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Pregnancy

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Original poster

What bedding ?

24 replies

msjayjay · 17/04/2010 15:59

Hi I have tried to find out advice on this and was wondering if anyone can help.

I am planning a moses basket for when baby arrives but I am unsure what bedding and amounts I need. I dont want to overbuy as on a tight budget but I dont want to be washing all the time. Has anyone any guidelines / advice ?

and at the same time what are muslin squares used for ?

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displayuntilbestbefore · 17/04/2010 16:02

If you're on a tight budget, don't bother with a moses basket at all - waste of money IMVHO.
I have had 3 DCs and all of them went straight into the proper cot.
Buying a moses basket and the associated moses basket-sized bedding will add at least another £60 or so to your costs which IMO could be better spent elsewhere.

Muslin squares are for everything - mopping up dribble, wiping up milk regurgitations after feeding, wiping grubby faces and little sticky fingers...you name it, they can be used for most things but you need lots of them to begin with when your baby is tiny as they help protect your clothes from getting covered in milky deposits every time you hold your baby and they are good to have at hand for mopping up when there are milk spills

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 17/04/2010 16:07

I will tell you what I used.

We bought a pram with just the carry cot bit, not the pushchair part as we knew we would go onto using a buggy.

The carry cot was great as the baby slept in it in the day and if we went out and also at night. Bedding used was a mattress from Mothercare, pram fitted sheets, pram flat sheets and pram cellular blankets.

Once the baby was big enough I had a cot mattress from John Lewis then fitted sheets, flat sheets and cellular blankets.

Muslin squares are great for all sorts of things. If baby was likely to dribble then place one under their heads in the pram so you only have to change that and not the sheet.

HTH.

cinnamongreyhound · 17/04/2010 16:37

I never used a moses basket for my DS and don't intend to for this one. Partly because of money but also for the amount of space they take up. He slept in a bouncy chair during the day until he was about 12weeks and then slept in his cot for daytime naps too.

DH has a DS from previous relationship and insisted muslins where a total waste of time and money! After a few days of my very sicky DS I borrowed some and after that I would recommend them to anyone and went out a few days later to buy my own! You can put them on you when you burp the baby so if it is sick you are protected and they wipe up pretty much anything! I had one in my changing bag, in the car and in most rooms of my house. Pretty much redundant now DS is nearly 3 but amazingly useful until he was 12months+.

displayuntilbestbefore · 17/04/2010 16:41

cinnamon - I still use muslins and ds2 is almost 3 too! We use them, damp, for wiping sticky hands and faces after mealtimes, have them handy for emergency handkerchiefs in the night, emergency sun hats on the beach - I vow never to get rid of all my muslins as a small supply can be handy for ever after

MadameCheese · 17/04/2010 18:22

For sheets I used pillow cases and swaddled DS in small fleece blankets from sainsbury's (don't think they were that pricey) but you can get cheaper I'm sure. Muslins for general mopping up of oral secretions.

Octaviapink · 17/04/2010 19:14

Definitely don't bother with the Moses basket, but a good bouncy chair/ rocker is worth its weight... You don't need bedding for it (maybe a swaddley blanket) and it'll last much longer than the Moses basket. You can also buy a big fleece throw and cut it up into blankets - MUCH cheaper than buying special sized blankets!

@MadameCheese Pillowcases are an absolutely genius idea! We had a Nature's Nest last time (going to use it again this time) but bedding in it was a total mare because it's tricky to access and we didn't have sleeping bags. I'm going to use your pillowcases trick!

I didn't use muslins at all, because I got an enormous supply of more-or-less knackered small towels from my mother. You WILL need absorbent materials!

displayuntilbestbefore · 17/04/2010 20:51

Pillowcases - brilliant tip! I shall pass that on to my friend who does have a Moses basket!

MadameCheese · 18/04/2010 09:41

Yay!

DesperateHousewife21 · 18/04/2010 09:56

So pillowcases can be used as a sheet for a moses basket?

I was also wondering about sheets etc, DP's dad kindly bought us a moses basket but I had no idea what kind of sheets can be used for it.

In that case will cheapo pillowcases from primark be ok to use in the moses basket?

MadameCheese · 18/04/2010 15:34

Yes, and what I did was put the mattress pad thingy inside rather than tucking it round so that it was more likely to stay in place.

DesperateHousewife21 · 18/04/2010 16:56

Yeah madame thats how I was picturing it in my head! Thanks for the advice, it seems a much cheaper option seeing he will only be in the moses basket a short while.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 18/04/2010 17:33

I have been reading this thread with interest as I too don't know what I am doing. I have a moses basket and am not sure what to use as a blanket?

cellular blanket? - I would have to buy but the other posts seem to suggest that is what I should use

-grobag? - Again would have to buy

knitted cotton blanket?
quilt? (not duvet)
v soft sort of furry (but not fleece) blanket?

