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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Moses Basket / Cradle / Cot ????

15 replies

Sumi76 · 21/07/2011 10:34

Need help deciding which one I should get ! We live in a flat so there is obviously lack of space plus keeping the budgetary constraints and utility in mind, can you'll pls suggest which one I should go for ?

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iWILLdothis · 21/07/2011 11:45

None of the above...until about 6 months old!
My DD slept in her pram until she was 6 months old. Very handy as it was obviously on wheels and if she fell asleep in the living room/kitchen in it and we wanted to go to bed, just wheeled her down to the bedroom in it, no need to wake her up. Plan to do the same with DC2. So no need to buy a moses basket or cradle and no cot needed until approx 6 months. We do live in a bungalow though, so might not be possible for you? But if you do plan to do this, make sure you choose a pram with the biggest possible size. Ours is an iCandy Apple, much roomier than even the iCandy Cherry, for example.

LaWeasel · 21/07/2011 12:01

Might be worth thinking about the pram idea - we had a very small house, so couldn't have got one upstairs.

If you have a small bedroom it is worth asking around and borrowing (or buying cheaply second hand) a moses basket.

You won't need it for that long, but by the time they grow out of it they will probably be okay to go in their cot in their own room.

mumnosbest · 26/07/2011 10:58

Mine started in a travel cot. It had an insert fro newborns, which was higher and easier to lower a sleeping baby into. We were given a moses basket but DS was a big baby and was only in it a couple of weeks.

BertieBotts · 26/07/2011 11:06

Get a cot which you can convert to a co-sleeper one. You can buy specially made co-sleeping cots, but they are more expensive. Ikea cots can usually be converted, and they are normal cot size rather than cotbed so not too giant. (and they take a normal cot size mattress) You need one which will stand up with only 3 sides attached and with either a wide choice of mattress heights or one with straight sides/legs that you can drill an extra hole into.

No need for a smaller sleeping space then when they are tiny, because they'll feel all safe being so close to you anyway, so easy for night feeds in the early days (especially if breastfeeding) and you won't have to worry about accidentally falling asleep, because the environment will be safe, unlike feeding in a chair or on the sofa. And you WILL be that tired! If you don't like the idea of co-sleeping you can move baby back into the cot space after feeds as well which means you have no way of rolling onto them and they have their own space. And if they won't settle alone, it's easier to feed them in bed and then when they are asleep just scoot them over rather than picking them up and putting them down in a moses basket, at which point they magically realise and wake up! When you want to transition them into the cot you can first put the fourth side up, then move the cot away from your bed, and then into another room, so it's an easier transition.

Cots are just over 60cm x 120cm if you need to measure the space next to your bed.

coastgirl · 26/07/2011 11:18

Second-hand Moses baskets are next to nothing, though, if you want to try that, with a new mattress under £10 on eBay.

kri5ty · 26/07/2011 11:32

totally agree...

let them sleep in a pram... our travekl system is a hauck condor 11, and was around 300 new (again you can get 2nd hand) and has a carrycot with it, which is just the same as a moses basket

and get a cotbed that way it will last up until they are around 6 years old... can get good second hand ones off ebay for about £100, just buy a new mattress or on kiddicare they have a new one with mattress for 160.

strandednomore · 26/07/2011 11:35

My two both hated their moses basket. We got it as a present but i wouldn't have bothered if I'd realised they basically slept in with us until they were big enough for a cot! If you can, borrow one - then you haven't wasted money if (like mine) they are not keen.

somedayillbesaturdaynite · 26/07/2011 11:38

cot and maybe a travel cot for living room. on a budget moses/cradle are luxury but a travel cot will last and can double as a playpen once the baby is mobile and folds down to a compact size for storage (and u can get budget ones from argos/asda for around £25)

somedayillbesaturdaynite · 26/07/2011 11:42

oh and get a sprung mattress to start as it will save replacing a foam one in a year or so. i paid £38 incl p&p for cotbed size online (slightly bigger than a standard cot). 2nd hand cots are a great buy on ebay but mattress should really be new.

allthefires · 26/07/2011 12:09

Someday- fantastic user name!

I would buy a bedside cot if room in your bedroom. If not a crib.

Only use pram if the mattress is suitable for overnight sleeping. Most aren't.

Renaissance227 · 26/07/2011 12:16

Moses basket as cheap as you can find with a new mattress.
I couldn't use a pram because of a very steep and narrow staircase in my house.

howabout · 26/07/2011 12:29

The Silver Cross Classic pram comes with its own separate rocker stand for use with the pram top. You can then have the pram downstairs during the day and attach the pram top to the stand upstairs at night.

TransatlanticCityGirl · 26/07/2011 13:06

We were given a moses basket and DD hates it. We were also given a crib which is ok. If we hadn't been given these items she would have gone straight into her cotbed as I personally think the whole moses basket / crib thing is a waste of money.

(In actual fact she mostly sleeps in our bed anyway. We were very against doing this until DD arrived, but we've pretty much thrown out the rule book entirely since then)

superjobee · 26/07/2011 13:17

i had a moses basket for DD which she used but not often as she pretty much co-slept she went into her cot bed at 6 weeks. this time round when DS arrives he's going straight into a cot, not something i would've done but my friends wee girl went straight into a cotbed from birth and slept fine. i always worried that the amount of room would scare the baby but she seems fine, hope DS is too!!

best buy would be a cot bed imo :)

TheTeaLady · 26/07/2011 21:56

we all hated our moses basket. the wicker was really noisy whenever the baby moved around, which drove us particularly mad at night. she never seemed that comfortable in it somehow and we felt it was quite unstable when she rolled or kicked.

we got the bedside cot from mothercare from around 2 months and our daughter is in it now in her own room. (she's 14 months). it was fantastic when i was breastfeeding at all hours of the night.
baby number 2 is on the way and s/he will go straight into that. will prob get something a bit sturdier for number 1.
i will try to borrow some sort of rocking crib for the livingroom for the first couple of months.

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