Sleeping arrangements for when first home??

[BlondieandBump]

Hi All,

My first post, but am thankful for all the advice I have read so far...

Ok, so basically I am very confused as to where my baby should be sleeping when we bring him home. We are getting a cot bed (can he be in that from night one?) and have the buggy/ pram/ car seat already (could he use these for the first few nights in our room?). I really don't like moses baskets so any advice?

Thanks x

hi

you cant use the car seat unless its one of those thats lie flat...as the baby needs to be flat and shouldnt really be in the car seat for longer than two hours....from what i have been told!!

dont see why you couldnt use the cot bed will be very very big for the little one as they like to feel secure, we used the moses basket for about four months then my little boy was to big for it and then went in the cot bed...you can get special cusions that you put either side of them to make the cot a little smaller....hope that helps xxx

I had ds in my bed, with a bedside cot. Lots of babies won't tolerate sleeping away from you anyway!

Moses baskets are good as they have handles so you can carry them about the house with you. Also the stands they come on often rock and are good for having next to your bed, when so you can swing out a half dead arm to rock baby back to sleep.

baby should be in your room for the 1st 6m, will the cot bed fit in your room?

The baby should be in your room for the first 6 months to reduce the risk of cot death - but it's up to you whether they are in a moses basket/cot/your bed.

Most people have the baby sleeping in their room with them. The NHS recommend it from a safety point of view, and anyway you are unlikely to feel like leaving him elsewhere. He could do that in a cot or in the carry cot part of the pram. Not the carseat, I wouldn't think. The NHS would like you to keep him there for 6 months. I think a lot of people feel ready to move the baby to its own room a bit before then. I wasn't too keen on a moses basket either, so I bought a crib for our room, thought it would fit better than a cot and our pram didn't have a carrycot. No reason not to use a cot if it would fit in your room, but I do know people who came home and put the baby down in the cot and just couldn't bear seeing him being so small down there and rushed out to buy a moses basket!

Hiya,
Based on previous experience, I very much doubt your newborn will happily settle in a cotbed for the first few weeks (or maybe longer) - they are SO huge & draughty compared to his size and he/she has been used to being all tucked up tightly inside you...

Our first born wouldnt sleep (other than on us) for the first week at home, then we swaddled him and he slept in the carry cot part of the pram (placed in a small white crib/cot by our bed) from 1 wk old. He then moved into the crib on its own at around 6 weeks.

Our 2nd born we swaddled straight away and put her in the pram carry cot for the first few weeks, she was fine & settled happily, moving into the crib again at around 4-6wks.

Am 20wks with our 3rd & have managed to get a 2nd hand moses basket from a friend. I know you say you don't like them, but newborn babies tend to love small, compact, cosy, confined spaces to sleep in (without over heating of course!!) and I really do think a moses basket fits the bill perfectly.

Agree with the above - car seats aren't really suitable for sleeping baby at night.
Good luck - & you never know, you might have a dream sleeper of a baby!!

Hi, just thought I would put my experiences on your thread! With my first, we had our DD next to us in a Moses basket for about 3 weeks and had to move her into her own room into the cot (we put the basket in the cot for security for her) as the bloody cat (who at the time I adored, needless to say she's a pain in the arse no) kept climbing into her Moses basket all the time! With her in it!! We had a pet cover and she would either lie on top of it or flick it off!! Little bugger!! So for her safety we put her in her room. It was right next to ours, we had monitors and were not smokers or big drinkers, so we thought it would be safer for her in there! Sometimes if we'd of been to DH's mothers and DD would fall asleep in the pushchair carrycot, we would leave her in it, take her up to bed with us and transfer her after her feed, she was very happy in there! After a while we got rid of the Moses basket as she was more than happy to go into her cot and used the pram carrycot for daytime sleeps! I wouldn't suggest putting them in their room straight away as they can be quite mucus'y for a couple of weeks and don't want them to choke on it! Plus if your feeding, catching them before they fully wake up is sooooo much easier! Sleep feeding! Plus, they really don't like to be left alone to start off with, I remember in hospital holding my little girls hand for comfort!

Depends a bit on the baby - my DD would not be put down in a moses basket/pram/carrycot/carseat or anything without getting very upset, until she was about 6 weeks old. She slept on my chest for the first few weeks (I was eventually able to slide her off next to me for most of the night!) Poor DH was relegated to the spare room ...

We did use a moses basket, but DD was just as happy in the pram attachment of our pushchair, which we used when out and about, as it rested on the floor easily.

We put her in her own cot at 5 months, in her own room.