Nothing

Opinions welcome

LooL00 · 19/04/2010 08:56

i did the pillowcase thing like MrsCheese, but had 2 fitted sheets and used the pillowcases as spare. Then for ds (winter baby) we swaddled him in a cellular blanket and tucked him in with another blanket (used hand towels for spares!) and for dd (summer 2006 v.hot)we landed up swaddling her in a big piece of cotton jersey cut from an old t-shirt. Grogag now make something like this but i think dc3(due July) will probably land up wrapped in a t-shirt. both moved into grobags at 8 weeks or so and stayed in them til age 3.We used the moses basket for about 4 months.

stuffedmk · 19/04/2010 11:51

Pillow cases are a fab idea...will remember that one
Muslin squares were essential with DS as he was very sicky.
I had a moses basket for DS but it was given to me so cost nothing.
I have thrown out everything that I had for DS (nearly nine years ago) except his pram. This has a carry cot part so I may well be getting a new mattress and just using that for both going out and sleeping to start with.

Pootles2010 · 19/04/2010 12:16

Itsallgoingtobefine - i may be wrong here, but i thought you couldn't use grobags at first? I get really confused as well. All the shops seem to see quilt type things for cots, but i thought you couldn't use them?

I am considering putting him straight into big cot in his own room, is this really mean? I believe official advice is to keep them in your room, but my parents and a few other couples we've spoken to said its good to get them straight into their own room - help!

NoTeaForMe · 19/04/2010 12:27

I love the grobags! Can you use them from birth? I was under the impression you couldn't. I don't know why you wouldn't be able to and I don't know why I think this!! - Any ideas?

whingeomatic · 19/04/2010 12:41

I bought grobags (well, mothercare baby sleeping bags) for both dds but used sheets & blankets for a while until they got a bit bigger (tended to get a bit lost in them!!) If you have a non-wriggly baby then sheets blankets are fine - both my girls used to kick off the blankets & woke up cold so sleeping bags worked for us...

Quilts/duvets are not recommended for under 12 months as it is harder to control the baby's temp.

Pootles - DD1 had a moses basket in our room (waste of money IMVHO) so I put dd2 straight into a cot, again in our room. It makes the night feeds so much easier and the transition to their own rooms went fine with no problems...

Pootles2010 · 19/04/2010 14:08

Whinge- do you think we'd be ok with cot in other room? We couldn't fit the cot in our room unfortunately. I was toying with the idea of sleeping in baby's room with him (on floor) whilst dp sleeps in our room - as dp won't be able to feed him anyway (planning on bfing) makes sense for him to get some sleep at night?

This may be a stupid idea...

Octaviapink · 19/04/2010 14:34

Pooties, it's not so much that it's mean to put them in another room (and ignore previous generations on this - they tend to think that keeping baby close to you is 'spoiling' them - I had the same with dc1 from both mother and mother-in-law! You will NOT be setting yourself up for hard times later!) it's more that it's better for them and for you. Your breathing regulates theirs, reducing the SIDS risk and you get quite tuned in to the baby simply by being near him/her 24 hours a day. It makes getting up in the night for breastfeeds a lot easier too! If a Moses basket would fit next to your bed that's a better option than a full size cot in another room (though I'm not normally a fan of Moses baskets) - even if it's just for the first few months.

And you needn't worry about your DH waking up when you're feeding... in my experience and that of my friends, men excel at sleeping through night-time wake-ups!

stuffedmk · 19/04/2010 14:49

Pootles I had DS in our room for a few nights, but put him in his moses basket in his cot in his room after that and he was much more settled...he was across the hall and we had a baby monitor so couldn't see the harm.
I did bottle feed though so I had to get up and heat milk up etc. This time around I hope to breast feed and keep baby in our room for a while, as much as anything to limit disruption (to me) with feeds.

Pootles2010 · 19/04/2010 19:13

Thanks for your replies! I think we might play it by ear a bit... we have a carrycot that came with the pushchair anyway so i can always use that instead of moses basket i suppose.

Tryingnottoswear · 20/04/2010 00:10

I really enjoyed using a Moses basket - my little boy looked so cute in it! And now the basket is used to hold his toys, so personally I think they are useful for all sorts of things, even when LO has grown out of it.
You mentioned using a Primark pillowcase? Only thing I would check is that it is 100% cotton, not some polycotton mix!
Word of warning though - this may be my own paranoia showing, but I was wary of placing the Moses basket too near our bed at night, in case I kicked some bedcovers off and they fell on top of the basket! I would keep a little distance if I were you!
ENJOY YOUR BABY!

Ozziegirly · 20/04/2010 04:30

Over here in Oz you can hire moses baskets, and other bits and bobs - would that be an option?

It's what I'm planning on doing as we can't fit the cot in our bedroom but want the baby in with us, but I dón't want to waste money on buying something that will be used for such a short time, and they are pretty pricy out here.

Also hiring a bouncy chair and 0-6 months car capsule.

lifeinthesun · 20/04/2010 07:37

I used a grobag from around 10 weeks. think you can use them from birth but depends on size of baby. You just want to make sure that their head can not slip down through the opening. I agree that Moses baskets can be a waste of money if you are on a tight budget and you are fine to use the carrycot from your buggy and a cot. My DD went straight into a cot and was fine. Was summer and she loved having more room to stretch out and I felt she got more air and less hot.

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