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Original poster

Side sleep, co sleep, cribs?

26 replies

coxsorangepippin · 13/02/2017 09:12

Hello Smile

We are expecting our first in May. Went to look at cribs but can't work out what we need! Can you help?
I want a crib I can strap to the bed and sleep with the side down (hope to con the baby into thinking it is cosleeping as our bed isn't massive). We will also get a sleepyhead. It sounds like you need to put the crib side up again if you're out of the room? And tilting sounds like a good idea but maybe a wedge is as good as a crib that tilts?

Snuzpod: side is easy to zip up and down, doesn't tilt, says you can't sleep all night with side down.
Chicco: tilts, says you can sleep with side down, but you can't zip the side up without unstrapping it.
Bednest: tilts, you can sleep
with side down, easy to zip
up and down. But the instructions say you can't put anything like a sleepyhead in it, or the sides won't be high enough (I imagine this is related to the poor baby who died, though the sides don't half-fold any more).

Meanwhile - they are also all a lot more expensive than normal cribs! I guess I could take the side entirely off a normal crib and strap it to the bed...but then wouldn't be able to leave the room if baby was in it, same as with the chicco...

Would love advice!

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seeingdots · 13/02/2017 09:29

Snuzpod say they can't sleep in it all night with the side down?! Kinda defeats the purpose then? We have a snuzpod and the side has always been down, though we've only used it when we're in the room too. I'd definitely recommend it along with the sleepyhead (we had a cheaper pur flo but same idea). DD was not convinced for the first few weeks, wanting to sleep on me all night or nestled up next to me in bed at a push but the she did get used to the crib especially after we added the pur flo to the mix. If you're planning to try to breastfeed the co-sleeper's the way to go IMO, so much easier. They do have a shelf life though. My DD's now 5 months and has got too heavy for me to smoothly and comfortably lift back into the crib from bed because of the angle.

FATEdestiny · 13/02/2017 10:19

if you're out of the room

Until baby is 6 months old you shouldn't leave baby sleeping alone at all.

Baby sleeping in the same room you are is very basic level SIDS recommendations. This includes daytime naps and evening sleeping.

For this reason (and a variety of others, including cluster feeding) babies tend to stay down stairs for naps when mum/dad is downstairs, while a little baby. Probably by the time he's grown out of a crib.

Original poster
coxsorangepippin · 13/02/2017 12:38

Thank you both!
Definitely plan on having the baby nap in the same room as me, whether in the living room or bedroom, and I do want to BF. I was thinking though that it would be ok to pop out during the nap to sign for a parcel or refill my tea, so would want to be able to zip the side back up. fatedestiny Is that unsafe or is a few mins ok?

OP posts:
Original poster
coxsorangepippin · 13/02/2017 12:40

It is one small flat so I would be a few metres away, not downstairs.

OP posts:
DomesticAnarchist · 13/02/2017 12:46

We're still using the Snuzpod (way off label) at 10 months (& DS is 81st centile). It's amazing, I love it!

Lifting the bassinet bit off was useful in the early days. That was the only time I zipped the side up.

In reality, though you're supposed to have a baby sleep in the same room as you till 6 months I was happy for both of mine to nap upstairs while I was downstairs with the monitor, after a few months.

Butterpuff · 13/02/2017 13:49

We have a Chicco and love it. Permanently attached to the bed with side down used from day 1 to almost 9 months in the end. Brilliant for night feedings when I was recovering from C-section. We were usually in the same room with baby. Occasionally not for short periods we tried to follow the SIDS guidelines but sometimes had a lapse (out of the room for a little while with side down still) Would highly recommend the Chicco it also packed down brilliantly for holidays.

Tfoot75 · 13/02/2017 14:00

We had the next2me for dc2. Didn't use it at all for daytime naps as had a rocker napper thing/pram for downstairs, but I've seen you're in a flat so makes sense to use same thing for day and nighttime sleeps from the beginning. I would have been fine with leaving baby napping in one room while i was in another on the same floor tbh. It is not the same thing as being in their own room in the middle of the night imho. So it sounds like you may be best getting the one that's easiest to zip up for day time naps. You don't know when the baby is going to roll for the first time, so can't leave unattended with the side down. Both of mine rolled from back onto their side from birth, so it could be very dangerous.

We had the side down for about 4 months, but from 3 months dc2 slept in cot in her own room in the evenings until we went to bed, as that was when she naturally wanted a 7pm bedtime and would not settle in a light, noisy room.

Also, it is not safe to use next2me beyond around 6 months as baby could sit themselves up/pull up to stand in it and tip it over.

twinmamma2b · 13/02/2017 14:02

If you have a bed with drawers or lots of space underneath, check the height restrictions carefully. We didn't realise that they don't fit high beds until our snuzpod arrived.

ScarletSienna · 13/02/2017 14:05

Wedding factor in the bed frame with our snuzpod-it actually made it not anywhere near flush with the bed! I liked how the top lifted off though and we bought a new bed Grin

ScarletSienna · 13/02/2017 14:06

*We didn't (not wedding!)

MonkeyToucher · 13/02/2017 15:15

Be warned too that the Snuzpod is really quite small - my DS has outgrown it length wise and he's only just 4 months. As it has a canvas end he was tossing and turning one nighty and rubbed a load of his hair off! Also it's a very tight squeeze to fit a sleepyhead in there, virtually impossible with the side zipped up and the Snuzpod is narrow.

I'd definitely recommend a co-sleeper if breastfeeding though, just be aware of the limitations of the Snuzpod...

