Recommend a Co sleeper crib/cot

[Sparrowlegs248]

Dc2 is due in 12weeks. Ds is 15 months old and just moving to sleeping in his cot most of the night after Co sleeping. He wouldn't settle in his moses basket or cot, so Co slept from about 7 weeks I think.

I'd like to be a bit more prepared for it this time and get a proper cot to do it with. I couldn't really fit a full sized cot at the side of my bed, but would want something a decent size as likely to have a big baby again.

No experience of this, but I've heard the Chico Next To Me Cribs are really good for co sleeping

I had a bednest, got it 2nd hand off ebay and bought new mattresses from NCT.
I loved it, and will use it again for a second. There was a terrible news story about a poor baby who died in one, but I seem to remember they hadn't been put in it properly, or hadn't followed guidelines.
Anyway despite that sad story I'd still recommend it.
She was out of it by 5.5m
It has good resale value. Brand new they're about £250, I got mine for £150 I think. You can hire them from NCT with new mattress for £90 I think for 8 months, or a year?

Sorry just saw the last bit of your post. Maybe that won't be as ideal as I thought.

We've got the Chico Next To Me, it's working well for us. The mattress is quite hard and we've actually put a sleepyhead in it at the moment. DS is 8 weeks and 12lb 4oz and has plenty of space for now, he'll need to come out of the sleepyhead in a month or so but should then have space again in the crib although I don't know if it will last him until 6 months - mainly because I don't think it's suitable once he can sit and move but I think that's the case with a lot of the cosleepers.

Thanks, I read the Bennett story when ds was about 2 weeks old and sobbed and was put off. But you are right, the findings were baby on front, unsupervised, with it tilted so she managed to get her head over the side (which should have been up) so sad. Just bloody awful.

Was your dd very big? 5 months would be OK.

Bednest was great for us - had two babies in it for 3 months. The tragedy happened because the parents used a mattress that was far too thick, meaning the baby was too high in the cot and close to the rod when the side was folded half down. They'd put the baby on its tummy and left her unattended with the side half down, which the instructions say not to do. I think it's since been modified. Always best to use the mattress supplied with the product where possible.

I hired a BedNest. Brilliant.

I would remove a chest of drawers from your bedroom to fit a full sized cot in, if it was me. The benefit of having something big enough to actually lie right next to baby in there is invaluable. I'd go so far as to say a cot bed is better than a normal cot, because they are bigger.

Bigger and more space in the cot is better imo, right from newborn. So it become a an extension to your bed.

Then remove one side off the cot (most are flat pack and this is easy to do) and wedge it up to your bed. This is more easily done in a smaller room because you can wedge cot up to a walk, then wedge your bed up to cot so they don't move away from each other.

A rolled up towel is usually enough to bridge the gap between the bed and cot mattresses.

On from this and if you are looking for what I view as 'the perfect option', try to find a drop-side cot bed. Dripside cots are not avaliable often anymore. They are considered safe and have the UK kitemark, but USA have seemed dropsides unsafe so few manufacturers make them now.

The resin dropside cots are great for cosleeping is they give loads of extra options.

Newborn - dropside removed, mattress heights match, cosleeper cot

Baby starts rolling - drop side back on but perminantly in dropped position. Mattress heights match. This gives a small 15cm barrier, still easy to reach over and comfort baby but defines baby's space as seperate to yours.

Baby starts sitting up - drop side still but perminantly in dropped position. Cot mattress dropped to middle height. Means you can still easily reach over the low barrier into the cot to settle, but baby now can't fall out when sitting up.

• Baby crawling - drop side back on but perminantly in dropped position. Mattress dropped to lowest setting but still next to bed. The drop side means it's much easier to reach into the cot while lying in your bed with your eyes closed and still half asleep

Baby pulling to standing - now you have to raise the drop side for safety. In the raised position the us feel the drop side is unsafe because of the risk of it unexpectedly dropping. So there was no risk when it was dropped perminantly. You could change to a non-dropside cot (your eldest cot?) at this point if you wanted.

Then start the process of moving cot away from your bed and eventually into baby's own room.

I realise I've written an essay. Sorry for waffling

I hired a bednest. Brilliant - but DS was huge (91st centile for weight and 98th for length) and had grown out of it by 4/5 months old.

What happened to that poor little baby was utterly tragic, I'm another one who wept reading about it. But sadly it was down to the parents not following the safety guidelines rather than the product itself. The cribs have also now been modified to prevent the sides being half folded down.

Not actually a cot or crib but we used a sleepyhead in the middle of the bed inbetween me & DH for a good 4-5 months

My DD was between 95-98th centile and was fine until 5m. Tbh the only thing that prompted the move to cot was her arms sticking out and not really the length of her.

Thanks all. I thought it made more sense to just use an actual cot but it would involve no access to wardrobes, or....heaven forbid, swapping sides with husband and he's a bit particular. Annoying however it would mean he could get in and out of bed easily and I could have the cot wedged against the wall. I will broach the subject.

Otherwise, might go for a Bednest hire.

DH and I have swapped sides of the bed for the first year with each of our children.

Each time we swapped sides (four times) we've said we'll just stay this way round after the cot moves out, because neither of us are really that bothered about sides of the bed. But each time, including the latest, we have moved back to "our" side. So maybe there is a psychological pull to one side or the other, even if we are not sure why.

Anyway, yeah swap sides of the bed. It really isnt a big deal just for a short year within your marriage.

I have to say I'm not a massive fan of our Bednest. The side that folds down has a hard plastic edge - it's too uncomfortable to sleep on top of, so I have to sleep about ten inches away from the edge of the bed so it's less easy than I thought it would be to reach in and comfort the baby while lying down. It also means we can't accommodate DH's usual habit of sleeping down the middle of the bed so I sometimes wake up either having to prod him back on to his side or having to manoeuvre off the frame that's digging in and woken me up! I seem to be the only person having this problem so maybe it's me - but do take a look at how the cot side will encroach on your sleeping space.

We had a snuzpod which I loved. DS fit in it til 7 months (50th centile) and we used a sleepyhead in it for 4 months. Can get on eBay for about £60 and resell for the same once you're done with it (not sure why they have much better resale value than the others).

With DC2 I had cotbed sidecarred to double bed. Now I have a superking I've borrowed a chicco next to me and brought new mattress. I have no idea where he will sleep after he outgrows it. We simply have no ability to squeeze in a cot!

Also my DH is refusing to move too. Shame really as means radiator can't be used in our bedroom as crib on that side. We'll see......