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Bought a crib, do I also need a moses basket?

25 replies

Junebug55 · 10/02/2019 21:50

FTM due in April and I'm a little clueless! I've bought a next2me crib to go in my bedroom and I have a bouncer for during the day. But I'm wondering what I do during the day when the baby wants to sleep during the day. Do I get a moses basket to keep downstairs too, cart the crib around the house or is the bouncer used for these daytime naps?

Thanks in advance!


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OP posts:
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dementedpixie · 10/02/2019 22:04

I used the carry cot of the travel system for downstairs and then the reclined buggy. I never had a Moses basket, just a crib

BillyAndTheSillies · 10/02/2019 22:04

During the day time for naps, we used DS's bassinet on his pram. The base was approved to be used for overnight sleeping and thankfully we had the room.
We also had a coccoonababy that would come downstairs with me in the morning and he could sleep on that for a nap.
I didn't use a bouncer until he was a little older.
We never used a Moses basket, but had picked one up at a nearly new sale for £5, new mattress was £10 tops. Unfortunately he wouldn't settle in it but it wasn't a massive outlay.

Ribbonsonabox · 10/02/2019 22:07

I bought a next to me and didnt think I'd need a moses basket but actually ended up needing one. I got one with a rocking stand and it was a lifesaver for the first few weeks because she settled in it much better than the next to me... next to mes are actually quite big so some newborns dont settle in them great compared to moses baskets which are smaller and more enclosed.
It depends on the baby tbh.
My daughter loved the rocking moses basket until about two months and then after that she preferred the next to me... which shes only just come out of at 7 months.
My son hated his moses basket though!

shirleyschmidt · 10/02/2019 22:20

Yes, definitely get a Moses (or similar) as baby will need somewhere to sleep downstairs which can stay in one place without taking up loads of room.

Not all babies like a Moses so if you can I'd really recommend a Sleepyhead pod/Purflo nest type of thing. My baby slept so well in there and they're not big, and are very easy to move around (also fit nicely in your Next2me to make baby feel a bit more snug in those first few tiny weeks!).

ReaganSomerset · 10/02/2019 22:22

If you do get one, Asda do one for about £30. Hand-made and really big. Lasted my large DD until four months. I wouldn't spend the Earth on one of the tiny ones from Mamas and Papas or similar.

FirstTimeBumps · 11/02/2019 10:32

We were given a crib and bought a basket also. I was glad we did as babs was breech and his legs stuck out everywhere and kept going through the bars. We moved him into the crib eventually at 5 weeks, up until then he was sleeping in the Moses basket placed inside the crib. For the price of a Moses basket I'd say get one x

FlameIngSofa · 11/02/2019 10:41

I'll probably get slammed for bringing up this subject but I think it's very important. Because of the UK's tough flammability laws, the vast majority of mattresses/moses baskets, etc, sold in the UK are packed with flame retardant chemicals. These are regularly banned for being toxic, with babies/children particularly affected. I strongly recommend buying mattresses/prams, etc, from outside the UK, e.g. the rest of the EU (apart from Ireland) does not have such tough flammability rules and is mostly against the use of such chemicals.

DoingMyBest2010 · 11/02/2019 10:56

Moses basket was a total waste of time for us :-)

AmateurParents · 11/02/2019 15:58

The logistics are overwhelming aren't they!

We had a moses basket downstairs and a crib upstairs. Seemed to work well. You don't want to be lugging things up and down the stairs all day.

Good luck and try not to stress about these things now. Baby will end up cuddled up on you most of the time! You won't want to put them down!

le42 · 11/02/2019 18:35

We use a sleepyhead which we put on the sofa and our little one loves it

Junebug55 · 11/02/2019 19:23

Thanks so much! Some really useful tips, I'll check out all those options 😊

OP posts:
FlameIngSofa · 12/02/2019 10:56

To: le42

Sorry to inform you of this, but sleepyheads also contain flame retardant chemicals that are damaging to your child's health.

ReaganSomerset · 12/02/2019 11:22

@FlameIngSofa

From what I've read, they need to pass those guidelines if they're sold in the UK, even if manufactured abroad.

