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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

tiny baby in a big cot?

39 replies

mogwai · 12/04/2005 17:58

I'm wondering whether it's ok to put a newborn into a full sized cot. I'm thinking that, logically, one matress is no different from another, and I'd like baby to get the idea that our bedroom is not his/her bedroom from the very beginning, so want to avoid using the moses basket in our room.

Any thoughts/experiences?

OP posts:

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colditz · 12/04/2005 18:49

mogwai, you might find when you have the baby that you don't want to put it in another room. When my ds was tiny I wouldn't let him out of my sight in case someone climbed through the window and stole him to sell hi9m on the black market.

Well, he was so perfect it was a distinct probability!

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NannyJo · 12/04/2005 18:51

i put DS in own room at 6 weeks and he was tiny (premature)in big cotbed. He was fine so we were all happy. he slept better because i wasn't near, thats what were trying to encourage in the long run so if baby is happy then why not?

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tamum · 12/04/2005 18:53

The advice from the FSID is, and has been for a number of years, that a baby should share the parents' room for the first 6 months. This is obviously not based on anything as ridiculous as the idea of the parents waking up just as the baby is about to die, it is based on good epidemiological research. It is thought, as MTS and Socci have said, that the breathing of the parents, and their exhaled gases, triggers a breathing response in babies with apnoea. I find it rather depressing that a load of GPs apparently know nothing about this.

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Roobie · 12/04/2005 19:03

Didn't realise that was the advice Tamum..... sounds a reasonable hypothesis re the breathing etc. I'm sure most people aren't aware though, preferring to keep baby close on the paranoid "just in case they stop breathing" principle (although obviously it can be nice to have baby close anyway!)
Still think it's down to personal preference though and what works for you .... it's certainly not a issue that lends itself to value judgements.

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charellie · 12/04/2005 19:14

What about when you put the baby up to sleep for their afternoon nap in the day? Mine were doing this from around 4-6 weeks and I was downstairs so they could have been at risk of cot death then.

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vict17 · 12/04/2005 19:17

Mogwai - we put our ds into a full sized cot in his own roomas soon as we came out of hospital - when he was 2 days old. We don't have room in our bedroom for a moses basket. There is a single bed in his room that at first I thought I would sleep in to be near him but soon realised I wanted to be with dh. We didn't need a baby monitor as our upstairs is small and I heard every noise anyway (maternal instinct!! - dh didn't!!). Ds is a fine, happy baby and no one ever called me cruel for doing this. Do what feels right for you. Ypu can always change things later on

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Roobie · 12/04/2005 19:18

Yes, cot death can strike at any time not just at night .... but to be fair I don't think the own room/our room issue is particularly to do with preventing cot death - it's more to do with how you choose to manage and nurture your little one.

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vict17 · 12/04/2005 19:20

Oh and I was always there for him - Twiglett says 'IMO Baby's need to be taught that when they call you will always be there from the beginning' - I still managed to walk the few steps to his room to be there whenever he called

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philippat · 12/04/2005 19:22

dd went straight into cot, I never quite saw the point of a moses basket. She did need to be gently swaddled for the first couple of weeks though in order to sleep happily.

Cot was in our room, though, was until she was about 10 months (which was probably a bit late as I think we started waking each other up by then!).

Are you planning on breastfeeding mogwai? If so, it is SO much easier just to reach out, grab the kid, shove them on and doze than make the whole effort of getting out of bed and going to another room (if you're bottle feeding you have to be more awake to sort it out though so that will probably make less difference). I think having them in the same room as you until they are only waking once a night for a feed makes your life as a mum much easier.

If you are really worried about you dh being disturbed (I'll be fairly amazed if you still feel that way after its born, but hey), then I'd suggest HE sleeps elsewhere initially instead of the baby.

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tiredallthetime · 12/04/2005 20:01

ds was in our room for the first two weeks, but i am a very light sleeper and kept being woken by snuffles, cot death is multifactorial as i saw it and decided that if i became clinically exhausted and depressed that would not be good for him either so, he went into a cot in his own room at about two weeks - happy mummy happy baby

he was fine and i got some sleep and managed the breast feeding as feeding in bed never worker out for me as he would fall off when i fell asleep

best of luck with your baby whatever you do

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Katemum · 12/04/2005 20:03

I had a moses basket which ds flatly refused to sleep in so put him in his cot at a few days old and he settled much better. The cot was in my room for the first 5 months till we were disturbing him. He was more than happy to sleep in the cot when he was tiny as long as there was something in there that smelled of mummy. I used to tuck my t-shirt along side.
I really think that this will be a decision you will make when your little one is born and it will be more about what works for and settles the baby than what you want. hth.

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RudyDudy · 12/04/2005 20:05

DS had to move out of his moses basket at 2 weeks as he kept hitting the sides with his arms and waking himself up! We couldn't move his cot-bed out of his room so be default he ended up in a very big bed in his room and frankly couldn't have been happier - slept in a big star shape!

I didn't worry about him as we used a monitor with sensor mat and alarm.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

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Mud · 12/04/2005 20:07

Oh my I so remember that feeling before I had any children, that "I know the theory, I've read the books, I have loads of common sense and instincts, I am going to do this"

Just you wait mogwai till your baby is born then decide how you feel (and realise quite how much you've forgotten)

I actually am saddened that a GP would not be aware of the proximity to parents / SIDs research that has been carried out in the UK and NZ. I don't think its a case of he and his colleagues 'missed that lecture' rather that they are failing to keep up to speed.

Good luck with your baby. Try not to get to upset with other people's opinions before the birth 'cos it gets a whole lot worse afterwards

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bambi06 · 12/04/2005 20:10

put her in a carrycot or moses basket in the cot , that way she still feels more snug and not lost in such a big space,plus its not such a big shock once it comes to her having to move into her own cot. alternatively depending on the width of the cot you can put her sideways in the cot ie head and toes to the sides as she cant move much that way and personally i had both mine in a cot/carrycot from very early as they used to keep me awake with all the snuffling and i would end up listening on edge whereas if they`re in the other room you tend to get more sleep apart from feeding of course but its up to how you feelis right..