Chicco next2me+sleepyhead v's cotbed with cocoonababy

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Hi,

We're expecting #2 in April and trying to work out sleep arrangements. Thinking of getting a either a Chicco next2me cot and putting a sleepyhead sleep aid in it, or using our old cotbed with a cocoonababy in that.
DS1 was in a Moses basket followed by a cotbed, but we found it quite tricky to settle him after a night feed and he grew out of the Moses basket after only a few weeks, so looking at other options this time.
Does anyone have any experience of using any of these things/combos and if so would you recommend them (or not!)

Thank you!

I've got a regular bedside crib and the sleepyhead. I'm 38+6 so can't rate the success yet!

We have the chicco crib plus sleepyhead and it works well. We don't use it in the cosleeping position anymore. However if you are breastfeeding and wanting to use as a cosleeper to make night feeds easier, the sleepyhead renders it less practical because you'll have to pick baby up and place back in sleepyhead rather than sliding them across or feeding whilst in crib. Without the sleepyhead the chicco crib is very roomy and just feels massive when they are newborn.

Ok so... We've kind of done all of the above. Will try to be concise!

Both are good options - our LO has slept well in both the sleepyhead and cocoonababy (so far!) compared with his Moses basket which we didn't use for long.

Your baby is likely to grow out of the cocoonababy sooner than the sleepyhead (at 4 mths rather than about 8 mths)

The Chicco next2me is bigger than I'd anticipated (we bought it online in a rush when our son arrived 6 weeks early). It's fairly sturdy but NB it's not possible to use a monitor sensor mat with it, if that matters to you. You have to stop using it when baby can pull itself up.

Most cost effective / long term option... How about sleepyhead in existing cotbed?!

Mini how come you can't use the sensor mat with the chicco next to me? I was thinking of getting one for DC3 but want to use my sensor pad too!

I put our cocoonababy in the next to me. Worked fine.

Cocoonababy excellent bit of kit. My little boy loved it.

The not being able to use a sensor pad was why we didn't go for a cosleeper. You have to have a hard Base for the sensor to work. All of the wooden cosleeper didn't have the option of raising the side when I wasn't next to baby and I worried that baby would roll and suffocate. This was before we bought the sleepyhead. So I bought a normal bedside cot but hated the thin mattress (the reason I think dd hated the moses basket was because of the thin mattress). We then got the sleepy head. I'm hoping it is as good as people say.

We have the snuzpod and sleepyhead for our 9 day old daughter. First couple of nights were just the snuzpod and she wouldn't settle. The sleepyhead has worked well and she settles fine but that could also be her age a little bit now as she doesn't need to be held as much.

Those of you ditching the traditional moses baskets for a bedside crib, what will baby sleep in downstairs/around the house? I was thinking of using bassinet from my pram -is that sensible?

I've set up my moses downstairs, but dd slept in her pram carrycot, the bouncy chair and in her favourite place - on me.

I looked at both the Chicco and snuzpod and was amazed by hoe small they are. I've decided on cot with the side off next to the bed. Dc1 was 9lb1 and long, this next one is going to be big too so felt neither option worth the money for the time I'd use them.

We are using cot with side off and sleepyhead- still going strong at coming up to 5 months. Planning on upgrading to sleepyhead grande in a couple of months.

We had a snuzpod and a sleepyhead. Initially as a cosleeper then in the corner of our room until he went into the big cot at 7 months. During the day he slept in the sleepyhead wherever we were, so on the floor/sofa/table so you don't need a separate Moses basket. We sold our snuzpod on eBay for well over half what we bought it for (their resale value is far higher than the next to me).

I used Next to Me and Sleepyhead for DS and will use same combo for DD due soon. Worked great for us. SH perfect size for it and night feeds were so easy just having to pick DS up then put him back next to me. For PP, I would take SH into lounge and DS slept in that. My plan was to use bassinet but babies don't often have the same plan as you...DS wouldn't sleep in bassinet in the house (fine outside in pram).

I use the sleepyhead in the next to me. I find it works really well. We started out with a mose basket but my baby wouldn't settle in it so we sort of panic bought both when she was a few days old. The mattress that comes with the next to me is quite hard and I wouldn't have felt comfortable putting her to sleep directly on that when she was a newborn. I am breastfeeding and don't find it too much trouble to get her in and out at night. For the first few months I used to bring the sleepyhead downstairs for her to sleep in just because she seemed to sleep more peacefully in it but you could use a your carrycot if you don't want the hassle of bringing it up and down. Although another advantage of the sleepyhead is that if she fell asleep in it downstairs we could carry her up in it, so she was less likely to wake up. Good luck!

Thank you for all your replies, very helpful. The sleepyhead seems like a popular option, so I think we'll definitely try that. I wasn't aware you couldn't use a sensor pad with a co-sleeper, so will have to re-think that option!

Bitchpeas - as pp said its because you have to have a hard base. We didn't actually try but that's my understanding. Also there are no holes to thread the cables through.

I think there are cosleepers that you can use angelcare with BUT not when attached to be bed as it'll just pick up parents breathing and movements.

We've ended up using the next2me as his day bed in the living room and we just move the sleepyhead downstairs to use in it.

Oh and re cocoonababy and next2me - for safety reasons it's recommended to have cocoon in something deeper but seeing as the baby gets strapped in I don't think it'd br an issue in reality...

If you really want to use a breathing sensor (no evidence for them really) then you could always use a snuza hero, which attaches to the nappy so can be used wherever you are.

Had a cocoonababy for my DS. It turned a truly terrible sleeper into just a bad sleeper and saved my sanity. He had reflux and it helped raise his head slightly. Really recommend. We used it in the cotbed.

We had a bednest cosleeper with the sleepyhead in it and it was perfect.

My baby was (and is!) dinky though

We used a normal crib with the sleepyhead in. I wanted to use a motion sensor monitor so it seemed the best option