FlameIngSofa · 12/02/2019 12:17

@Reagan Somerset

The law applies to suppliers in the UK. It doesn't apply to anyone outside the UK supplying to a UK consumer - either by sending it to them or by them picking it up in the country concerned. Which means any UK consumer is legally able to buy upholstered furniture from outside the UK that doesn't comply with these laws. Obviously, that's going to be expensive for larger items like sofa; but not so much for smaller nursery products. Another bonus of buying outside the UK where prams, buggies, car seats etc are concerned is that you'll get a wider range of fabric choices - because UK manufacturers/suppliers are restricted to fabrics that can be made economically flame resistant.

le42 · 12/02/2019 13:21

@FlameIngSofa I feel like you are trolling has every thread I’ve read you have posted the same comment. Thousands of mums use sleepyheads for naps.... new parents have enough worries to deal with looking after their precious babies without you employing scare mongering tactics - I really don’t think it’s helpful at all of you. There is danger every time you leave the house.... and we live in the Safest time there has ever been in terms of education, hygiene, support.... leave people to make their own decisions about their baby’s safety.

dementedpixie · 12/02/2019 13:29

Meh, my kids have survived on their chemical infested mattresses. They have no health issues

FlameIngSofa · 12/02/2019 13:35

Well, that's okay then. However, quite a few effects of flame retardant poisoning can manifest many years later (rather like asbestos poisoning).

GemmeFatale · 12/02/2019 14:16

Flame, could you link to research published in a reputable peer reviewed journal to back up these claims?

ReaganSomerset · 12/02/2019 14:17

@FlameIngSofa

Link to academically trustworthy articles to support your last claim please.

ReaganSomerset · 12/02/2019 14:20

Crosspost. But I am more interested in this one:

However, quite a few effects of flame retardant poisoning can manifest many years later (rather like asbestos poisoning).

Valkarie · 12/02/2019 14:37

For sleeping downstairs you can just put them on a blanket, unless you have pets etc that would make it unsafe. Wait until you have the baby and then see what works best for you

Lauren83 · 12/02/2019 15:17

We didn't use a Moses although I bought one, we had a next to me in our room and during the day he slept next to me on the sofa or in a mamaroo or his bouncer

FlameIngSofa · 12/02/2019 15:37

There is a mountain of research showing the harmful effects of flame retardants. You could start here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/furniture-fire-safety-regulations-proposed-amendments - the government's consultation on changing our furniture flammability regulations, which a) proves the current main ignition test doesn't work and b) provides links to lots of papers on the harmful effects of FRs: fifth document down is the con. doc proper which includes those links, and the second is the technical paper that proves the current regs don't work.

www.pops.int – The Stockholm Convention, which is responsible for banning toxic FRs. The UK is signed up to it but a couple of months ago Defra sneaked out a paper which shows that the government intends to dodge its responsibility for safely disposing of toxic furniture at end-life (probably mainly because of the cost but also because it doesn't want everyone knowing they have huge hazardous products in the homes).

greensciencepolicy.org/topics/flame-retardants/ - US site with lots of info on FRs: the same FRs and producers who supply the UK. The GSPI was instrumental in getting the California/US tests changed so as to remove FRs from furniture, leaving the UK isolated in this respect.

www.researchgate.net/publication/321631839_Flame_retardants_in_UK_furniture_increase_smoke_toxicity_more_than_they_reduce_fire_growth_rate - paper by Profs. Hull and Stec (who is working to the Inquiry on the toxicology of the Grenfell Tower fire, which was mainly the result of burning FRs) and others which proves that a chemically treated UK sofa is actually more dangerous than an untreated EU sofa, mainly because it releases high volumes of toxic fumes such as hydrogen cyanide the moment the FRs in it catch fire.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018305282?via%3Dihub&utm_source=August+2018+FRI+2&utm_campaign=Constant+Contact+Analytics&utm_medium=email - paper by Prof. Stuart Harrad on how FRs in furniture are absorbed through the skin. Harrad also has shown that UK mothers' breast milk contains the highest levels of FRs in the world.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2998 - act by the State of California, banning FRs in children's furniture. Worth reading for its unequivocal damning of FRs.

www.toxicsofa.com - website of UK government whistle-blower with lots of useful information on this topic.

FlameIngSofa · 12/02/2019 15:49

@ReaganSomerset

An excellent book is "Toxic Cocktail" by Barbara Demeneix: www.amazon.co.uk/Toxic-Cocktail-Chemical-Pollution-Poisoning/dp/0190260939?tag=mumsnetforum-21. This should answer most of your questions.

Gobletoffire · 12/02/2019 16:17

Our baby is due next month, we’ve got a crib for our bedroom and a Moses basket for downstairs. We wasn’t intending on having a Moses basket and were just going to use carry cot part of the pram, but our Moses basket was only £23 in the Asda baby event and quite a bit larger than a lot of other Moses Baskets at expensive high street shops so thought we would give it a go! It would be too much of a faff carting the crib up and downstairs every day I think.

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