Talk to me about Cribs/Cots etc

[GingerDoodle]

Hi all

How on earth do you go about choosing? I really like the Stokke Sleepi but the huge pricetag is a concern. Are they really good? Suggestions welcome!

I also have found a winnie the pooh rocking cradle which I was thinking would be good for downstairs but would it need to be on wheels?

I am bored at work so this is what is occupying my mind lol.

Many thanks

GD

We have gone for the John Lewis glider crib (its called Anna on their website), we really liked the gliding action. Also got the little white company cotbed (2nd hand) for when he is bigger. However this is our first so no idea if it's a good choice! Bare in mind they are only in a crib for a short time so don't waste too much money on it. I liked the stokke (it's the oval one isn't it?) However realised the fitted sheets for it were mega expensive which put me off.

Hey Florin, yes the Stokke is the oval one. I just think all the cost look HUGE and do like the idea of just having the one main bed if that makes sense?

I need to make up my mind tho as my mum is buying it and and i'll end up with the Stokke, a rocking cradle and a mosses basket if I am not careful (shes an excited first time grandma lol)

My DS1 had everything there was to have, most of which went unused. It was all then sold. DS2 came along and I was rather wiser. He slept in a borrowed Moses basket for 4 weeks before going into his cot. The cot was a white one bought from eBay for £50 but with a new mattress. It just needed to be white to match his room so not much effort involved in choosing.

Downstairs he lived in what we called The Tray. It was a seat thing that lay flat or you could sit up a bit. It had small carry handles either side to carry from room to room. It was flatter and more tray-like than a bouncy seat though. It was a godsend and I've no idea how I managed with DS1 without it. It's been passed on and on to various people, probably on its 15th baby by now!! Everyone saying how brilliant it was. I will try and find a pic.

There's no need to spend tonnes of money!
You can get a swinging crib relatively cheaply in most of the usual baby shops. Not sure what you need the wheels for?
I have the crib in the bedroom and a moses basket downstairs and can't see any need for wheels as the basket is easily transportible.
When he is too big for these he'll be going into a standard cot in his bedroom.

No way would I spend all that money on the Stokke. Actually I didn't buy any of my baby's sleeping gizmos - they are all from friends and family. I would say if you want to spend money, spend it on the cotbed as it will be used for longer and not on cribs and baskets which only last a few months.

The Stokke one is lovely, I have admired it on many an occasion. Doesn't it "grow" up to cotbed size, so they can use it for longer? It is really pricey though, and I would imagine has little benefit over a more standard cot / cotbed / crib for the actual sleep the baby is going to get in it. I think with Stokke generally, as with a lot of more high end manufacturers, you pay a premium for having something that is beautifully designed.

We had an Amby hammock style crib for DD1, which she completely loved, but DD2 didn't like it so much. DD2 also hated the moses basket we had downstairs for naps. DD2 loved the cotbed once we moved her into her own room, she used to drop off in super quick time, having taken ages to fall asleep in the Amby. DD1 slept well in the cotbed, but only after 45 minutes of complaint every night before she dropped off! This time we've bought a very lightly used crib from eBay, so we are now fully armed to cater to the sleep whims of DD3 once she arrives. The Amby, and the cotbed are also from eBay. The cotbed is a gorgeous sleigh one (louis by Tutti Bambini), but we stripped the antique finish off and waxed it (all using eco / baby / pregnancy friendly products btw), so we have something unique and to our taste. Because of the experience of having 2 children react so differently to the same beds, I would be concerned about paying a lot of money for something you might find they don't like.

A lot of the cribs / cots don't include a mattress in the price, so you can customise a more basic model with a better quality mattress if you like. The nursery here gets very warm, for example, so we chose a mattress with natural fibres and good airflow to try and stop the DDs overheating.

Just thought I'd let you know what I used for DD so you can have an idea of how long each purchase might last you.
For DD (1st baby) I got a second hand standard size cot through gumtree, a 2nd hand moses basket off ebay and an Amby baby hammock (2nd hand through gumtree). Sorry, couldn't tell you the makes of the cot or moses basket! I got new mattresses for both of those. We hardly used the hammock but I'd got it in case of having a colicky baby as it's apparently a god send for some babies who are hard to settle. DD slept in the moses basket for about 15 weeks at which point it was too small as she would fling her arms out, hit the sides and wake herself up. I got the cot out of the loft at that point and she slept in there with no problems, initially in our room and then in her own room at 6 months. She stayed in the cot till 2.1y when I was 5 months pregnant again and couldn't lift her in and out (she never climbed out). We bought her a toddler bed (same size as a cot bed). In retrospect a cotbed might have been a better buy to use from the beginning as we could have converted it to the toddler bed, but I then would have had to buy a new cot for the new baby (due in July) so it probably all works out about the same. Do you intend on a 2nd baby soon after the first?
Basically I guess I feel that any old cot/cradle will do as long as it meets basic safety requirements (I didn't accept my MIL's one from the 70's as the bars were too widely spaced) and then just spend your money on a good quality mattress. For cot mattresses I would say get a sprung one as we've had one foam one which was rubbish.
When I was pregnant with DD I really wanted a bedside cot but in the end DD was such a snuffly & squeaky baby I couldn't sleep with her next to me. In fact for a few weeks DH went and slept in the spare room with DD next to him in the moses basket and he just brought her to me for feeds. So much for co-sleeping etc! I'm a very light/anxious sleeper. For this baby I will probably co-sleep or have him next to me in the moses basket and then when he's bigger I'll get the cot out again and put him in their in our room. When he and DD are reliably sleeping they will share a room.
It depends how much money you have, I found it good to have lots of options, but if I had bought everything new it would have been a big waste of money. There's loads of hardly used baby stuff out there 2nd hand if money is tight but you still want to have a range of things. If you just want one or two things I would go for a standard cot or a cotbed and then a moses basket or carry cot.

We had dd in a swinging crib in our room for the first 6 months - bought it on ebay. I didn't bother with a moses basket as most of my friends children grew out of them quite quickly.

I used to out dd in the pram if she was napping downstairs