Bedside cribs/sleepers - safety?

[Tentativesteps133]

Hi all

I'm looking for advice from current users or reassurance in general (ftm).

I'm interested in the bedside cribs that are available (snuzpod, chicco next2me, tuttibambini cozee) as I like the idea of easy access during the night. However, they all seem to have fabric lining round 3 sides of the crib, though the removable side is a breathable mesh. I'm wondering how the fabric lining is different to cot bumpers which are not recommended due to the SIDS risk? What happens if the baby rolls to face the opposite side of the crib to our bed?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions :)

The cot more traditional cot bumpers are tied on by string/ties which is an additional risk. I'm not sure about the mesh one, I'm not sure if they do pose a risk or not. We used the mesh airwrap ones but not until DS was older - 6 months ish.

It's no different to a Moses basket to be honest, that doesn't have any breathable mesh.... maybe because they're so shallow? I had a co sleeper last time and fully intend to get one again, I recommend them. Moses baskets are a pain!

I wondered this too on a recent thread... I hope more people can comment. Someone said the fabric is thin and firm rather than padded, and that made the difference?

My assumption was that cot bumpers are padded so if you pushed your nose/mouth up against them it would "sink" into the padding and be completely covered. We have the Chicco and the fabric is thin and reasonably taught, plus it's quite inflexible. I can't for a second see that a baby could smush their face against it in any way that could cover their whole nose; go see one set up in mothercare for example and you'll see what I mean.

The mesh I believe is for air flow so they don't overheat in there, which i believe is another risk factor with bumpers. Although if you're using it attached to your bed that side would be dropped anyway.

Haha, basically what Leeela said :)

I'm currently using a chicco and my dd is now 6 months old. To be honest she has never managed to push her face that close to the sides for this to be a risk. When the one side is dropped down, there is a small bit of material sticking up that acts a barrier between the cot and the bed and the cot is adjustable so that it can be raised to the height of the bed so there are no gaps. As someone previously mentioned, you are always going to get some material at the sides unless the baby is put straight in to a full sided cot. We've not noticed a problem, especially when she was really small and didn't move around much.

You've explained it much better though, Rat! Thanks!

That's true Bonjour I hadn't thought about a Moses basket being lined on all sides!

I think I need to go and have a look at them, it's hard to see what they are actually like from online pics. They get such good reviews though.

On the same topic - how do people keep their bedding away from the crib when the side is zipped down? Sorry if it's a stupid question, but I wriggle a lot in the night and worry I'll kick the duvet into the crib

I am wondering that too @lemondrop99

Does anyone have any more insights on this? I'm also wondering about this ^

I had the Chicco one and my duvet never actually went anywhere near it and I fidget a lot tooI instinctively slept facing the crib the whole time as I was worried about pushing the duvet off backwards into the crib and just didn't move in my sleep much! Just keep the majority of the duvet towards the centre of your bed and it will be fine

With the Chicco I also slept facing the crib and tucked the duvet under myself on the baby's side. You could put the crib up by your head so it's more in line with your pillows as duvet is less likely to end up that high; in reality both with this baby and the last I found I slept halfway down the bed anyway, so my face was opposite baby's face. I just really want/wanted to be close to their faces and hold their little hands! It probably annoys the hell out of dp with the duvet at an angle, but at least it's miles away from the crib this way :)

You don't need to buy a purpose made bedside co-sleeper for baby to be right next to you. We got a cot from Ikea (bars all around, no fabric sides), took one side off, adjusted the height and attached it to our bed. It was significantly less expensive than the co-sleepers and lasted us a year (and would have lasted longer in terms of fit, but that's when we stopped using it).

As for the duvet, initially I slept dressed warmly with no duvet. After a few weeks, you get used to it and you are very aware, so I started to sleep with a duvet and just always kept it under my arm.

Lemondrop, I worried about our bedclothes as well, but the instructions for our snuzpod say to ensure the side is zipped up for safe sleep and to avoid that risk.

ibent So did you unzip for nightfeeds and then zip back up afterwards? There's then no need to put the metal rod back in, is there?

Thanks for everyone's answers - they are really helpful!!

Thanks ibent, but I have a Chicco and unfortunately it's not very easy to do that with the Chicco (one if it's downsides). The dropped side attached underneath and to zip it back up, you need to disconnect the straps holding the cot to the bed. Once it's in position, it's not easy to keep raising and stopping the side