Breadwidow · 13/02/2017 15:49

If you have the room in your bedroom I would not bother with a specialist co-sleeping cot and instead get a cot bed and remove one side and put it up against your bed. A cot bed is totally stable on 3 sides, unlike cots, as it's designed to with with just 2 sides (the ends) for when it's converted to a junior bed. This means you don't need to strap it to your bed, so can move it to get to stuff or cleaning. You can use blankets under the mattress to adjust height if the bed settings are not quite right to match the height if yours. I'd recommend this plan to save you some dosh and also if your baby is anything like my 2 they'll want to sleep near you for longer than you envisaged and a big co sleeping cot means you can co sleep comfortably for longer. I bought a co sleeping crib for my son, DC1. At about 7 months I tried to get him to sleep in a cot bed in his room. It worked a bit at first, but then we hit the 9 month sleep regression and he was back in our bed all the time. We didn't have enough room in our bed to be comfy so I continued to try and get him to sleep in his bed, including moving the cot into our room (but not in co sleeping mode). All my efforts failed. I was exhausted and frustrated. Another mum suggested I set up the cot bed as a co sleeper. It only fitted just but thank god we did it, we all finally got some proper sleep as had enough room!

Tabitha1983 · 13/02/2017 16:35

I've got a snuzpod...attached to bed with side permanently down...also have a sleepyhead in there which fits perfectly (although never tried to put side up)...DS goes to bed around 7-8ish and we are downstairs until 10ish...I'm happy with this as I have a camera monitor and I am also upstairs on dummy runs a few times so I know he is ok! X

Tabitha1983 · 13/02/2017 16:38

Although agree that it is small...sleepyhead fills it length wise and so does DS just about at 4 months! Without sleepyhead though I think you would get a lot longer out of it because that is what takes a lot of room at the head end x

Sunshinegirl82 · 13/02/2017 18:03

I used the sleepyhead on its own for daytime naps, just put it beside me on the sofa or on the floor, worked fine! If baby was asleep with us downstairs and we wanted to go to bed we just transported him up in the sleepyhead and into the snuzpod! We had the Snuzpod as we had very limited space beside the bed and the next to me is wider and wouldn't fit. Ds is now nearly 8 months and is now in his own room in the sleepyhead grand.

DomesticAnarchist · 13/02/2017 18:08

The Snuzpod isn't that small! My DS is 81st centile and technically is probably longer than the bed, but he sleeps curled up and so fits in. (Which is handy, given he still wakes a couple of times a night)

Regarding height, we have a high mattress and found the Snuzpod had the highest setting of the ones I read about.

Having said that, if we could have fitted even a space-saver cot in it would have been better/longer lasting. But then we would have had to buy a separate carry cot/basket for downstairs.

Original poster
coxsorangepippin · 13/02/2017 21:52

Thank you - really good advice here. Our room won't fit a cot bed so I'll get the biggest one that will fit and that I can zip up Smile

OP posts:
Bubbinsmakesthree · 13/02/2017 22:05

We used the sleepyhead in a bednest - to be honest the design of a sleepyhead is such that it would be extremely difficult indeed for a baby to roll themselves out of it, so I was not at all worried about the height of it.

pastabest · 13/02/2017 22:17

Ive pushed a 3 sided cot up against our bed (which was too tall for a chicco next to me).

Having thought about it I felt it made sense to buy something that could be used for more than a few months.

I also have a pureflo nest rather than a sleepyhead, they are only £40ish on amazon rather than £100+ for the sleepyhead which is basically the same. I use it downstairs for day time naps too.

EleanorofCastile · 13/02/2017 22:22

DD is still in her Snuzpod at nearly 4 months but she likes to stretch her arms out so although there is room for her lengthwise, she is often overlapping on to out bed now. I think the Chicco is bigger, and so in retrospect would have preferred this. I bought a Sleepyhead too, but we didn't find it made much difference to her sleep as she was sleeping ok without it so we only used it in the Snuzpod a few nights. I've never taken the top of the Snuzpod off to use separately as it's really quite heavy. I would recommend also getting a moses basket for sure. This is what our DD slept in during the day/evening in the early weeks and a few overnights. We found she settled much better in the moses basked than the Snuzpod to start with and I still use it now as she comes into the bathroom with me in that while I have a bath!

TheABC · 13/02/2017 22:27

Another option is to dispense with the bed altogether. Stick the mattress on the floor, extending it with another single or child mattress for the baby. We went with the cot-against-the-bed option, plus some custom cut memory foam to ensure there were no gaps between the mattresses (due to the bedframes).

Whatever you do, there will be a time when you wake up, wrapped around the baby in the cot. Or (when they are older), they will be starfished across the bed, leaving you scrabbling for room.

For the sake of your back, get a good sturdy sleeping structure.

silkpyjamasallday · 13/02/2017 22:32

Seconding seeingdots, we love our snuzpod, and 5 month dd was also inside a pur Flo pod in it, but she is almost too big for that so now sleeps on a sheepskin in the snuzpod, won't sleep on a hard mattress for long. Usually ends up in with us at some point in the early hours, but we keep the side down all night, didn't realise it was not recommended but until she can roll from back to front I won't zip it up, as pp said it rather defeats the purpose of easy breastfeeding and then sliding back over. We do have a low ish bed though, and the frame doesn't stick out from the mattress. The lifting cot is also a bonus, as is the fact you can rock it. And there are nice colour options! Hth

hungrywalrus · 13/02/2017 23:00

Chicco is lovely. We bought ours on eBay Grin. After around 10 weeks we zipped the side up as little monkey was doing donuts and I was afraid that our duvet would end up on his head. It's still super practical for breastfeeding even with all of the sides up.

Billi77 · 13/02/2017 23:16

We had a bednest and a coccoonababy combo. I loved sidecar sleeping so much that I now have a ikea cot with side taken off to accomodate my 8 month old DD. The original plan was to move her at 6 months once she'd outgrown bednest. Not a chance

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