Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

Original poster

Baby's arrival - cots/cribs/moses baskets

23 replies

degroote78 · 07/08/2009 11:47

I am a little confused about what I should get for my baby to sleep in when they first come home. How long should they be in a moses basket or is it better to go straight to a crib? Or can she go straight into a cot? This is my first baby and I would appreciate some advice from those of you who have been there before

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

makipuppy · 07/08/2009 11:56

Well it's my first too, so I speak without authority, but apparently they like being in something smaller than a crib at first. I've just got a lovely moses basket from John Lewis, £29 quid - it comes with a mattress. I also bought (tiny!) fitted sheets and some lovely coloured cellular blankets.

And because I'm especially twee and cutesy, I'm going to decorate the inside of the basket with photos and materials etc.

My friend put hers in a banana box though, and she was happy.

Enjoy

makipuppy · 07/08/2009 11:57

Also, the moses basket has handles, so you can carry it from room to room with you and keep it next to your bed at night.

AddictedtoCrunchies · 07/08/2009 11:58

DS was in a moses basket for 8 weeks and then he was too long for it so I put him in his cot.

But I rolled up two towels and put them either side of him so he didn't feel so lost. He was also swaddled until he was 4 months or so. He liked that.

LeninGrad · 07/08/2009 12:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wigeon · 07/08/2009 12:02

Another vote for a Moses. Mine went into the big cot at 5 months I think. I got mine for a tenner from a NCT nearly new sale.

Also, if you are planning on having the baby in your room for the first weeks / months then a Moses is more practical - takes up less room, you can have it right by the bed so you can scoop the baby up for night time feeds without getting out of bed, and as makipuppy says, you can carry the Moses round the house for when the baby is asleep in the day or early evening but you want to keep him / her close.

Also, they look very very cute in a Moses...

craftynclothy · 07/08/2009 12:05

We had a cot and a moses basket. During the day we had the moses basket downstairs on a stand so baby could be in that when she slept. At night we would take the moses basket upstairs and put it into the cot. Then when she outgrew the moses basket we just put her into the cot (which she was kinda already used to cos the moses basket had always been put in it iyswim)

Will do same thing again this time.

Oh and our moses basket was from John Lewis and about £30, definitely recommend it (but we got the stand from a local shop)

PrammyMammy · 07/08/2009 12:09

Moses basket at first i'd say.
They are so light and handy to transport around the house, so you don't need to go back to bedroom when baby falls asleep.
We put ds in his cot at 5 months because he started sitting up and rolling over, but he still fitted in his moses basket at that point. We had a mamas & papas one witha rocking stand. it was lovely.

Wigeon · 07/08/2009 12:13

Actually, think we moved DD out of the Moses sooner than 5 months, and then had her in a big cot in our room (only just fitted) and then moved her + cot out at 5 months.

Agree with LeninGrad re decorating the inside of the Moses - won't last long as baby will go "mmm, must put that in my mouth": decoration ruined and baby choking not a good combination.

MrsBadger · 07/08/2009 12:17

NB don't bother buying special fitted sheets for the moses basket - pillowcases are just the right size to slip the mattress inside and you can use the mistmatched ones from the airing cupboard.

the JL £29 one is the best value one out there IMO

and Mali, just make sure whatever you use is removable and washable for when he's sick on it... personally I think a mobile would be a better use of effort - you can get brilliant ones that you can put your own cards or photos on thus or similar

Original poster

degroote78 · 07/08/2009 13:26

Thank you for all your advice. JL moses basket it is and then a cot (will not bother with the crib)

OP posts:

makipuppy · 07/08/2009 14:41

ooh that's a lovely mobile MrsB, will it fit on a moses basket?

Take your points re decorating the basket, the idea came from my miriam stoppard bible book but I think she just said photos of mum and dad and I rather ran with it...

MrsBadger · 07/08/2009 14:53

rofl re Miriam Stoppard - go to the lib and get some other books to compare her to else you end up believing every word she says

that mobile hangs from the ceiling so you can put it anywhere - there are lots you can clip your own cards into, that was just the first link I found

MrsBadger · 07/08/2009 14:55

(NB the most beautifully-designed mobiles in the world, not just for babies, are from Flensted - we still have this one up in the playroom)

makipuppy · 07/08/2009 15:09

But I LIKE Miriam Stoppard. I know she's a bit old fashioned, and there are lots of bits I gloss over, but it's very practical..

Which book would you recommend MrsB?

MrsBadger · 07/08/2009 15:25

the free NHS 'Pregnancy' book (purple and green cover)
Libby Purves - How Not To Be A Perfect Mother
Naomi Wolf - Misconceptions (NB this is not cosy or comfortable reading, approach only when you are feeling strong)
any of the Ina May Gaskin ones

but what I really meant was that by sticking to one single book you might be limiting your views on parenting and indeed parenthood - there are as many ways of doing things as there are mothers so don't feel you have to do it Miriam's way - find your OWN way!

So read (and discard if necc) anything and everything you can find at the lib or in a charity shop - I looked at the Baby Whisperer, Gina Ford [hiss, spit] and What To Expect and tbh it was useful to have something to define myself as against and say 'well I'm certainly not doing it that way!'.

LeninGrad · 07/08/2009 15:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

makipuppy · 07/08/2009 15:39

Thanks for those suggestions - I'll have a good nose through.

heron22 · 07/08/2009 15:59

mrsb what did you not like about GF book? i have got her book and both my babies did very well. i adjusted her suggested routines slightly.

heron22 · 07/08/2009 16:00

degrotee i had an amby natures nest hammock for my LO. and he loved it.

WaitingForVino · 07/08/2009 16:08

moses basket = waste of money IMHO.
they are advertised as lasting something like 6 months but I have yet to see a real baby last longer than 2 months in one - they start waving hands and then brushing against the weave and it's just too small.

Better off swaddling and doing other things (rolled up towels) while inside a bigger cot.

moses baskets with baby inside are also too heavy to tote around!

MrsBadger · 07/08/2009 16:08

GF just didn't click with me
I resented her dictatorial tone and preferred to be a bit more instinctive.
I am not a routiney person and it is absolute fact that tiny babies should be fed on demand, not to a schedule.

she also gives some other really shoddy advice about breastfeeding

so we didn't get on

traceybath · 07/08/2009 16:09

I've used for ds2 and dd1 a bedside cot and imo is the best thing ever.

Makes bf at night a doddle and minimises sleep deprivation.

LeninGrad · 07/08/2009 19:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Flip