moses basket or crib or both?

[Brookstone]

for some strange reason, i've always been really sentimental about the idea of having a moses basket for a new baby. however, we have just been bought a rocking crib by my in-laws (unasked for and we never intended to have one- but it's nice all the same!).
do you think that a crib is a bit too big for a newborn?
is it worth my while now getting a moses basket as well (considering how quickly babies grow!)?
basically, should i bother with a moses basket or am i letting sentimentality win over practicality??
any advice welcome- cheers!

I LOVE my rocking crib but there are practical reasons too. It is in our bedroom next to me for the first few months and I can see the baby at all times without having to get up including the middle of the night. Its much better ventilated and its easier to use a baby's sleeping bag which I also think is fantastic (see other thread).

Brookstone

My first boy was 9lb 1oz and really did not fit comfortably in the moses basket. As a result he wouldn't sleep in there and slept with us and then went directly into his cot at 4 months. Personally I would stick with the swinging crib.

my baby was 9lb 2oz but didn't mind the moses basket.. so who knows. we loved it becasue in the early days he went to sleep downstairs where we could keep an eye on him and we could transfer it up to the bedroom (onto the basket stand) when we went to bed. (On a separate note, sleeping downstairs with us taught him to sleep through anything - including football matches with everyone getting very heated!)

don't know if i'd stretch to haaving both things though. do you have a carry cot with your pram? perhaps you can use that during the day?

I was going to say much the same as nobby- when mine were really little and having naps all the time it was really nice just to have the moses basket with me and out them in there. Again like nobby we had a stand, and had the basket next to our bed at night. It probably depends on the layout of your house- if your baby's room is right next to the living room or wherever, it's probably less of an issue. But I completely know what you mean about sentimentality, and if money isn't too much of an issue I would indulge yourself!

Put them in there, not out them in there, duh

my pram does have a carry-cot so i guess i really would be indulging myself if i got a moses basket as well!

Both my children Hated our moses basket. It was on loan from a friend, so I didn't feel too bad about it. But I would have been really t'eed off if I'd paid for it, as I don't think it got more than a dozen days use between 2 children. They both slept with us for the first 6 months as I was exclusively bfing and it was the easiest thing to do. Then they went straight into the cot.

Personally I like the idea of a moses basket too - you can move it around the house so that they are easier to watch when sleeping during the day. Rather than buying a crib, we spent a fraction of the money on a cot divider from John Lewis and it was brilliant! As you have a crib already i guess that isn?t a lot of help to you - if you really want a moses basket, they are fairly cheap, I would go get one - why not? No harm in indulging yourself a little bit, especially as the crib was free!! We were given a second hand pram that I never wanted and really regretted not being firmer and saying no - it was ok but not the same as the lovely one I had set my heart on. Now I am pregnant again we have the dilemma of whether to 'waste" money on an unnecessary item or put up with something that I really don?t like... it is lovely when people get you presents but I wish that they would be sensitive enough to just check first that they aren?t doubling up or getting something that is not really wanted, esp. when dealing with larger items - I don?t mean to be ungrateful but it can be very frustrating and irritating

Brookstone. Didn't mean to be negative - if you've got the money then buy it as that's part of the fun of having babies. Indulge yourself and enjoy the whole experience.

Is your hubby on good enough terms with his parents to see if they could take the crib back and get something else - put towards a really good pram or something?

My DD was only little when born but still hated her crib. Right from the start she moved a lot on her sleep and knocked the side. The mattress wasn't thick either so possibly not so comfy. HV said this wasquite commin - I don't know. In the end, we went and got DD a bedside crib and she went in that at 2 weeks and we never looked back. Luckily we had only borrowed the crib from a friend. DD would be fast asleep but once in the crib would be awake screaming in minutes

thanks for all your advice.
stripymouse, i completely relate to you about people buying or giving you things without checking first. both myself and dh feel the same about this. i know everyone has good intentions but i feel like i want to buy stuff myself and to have new stuff, not well-intentioned hand-me-downs, especially when you've waited so long to have a little one.
nobby, we've decided to keep the crib (still undecided on moses basket) but dh has had a word with his parents about us wanting to buy things ourselves- or at least checking with us beforehand.
it's really difficult not to offend good friends and family without sounding like an ungrateful so-and-so (that's when i chicken out and get dh to do all the dirty work!!)

Crib! I made my boys one myself

we had a moses basket and it was brilliant for her to nap in during the day down stairs and then at night we just let her go to sleep in the living room with us and then we would just carry the basket up stairs and put it on its stand.

Having said that dd was quite tiny - less than 6 lbs when she first came out of hospital and took a long time to grow - she was almost 8 months when she finally went into a cot.

We got a beautiful moses basket from John Lewis very sturdy... bought a better mattress from Mothercare with the coolmax washable cover.

IF you want one - get it.....