Cots and moses baskets

[Gideons]

My wife and i are expecting an arrival in late Jan and are starting our shopping now.
Any advice on cots. Also, do we really need a moses basket or crib to start with?
Thanks

Hello Gideons. You'll probably want to have some kind of smaller bed for the baby when it first arrives, because they'd look tiny in a huge cot! We put our daughter in her cot after only a few weeks because she cried all the time and seemed to be bashing her hands and feet off the sides of the carrycot (she continued to cry, by the way). My friend had her baby in the Moses basket for months, though. My advice would be to borrow one if you can, not only because they're quite expensive for something you might only use for a short time, but also they're really bulky to store afterwards. Ditto baby bath. Check out the other threads about products you'd never bought etc. Good luck!

Hi Gideons, congratulations on your wife's pregnancy, I hope all is going well for her. Definitely use a Moses basket for the first 3 months or so, but as Rosy said, try to borrow one or buy one second hand as they outlive their usage after about 3 months.
Don't buy an expensive cot, they all do the same thing after all! And as the baby will probably only be in it for 2 years, I would buy it second hand too, so long as it conforms to all the safety standards (i.e. no bumpers and make sure that you cannot fit a coke can through the bars - buy a new mattress too).

Blackout blinds for the nursery are a must, especially for the summer! See the previous discussions on best gifts for a newborn and so on. You'll find loads of useful information on here if you trawl round a bit. Good luck!

Hi Gideons, there's so much stuff out there isnt there?! It really is down to what feels right for you.

Baby one had carry cot next to our bed until he outgrew it at 6 months, moved rooms and went into proper cot. The carry cot was good, as he got used to it at night and then in the day time I would attach it the wheels for walks, sleeping in the garden and wheeling him round the sitting room in the late dark hours!

Baby two had mothercare swinging crib, slightly bigger, next to our bed that worked really well before he went into cot.

Depends on if your wife will be feeding all through the night and wants baby close by, or whether baby will be going into its own room early on. Its just so hard to know at this point isnt it.

I always thought Moses baskets looked lovely, but they do have a short shelf life, so I would echo, borrow one if you can. Always several at my NCT Nearly New Sales.

Congratulations! Just a quick note to say that current guidelines recommend that a baby sleeps in the same room as its parents for the first six months, rather than on its own. Click here, on safe sleeping for more information.

Regarding Moses Baskets, buy a cheap or borrow one, our little one couldn't sleep in his, as he was too big!! It took us over a week to work out that his screaming at night was due to a lack of space around him!

A good quality cot or cot bed is a much better investment.

My son wouldnt sleep in his moses basket or his swinging crib, so I would borrow one first. Perhaps a travel cot. Some people I know had a really old small type cot/moses basket (bit hard to explain but solid in build) and he would quite happily sleep in that.

I would agree with the borrowing of a Moses basket. Luckily we didn't buy one because our ds was too big at birth so it would have lasted about a week. Did have a swinging crib and he slept in that for six months in our room but as soon as we put him in the cot bed in his own room he slept much better as he had more room. I think we also disturbed him. See how big the baby is before you buy anything and then while your wife is in hospital you can run round like a blue a*d fly getting things! We also bought the next size up baby gros which turned out a blessing because he didn't fit in the newborn ones! My theory is they always grow into things so buy the next size up!

Both of mine spent their early months in the carrycot from the pram perched on 2 chairs next to the bed.

I have mine in a swinging crib borrowed from my sister. Its main advantage is that it only requires you to put a foot out of bed to get it swinging and calming baby. I can do it in my sleep by now.

We also borrowed a moses basket which was at the end of the bed and ds was in it until he outgrew it at 3 months and went straight into his cot (also borrowed) in his own room (but note Suedonim's post about keeping baby's in the parent's room until 6 months).
We did buy new mattresses for both the moses basket and cot as 2 children had had the use of them before and I wanted to err on the side of caution.

I would also echo what others have said about borrowing a moses basket - it's scarey how quickly they out-grow them!
There's a website I can't recommend highly enough for buying baby products - kiddicare.com. No I don't work for them, BTW!

congratulations gids and mrs.
We had a swinging crib that had been my nieces and she had never slept in it.Our son wouldn't sleep in it either.However he did sleep like a top in the carry cot that came with his pram and stayed in it until 4 months when he went into his big cot.a carry cot is good cos if they fall asleep downstairs then its easy to carry them up stairs at bedtime.

Help! Ds is 4 mnths and 70cm long and has grown out of his moses basket. He needs to sleep in it during the day in our room as the building site outside his room is rather noisy, to say the least! My dilemma is this: I don't want to move his cot into our room (for obvious reasons), I don't want to have to put a travel cot up and down every day (ditto), plus he doesn't like his travel cot yet. So what do I do? Are there any larger than normal moses baskets around? I don't mind buying one as the one we have now is borrowed. Any bright ideas?

How about putting him down in your bed with pillows on either side to stop him rolling off?

I know it sounds a bit wierd - but I actually put him in our ensuite bathroom on the floor. You see, there's no windows there so it's extremely dark - perfect for those 2 hour matinee moments for mum! Seriuosly - I have a blackout blind for our room, but it doesn't really fit and in the summer I'm sure it will be getting lighter in there. I need asolution for the rest of the year - until the building work's finished. I could try it, but I reckoned he felt more secure in a basket!

We used to let ds sleep in his pram or car seat in the day for naps. would that not be easier to move into your bedroom?

Incidently, I know different makes say different things but ours & my SIL travel cot stated it wasn't to be used by babies under 6 months of age (don't know why) but maybe you should check yours before you use it anyway.

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The Great Little Trading Company do a pop up travel bed - it says in the blurb that it is suitable until baby can sit up unaided, so I guess that could take you anywhere up to 9 months. It looks nice, pale blue colour with a sort of hood, nice deep sides and collapses into a handy carry pack. Cost was £24.99.

I know GLTC has got some stick recently, but I had a parcel from the other week and was very pleased. It turned up on time, no hassle, and the goods I ordered were very good quality. And I ordered via Mumsnet and got 10% off!

Go to the website and type in 'pop up travel bed', the image on the screen is a round bag, but when you click on more details it shows you how it opens up.

Tee hee, that had crossed my mind, too, Bloss, as well as putting baby to sleep in the bath, suitably lined again, of course.

Or a big drawer from a chest of drawers lined with padding, blankets etc.