Bedside cribs

[peachgreen]

Talk to me about bedside cribs, because I have done so much research that I feel like my head my explode if I do any more. Have you had one? Are you getting one? Do you / will you sleep with the side down? Which one are you considering?

I was totally sold on the Tutti Bambini Cozee but then discovered that the only ones tall enough to match our bed are the Bednest and the Numa Huddle - so any specific experience of / thoughts on either of those would be really welcomed!

We had a bednest. I loved it but it was a little small by the time we got to 6months. Our one was the old style where you could fold the side in half, but for safety reasons you can't do that now so I can't comment on ease of use now.

Got an armsreach co sleeper (can be used as bed side crib, freestanding bassinet, full size cot and travel cot/play pen, or as bedside crib for twins) much bigger than the average co sleeper, but I didn't want (haven't got the room for) different cots for different stages.
Not used it yet DD due in February.

£60 Ikea cot with the side down. It was a very good purchase.

We used a Chicco Next to Me and it was brilliant. Used it with the side down until she could roll and the put it up and she was fine, didn't really notice.
We put her in this when she outgrew her Moses basket but next time I'll be using this from the beginning.

I got an IKEA cot and took one side off (it's meant to convert to a cot bed anyway, so the side is designed to come off). It's much cheaper than all the purpose built bedside co-sleepers and will last you longer assuming you have the space. It's height adjustable anyway, but my husband just drilled in a few extra holes so we could adjust it to the exact height of our mattress. We used it for a year with our dd. All my friends outgrew their co-sleepers by about 3-4 months. We're using it again with baby #2. There's no side on it obviously, but it's big, so plenty of space (and frankly I wouldn't use one with a cloth side on it anyway as they can pose a suffocation hazard. Just make sure the two mattresses are flush against each other either by pushing it up against a wall or just tie the two bed frames together underneath so it can't wiggle. We loved it.

It's this one: www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/childrens-ikea-products/baby/cots/gulliver-cot-white-art-10248519/

I'm renting a bed nest and it's working well. It's good that you can tilt it if your baby has reflux, which mine does!

Thanks all! Not sure we have the space for a full sized cot unfortunately, otherwise I would probably just do that! Will measure just to be sure. Looking into the Armsreach now.

We also did the IKEA cot with the side off. On the higher height it was the same height as our mattress so didn't need to drill any holes and we attached it securely to our bed with the straps that we usually use on the roof rack.

In the same situation as our bed is quite high and the thought of a fabric cot worries me as well because of the suffocation risk. Looking into a small cot which can have the side removed as suggested above with the IKEA ones.

Just to add - if you have a tempur mattress or similar, don't put the side down. We bought our lovely new tempur mattress and found out I was pregnant the following week - no co sleeping or side down crib for me!

We went for the Chicco but left the sides up and put a sleepyhead in there from about 6 weeks; it worked really well.

I had a Babybay, which might well have been extremely useful had my baby not been firmly of the opinion that his place was snuggled against my side and not in no separate cot. Not bothering with a separate cot this time around but if I were I think I'd just do the IKEA Gulliver with the side off as a more cost-effective long term solution.