# New Mom - co-sleeper advice please!



## bumblecat (Mar 15, 2009)

We plan on definitely co-sleeping with our baby when she comes - the question is what works best? I have been planning on putting an Arm's Reach on our shower registry. I looked online today at some of the ones that go right in the bed, but we have a Queen bed and we're thinking it would feel a bit tight so I think a separate but attached co-sleeper would work better for us.

My question is - if you used one of these, what did you do when your baby outgrew it? And what kind did you have and at what age did your baby outgrow it? I was looking at the clear-vue because they're cheaper but it looks like we could only use it for about 6 months. Then what? And how much longer do the spendier ones last?


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## fromtheheart (Jun 16, 2008)

I found the co-sleeper to be kind of pointless because DS only wanted to sleep right there next to me or in arms. In fact, it just made life a little more difficult because it's pushed up against your bed making it very hard to get in and out of bed with post partum issues while holding the baby.

Maybe, if you do try it, you'd be better off waiting a few months to set it up.

I hope that helps!


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## SandraS (Jan 18, 2007)

I had one and it was GREAT - for holding blankets, diapers, remote controls, changes of clothes...

I have a queen bed, and my hubby and I are NOT petite by any definition... and there's room for a toddler AND a baby!









JMO... the co-sleeper just didn't work for us. It was a $200.00 nightstand.


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## ithappened (Sep 9, 2007)

(sorry dumb questions disclaimer)

If they sleep in the bed with you, literally, (without a cosleeping crib) do they sleep to one side or between you/your partner just like another person would?(sorry I'm a first time mom, obviously)

My plan was to just let the babe sleep between us for a while, or a few years, until we figured out if really needed a crib or something else? We have basically a queen bed.

The reason I ask is we have a small apartment and if we don't need a crib, I'd prefer we don't have a crib and by the sounds of it, some people don't need them.


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## SandraS (Jan 18, 2007)

My four generally slept between us. When I had the cosleepernighstand beside the bed, sometimes they would sleep on that side (it acted as "rails", basically), but I didn't have it for two of the four. You could put up a rail on your side if you felt safer about it - I just seemed to know where my babies were no matter what side they were on.

And no, we didn't use cribs. Our babes went to a mattress on the floor around 14 months or so, in their own rooms - but they still co-slept. I would start them out in there, and they could come climb in our bed any time they wanted, for as long as they wanted.


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## ithappened (Sep 9, 2007)

thanks SandraS.

we have a 1bd apartment so we'll be co-sleeping in some sort of fashion or another for a while


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## LaurenAnanas (Feb 26, 2008)

We bought a new co-sleeper (arm's reach, universal) and it has worked great for us. My husband and I sleep better with her there- when she's in the bed, neither of us can relax enough to do anything other than doze, and she really doesn't seem to have a preference. She sleeps next to me in the co-sleeper every night and has done since she was born. She's now 6.5 months.

Now that she's bigger and more mobile, we may have to change our approach. We're not interested in moving her to another room (she has a crib in "her room" and she does nap there during the day) at night, but I thinks she's getting a little too mobile for the co-sleeper at it's current bassinette setting.

Options we're considering:

buy a king-sized mattress and put it on the floor (we have a queen, and it's a tight fit for us, I think the King would give us room to relax)
reconfigure the co-sleeper to the "pack n'play" lower setting and keep it next to the bed
Since we don't have the money for a decent new mattress, we'll probably go with #2 for now.


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## DelawareMom (May 21, 2008)

We had an Arm's Reach and, basically, it functioned for us the same as Sandra S. DD would never sleep that far away from me, but I felt safer having it there for when she was on that side of me.
As far as positioning goes, DD sleeps both in between us and on the outside, depending which side she's currently nursing on. Now that she's bigger, our queen-sized mattress is on the floor, with her crib mattress next to it for a little added space.
We had a crib, but DD never slept in it. We hadn't planned on cosleeping. DD had different ideas, though, so we followed her lead.







In hindsight, we could have completely done without the crib. (Good thing it was a hand-me-down.)
Good luck figuring out what will work best for your family!


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## completebeginnings (Sep 5, 2005)

We loved our Arm's Reach. I altered it a bit. I put blankets underneath the pad that comes with it to raise it to the same level as our bed so it was just an extension of it rather than dropping down into the cosleeper. Make sense? I could actually crawl into the co sleeper to nurse then when baby was asleep I could roll over into my big bed with my dh. I worked for all 3 of my previous babies and I will do it again with baby to be. Good luck.


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## Diyan (Apr 14, 2009)

We use the Arms Reach Cosleeper and I love it, though I think our sidecar arrangement would work better & for longer with a sidecar crib than with the Arms Reach bassinet, so I wouldn't plan on getting both a crib _and_ a cosleeper. ETA: how to sidecar a crib

We chose the Arms Reach because I did not feel comfortable having a newborn in our bed in winter when we had our heavy blankets. I loved having him right there close enough to hear and touch, but I always got up to nurse him at night. It took me a while to figure out how to comfortably nurse side-lying. Now (starting when he was about 4-5 months) I put him to bed in the cosleeper, and when he wakes I bring him into bed with me, and we both go back to sleep. Or, if I'm still awake when he finishes nursing, I put him back in his bed. And if he happens to roll over too far, he rolls right into his bed (about 5-6 inches below ours) without waking.

He's about to be too mobile for the bassinet, so we'll probably convert it to the playard and put a bed rail to keep him from rolling off our bed. I want to make sure our room is well baby-proofed before we put him on a mattress on the floor.


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## ithappened (Sep 9, 2007)

hmm. it sounds like then the best way to decide is a wait and see if we need it or not before purchasing it (or at least make sure it can be returned over a long period of time)


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## farmkids42morrow (Apr 12, 2009)

Just a comment on how long you can use a co-sleeper. We had the smaller arms reach co-sleeper and each of our kids were able to sleep in it for the whole first year. Yes it got a little tight near the end of the year, but the kids actually liked that. We also did what a PP mentioned, putting blankets in to raise the baby to bed level instead of having that several inch difference. We are a full time RV family (we live in our RV year round) so to say that space is at a premium is an understatement. But the co-sleeper was a wonderful thing for us and definitely earned it's keep in our home.

With more and more people using co-sleepers now, you may be able to borrow one from a friend or neighbor for a trial run before actually shelling out the $ for your own. Most people are willing to share their stuff, especially if they know it won't be for too long. Just another option to think about.


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