you and yours.

I'll second sleeping bags, brilliant, used them from about 3mths with dd in her cot with fitted sheets under. Never had cot bump or quilt. I used them until she went into a big bed with poper duvet etc when she was 2.
Moses basket was good at first. You can use pillow cases as mattress covers/base sheet in the moses basket, then top sheet/muslin with blankets over. I liked the moses basket when dd was tiny as it was so portable.

Sleeping bags are one of the best inventions ever!

Quilts are not to be used before 12 months, neither are cot bumpers. There have been cases where babies have rolled and become trapped by the bumper and suffocated. I did get one way after DS turned 1 as he kept banging his head on the cot by wriggling around at night but he was a toddler by this point. It isn't clear on the packaging but they really shouldn't be used before 12 months and I wish there was more awareness on it as many mums seemed to be confused by it.