Moses basket? Crib? Cot?

[tiredteddy]

Right, I am due dc3 in jan so really should know what I'm doing by now! For the first two we used a crib in our room for the first 6 months. It has since been passed on so we need something new for dc3. I am unsure what to go for as I don't want to waste what little budget we have. I was wondering the about the pros/ cons of Moses baskets/ cribs/ cots. Is there any reason other than babies seem quite small that dc3 couldn't go straight into a cot in our room? I thought this might be a better option as dc3 is likely to be with us longer as we live in a very little house. What do you think?

No reason at all for a baby to not go straight into the cot in your room.

You could also co-sleep.

We did a bit of co-sleeping in the early weeks with ds2 which was lovely, he really didn't like the crib and only started to settle in it towards 12 weeks. However for medical reasons dc3 will be bottle fed and I'm not sure how much this lends itself to co-sleeping? I am willing to find it more though. Thanks for you reply.

I'm also due DC3 - in about three weeks - and we've got: new crib (essentially only new thing we bought, and only because DD1 is still in hers), borrowed moses basket from friend (bought new mattress, though, I hasten to add). We also have a cradle swing which automatically swings (hence the name....) that DS1 loved.

The reason for all these different sleeping arrangements is because our first two were such hellacious sleepers, and we want to have our bases covered for how this new one might like to 'sleep' (note the lack of expectation around this.... )

Ah, co-sleeping isn't recommended if you FF.

That's what I thought! Thanks for clarifying fliss

chocolate we have a swing seat for daytime naps. Carrycot pram or lay flat pram depending on which one baby prefers. So I'm also trying to cover all bases. I'm a bit nervous about a Moses basket on a stand getting knocked over by the thundering boys in their enthusiasm!

Put moses basket in the crib: DC3 might like the cosier environment (cot always seems so big when they are tiny, doesn't it?)

I hear you on not wanting the older DC to come knocking over the bloody moses basket stand!

That sounds like a good idea thanks! I was looking at the ikea cots as they will take less space in our room than the cotbed in the loft. I am expecting dc3 to stay input room longer as we will have to experiment on where it sleeps long term. We have the 2 DS in bunks in the box room with the middle slightly larger (but attached so no corridor and doors separating) room as a play room which is valuable space I would rather not loose. As the idea cots are cheap we could maybe get a Moses basket too.

I've just been deliberating all this too with DC2 due in 6 weeks. Borrowed a Moses basket for DS1 that he was prob only in for about a month before moving to cotbed in his own room, so wadn't keen on buying Moses basket and stand for DC2 but have just done so on basis that I'm not quite sure what else we'd do initially, cotbed seems huge when they're newborn. Crib seems like a good option though, but I preferred the portability aspect of the Moses basket for daytime naps.

So what is the size of a cot like? In the loft I have a cotbed and a junior bed so lots of choice when dc3 is older. I wondered about a cot as smaller but long lasting in our room. Has anyone but a newborn straight in to a cot? I figure that then he/she won't have to get used to the cot later on? I'm not sure if a crib would achieve much as they are expensive and then I would have to get the cotbed out sooner which may take up too much space in our room.

We put DS straight into a cot when he came home at 2 weeks old. He was 6 weeks prem and only weighed 5lb3oz when he came home, so he looked very lost in his cot! He was fine in it though, had no problems. Was actually quite nice as it meant we didn't have to have a transition to the cot later!

I'm sure I've seen cot barriers for sale somewhere, they fix across the cot, effectively making it a lot shorter.

Thanks bionicemu that is really what I want to do I think. Everything is so geared towards needing something smaller it's seems strange to go straight for the cot. But that's what I thought, that once we get sleep sorted it will avoid transition a few months later.

Ds was in his cot from night 3. He was so noisy at sleeping it was the only option for us. Moses basket was downstairs for naps and so he got used to not being held all the time. It meant I could do a few jobs during the day and not worry about standing on him, falling off sofa etc. it worked well for us. He grew out of his basket by wk 5 but it saved carrying him up and down stairs while I got some strength back. He was bf for about 6wks then ff.

We then had a bouncy chair which was brilliant, an inflatable ring with toys hanging off it that came with a lovely floor mat full of colours and textures and a really good mobile over his cot with lights and sounds. He was never a clingy baby and I thing this is mainly due to my putting him down now and again during the day.