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Original poster

moses basket/crib/cot advice please

22 replies

sweetkitty · 08/03/2004 16:02

Can I ask the advice of some of you mums out there? I live in a small flat and plan to have the baby in our room when it is born. We are moving within 6 months of the baby being born. The space in our room is very limited so a cot would be pushing it and the spare room is out of bounds, what would you recommend a moses basket or a crib? I first thought of a crib but Gina Ford says babies arms can get caught in them and that they should go in a big cot from Day 1 to get them used to it. Other books say moses basket. I'm really confused as to what to get now?

OP posts:

hana · 08/03/2004 16:05

sweetkitty - I would buy a moses basket. I didn't want to at first and was going to put the baby right into the crib(cot) but she was just so so little in the crib that my husband went out and bought one when she was just a few days old. She stayed in that until she was about 3 or 4 months old.

I don't know what a crib is? Is it a small cot that swings? (I am from Canada and we call a cot a crib - same thing)
I don't know what you could do once the baby outgrows the moses basket though.

Twinkie · 08/03/2004 16:06

God someone shoot Gina Ford!!

Oooh cribs would have Government Health Warnings on if this was true!!
Sorry that woman makes my blood boli!!

dinosaur · 08/03/2004 16:08

If you have a big baby, Moses baskets are a complete waste of money. Neither of my DS's was all that big but both seemed to outgrow the Moses basket within 8 weeks. This time around am going to go straight to big cot and do swaddling. JMHO.

hercules · 08/03/2004 16:13

OOh , well said Twinkie!!

hercules · 08/03/2004 16:14

BTW my dd was big and we still use her moses basket during the day and she is now 5 months old. I wouldnt leave her in it alone now though.

lydialemon · 08/03/2004 16:14

excuse typing, holding baby.

we are in similar situation in regards to space. we put ds2 in a moses basket, and then used a travel cot in our room until he was old enough to go in bunk beds with ds1. we used a travel cot so that we could take it down if needed. now we have dd, she's just come out of the moses basket and is in the tc in our room.

if money isn't a problem get a crib, i think they last longer than moses baskets (size wise)

hth

please take gf with a pinch of salt - please readsome of the old threads to see the pro snad cons of her approach!

Marina · 08/03/2004 16:18

Some babies just don't like Moses baskets, sweetkitty - and there's no way of predicting this (proud owner of two babies who both hated their Moses basket).
Personally I would go for a crib but try and get one second-hand to save costs. GF does talk rot sometimes.

zebra · 08/03/2004 16:20

How Dare You Question the Oracle!, Twinkie.
I'm confused about difference between child's cot and crib in British English, too!!!! Hana, is a Bassinet a Moses basket? Always wondered that.

twiglett · 08/03/2004 16:21

message withdrawn

Jaybee · 08/03/2004 16:31

Both my ds and dd hated the Moses Basket - I used the carrycot from the pram in out room - it was far bigger than the Moses basket and lower at the sides so it was less confined. I don't think it would last until 6 months though.
For our friends over the pond
Moses Basket = Bassinet
Cot = Crib
Crib = Small wooded cot type thing that swings between two wooden uprights.

zebra · 08/03/2004 17:42

Ahhh... ok. What Brits call a Crib, Americans call a cradle.

GeorginaA · 08/03/2004 18:20

We were going to go straight for a big cot, but ds looked so tiny in the hospital I forced dh to rush out to Mothercare and buy a Moses Basket

Was only used for a little while, but I feel it was worth it - ds would have been lost in a huge cot at that age, and it was so much easier to have him close by at night.

GeorginaA · 08/03/2004 18:20

(Oh and we successfully used GF!)

runs fast from the mumsnet mob

Davros · 08/03/2004 18:38

I much prefer a "crib" to a moses basket because....

You can see the baby in the crib without getting up
Its much better ventilated (this one bothers me in particular)
Its a bit bigger and will last longer until you want to move to full cot size when you move

Angeliz · 08/03/2004 18:45

I used a moses basket for the first few months and i placed dd in the moses basket IN the cot next to my bed at bedtime.
Then my sis got a crib and i wanted one and went and got one but it didn't seem to be used alot really!!(Agree with Twinkie about safety, if they weren't safe they wouldn't be allowed surely!!!)
Moses basket was great for me as i could have her wherever i was without lifting her from sleep!

champs · 08/03/2004 19:09

hi there, I too have small room and chose a crib, i got one that can swing or stand still and had a curtain rod/pole type thingy that can come off. DS1 had a moses basket but was abs. terrified of it, I think it was to closed up or something. DS2 was quite small at birth and i'm sure a cot would have swamped him, he is now 7mths and still is in the crib as he hasn't out grown it.

As for arms getting stuck, that was a prob for me until I just put the crib bumper there and folded it down so I can see him and him see me.

I got it from toys r us/babies r us(England) BTW.

Original poster

sweetkitty · 08/03/2004 19:12

Thanks for all the messages, I still don't know maybe I could get a crib and a cheap moses basket for during the day, there isn't much cost between the two really. Parents are paying as it's their first grandchild so cost not really an issue, I just hope when we move I don't have too many problems getting him/her in a cot bed in their own room.

I bought Gina Ford on recommendation from a friend and I found it really awful. It was like having a matron tell you what to do, I felt like I was being chastised throughout the book.

OP posts:

champs · 08/03/2004 19:51

sweetkitty-- i got the pop up samsonite travel cot for the day time cos i couldn't bare leaving baby upstairs and didn't want him lying on sofa where he could fall. it is the size of a moses basket and can be closed away when not in use.

OldieMum · 08/03/2004 20:04

I used two moses baskets. I kept one in the sitting room and the other in our bedroom, to avoid having to keep carrying it round. This worked well. If you do get a crib, I would strongly advise getting a moses basket to use for the baby's naps during the day. The GF routine of putting them in a cot in a separate room from the beginning seems cruel to me. DD moved out of the moses basket and into her cot, gradually, at about 4 months (daytime naps at first and then at night), with no problems.

starry · 08/03/2004 20:14

I'd get a moses basket second hand from the local paper or whatever (I just sold mine and someone got a bargain as it was mint condition and I sold it for £10) Anyway, that way you are not spending huge amount of money on something you may only use for 2 or 3 months.
Both my ds had a moses basket for around 3 months. Great for putting beside the sofa during the day when they nap at that young age as it spares you having to run up and down stairs or from one room to another to the cot. They are so much snugglier than a cot for new borns.
Also when the time came neither ds had a problem moving to the cot.

misdee · 08/03/2004 20:18

used a moses basket for about 4months with dd1, dd2 only fitted in it for about 6weeks. didnt buy a crib, tho did borrow one but dd2 didnt like it, so was hardly used. both were in cots in my room till they were about 1year old. i just kept a corner free for their cot and it didnt get in the way. dd1+2 both sleep quite well in their own rooms and beds now (dd2 is 18months and has a double bed lol)

slug · 08/03/2004 21:49

I had a swinging crib next to the bed for the first 4 months. The advantages were, in the winter, I could stick a foot out and give the crib a kick when she started whinging. The crib would swing and she'd go back to sleep. That's how I discovered she really could sleep through the night if she wanted to

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