How safe *are* Moses baskets?

[EllieKat]

Ok, first off, I know that they can't be implicated in cot deaths, otherwise they just wouldn't be on sale! But when you read that all cot bumpers and other soft padding should be removed from a newborn's cot because of suffocation risk, and that the airflow through the bars shouldn't be blocked off... You have to ask - why are Moses baskets so widely used, then? They have no, or little air flow, as far as I can see, and surely a baby is as likely to wriggle against the sides (which are padded, they don't sleep in bare baskets, do they?) as against a cot bumper?

Feeling a little nervous! I'm 32 weeks and we haven't got the poor little one anything to sleep in yet. We thought of a basket first off, because it'll fit by the bed, on a chest of drawers. There isn't really room in our bedroom for a small crib, let alone a cot... What are other people opting for, for the first few months?

I think...

1. They're usually fairly shallow
2. your newborn will stay where you put them in the middle of the basket, away from the edges
3. It's not a newborn's cot they have to be taken from per se, it's "under 1" I think as they start to roll/wriggle and ed up with their nose stuffed in the bumpers or tangled up in them.

(1) Shallow so the airflow is pretty good, they're not a deep stagnant pit )

The sides are padded they are lined with cotton so the air can circulate. They won't get tangled in them as they go over the sides of the cot.

they are not padded I mean

Thanks, everyone! I think I'm getting a bit paranoid and overthinking this! The one we bought does have some padding at the sides, under the cover, but apparently this is ok. Just felt a bit vunerable buying something that he was actually going to sleep in! And it was our first Big Baby Purchase...

you are planning on putting it on a chest of drawers? Why not on a proper stand?

Moses baskets have woven sides so that the air can get thru, the lining, if it goes all the way up, is only thin and its cotton and the mattress on it is quite high up really. newborns tend not to wriggle round as much as older babies. I think cot bumpers are not recommeneded for over 6 months IIRC

dh's favourite trick was swinging the babies in the baskets when they were crying. Unfortunately one night the handle broke and ds came tumbling out!

So don't let your dh swing them.

I used a cot in our room at night, and the moses basket stayed downstairs for daytime naps.

I heard that currently they are encouraging daytime naps to be in the same room you are in - so if you're downstairs don't put the baby upstairs for his/her nap. This is the latest thing I have heard about sids.

Of course a moses basket is portable so if you use it upstairs at night, bring it downstairs for the daytime if that is where you are going to be!

i'm sure they are safe, but i wonder why people use them when they only last a few weeks

speaking as someone who much to her annoyance had to put a cot together today when dd is only 5 weeks. she is only 9.5lb and doesn't fit in it anymore - i was expecting it to last for around 3 months!

Well, I need one as it is the only way I will be able to fit my LO in my room - there is just no space for a cot, so am hoping and praying it lasts in a moses basket for as long as possible before I have to move it into its own room.

sorry, just letting off steam - i'm sure yours will last longer than ours. unfortunately this sprog likes to sleep like a starfish (like her mum)

anyway, we found it safe and convenient - ours was from argos and lined with just a single cotton lining, so never worried about airflow.

as the post above says, also great for naps downstairs in the day

Sanwi, my DD is 6 months and still in her moses basket! So I take it that it depends on which one you buy! She is almost top to tail in it though - has a few weeks left I think, and is normal size for her age - 18 pounds.