bedside cots- having a planned c-section

[snala]

Im having a planned c-section with child number 2 in a few weeks and we are looking at bedside cots to help at night but cant believe how expensive they are.
Has anyone got experience with them? Are they worth the money? How well do they fit to the adult bed? HELP!!!!

We got given a normal cot which happens to work as a bedside cot. So not much help apart from to say I LOVE mine and would definitely pay more for a bedside cot if I had to choose again.

For the first few months I had DS in much closer to me, he would feed and then fall asleep using my boob as a pillow, so I didn't want to move him into the cot. It came in very useful as a place to store wipes, nappies, spare blankets, clothes, drinks & snacks (chocolate mostly!)

Then at about 3 months DP cleared it all out and insisted DS slept in there (lol) I was a bit the first night, but it was so nice being able to sleep on my front, back, opposite side, cuddled up to DP if I wanted... and then when DS woke in the night I would just scoot him over to me to feed. I think it's great - you get the best of both worlds, being able to sleep in what position you like, not worry about alcohol (if I have a drink I make sure he sleeps the whole night in the bedside cot) but also really easy access and lovely snuggles too

Have you read Three In A Bed? I think there is something in there about co-sleeping post-section.

Thanks for that. Ill look it up.

i had my moses basket right up by the bed (at same level) and it was ok, didnt get round to ordering other type in time! for me, after c section, it was less getting her in/out of moses basket and more not being able to lift myself up easily. large scarf attached to bedpost helped..

I had an elective cs, used a moses basket, and getting myself or the baby up wasn't a problem at all. Having said that, bearing in mind I still have a 2 year old in my bed, a bedside cot would have been a godsend, cs or not!

I had emergency cs and our dd now 7.5 months still sleeps in our bed. We had both Moses basket at side of bed and bedside cot and i found it incredibly difficult to move/lift her in and out for feeding. Did not want to rely on DH to help so she slept next to me and i fed her lying down. In retrospect current sleep issues we have - she has yet to spend whole night in her cot - started because I couldn't lift her. Sorry don't know what answer is but one problem has led to another for us.

If you have a cot from DC1 you can make it into a bedside cot.

1. Take off the dropdown side.
2. Make sure the cot mattress lines up with your bed heigh wise (if not you can redrill holes in the cot legs to get the right height.

1. Use bungee cords to tie the cot base to your main bed base

1. Pull the cot mattress across to meet your mattress. This will leave a gap at the far side of the cot matress and the cot frame.

1. Fill the gap. Some people use rolled towels/sheets. We got a high density foam block cut to size from a local caravan recovering firm.

They are very worth while, especially following my emergency CS with number DC2.

HTH