What did your baby sleep in?

[Dreamer_D]

Thank you to all the moms who responded to this thread, it was very helpful. In the end, we opted to buy an arms-reach mini convertable co-sleeper in cocoa (seen here). It is small, converts from a co-sleeper to a free-standing basinet to a playard, and it is portable and comes with a carry case. I think it will meet all of our needs and will be very versatile.

Thanks again!

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

I was just about to reply to the original question, but I see you got something, so I won''t!

I''ll just add that I do nurse lying down and it works fine for me. The lactation consultant in the hospital where I gave birth showed me how to do it. Now she''s nearly 8 months, we''ve just moved her to her own room and so far, no night feeds. Just a thought -I got Amelia used to only DH picking her up during the night from day one, because as she got older sometimes she''d settle down again after a quick snuggle with him and skip the feed. A sort of step towards sleeping through and we got more sleep overall. If I go to her, she smells milk and nothing else will do and she can feed for a looooong time!

When I was born, my parents had just moved house and had somehow mislaid the crib (HOW??) Anyways, I slept in a desk drawer for the first few nights at home, laid on the floor and padded with blankets.

Jen

 

[Mrs]

DD, thanks for starting this thread and thanks to everyone who chimed in! I just read through it and found every one''s thoughts very helpful since I''m just now trying to figure this stuff out for our baby due in March.

question for those who enjoyed co-sleeping: it sounds like it''s nice not to have to get out of bed to get the baby every time he/she needs to breastfeed but I understand that you usually need to change the baby every time he/she eats so don''t you need to get up anyway? Sorry if this is a stupid question!

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Married? Co-habiting? There's a handy chap lying right next to you to deal with the diapers...

Seriously, in the feeding every two hours days, we didn't change Amelia's diaper after every feed, just if she smelled of poop or if it was more than about 4 hours since she was changed. Now she's sleeping through, I put her in a disposable diaper at night (we use cloth during the day)one that has extra absorbency for night time. I don't remember last time we had poop overnight, now I think about it. It's just a wet diaper in the morning, but no diaper rash, so I'm assuming it's ok.

Jen

eta congrats on your pregnancy! Sorry if I missed your posts before.

 

[puffy]

mrs i apologize if i am not answering your question properly. i co-slept about 1 month, the first month as i was adjusting to BF. we had the arm''s reach co-sleeper right next to our bed and i actually used that as a changing station in the first month. so i just had a few diapers, wipes right there and changed my son and fed and then right back to sleep he went.
if not, you could change them in your bed, i guess. i''ve seen some friends do this. again, keep some diapers and wipes next to the bed, change them and feed and back to sleep you all go.
and as MRSM said, sometimes they don''t need to be changed. there were times when i didn''t change his diaper before a feed and he didn''t have a rash or anything.

 

[steph72276]

Ours slept in the bassinet for only about 2 weeks. He was (and still is) such a light sleeper that even when I would so much as turn over, he would hear me and wake up! So I put his bassinet in his room which was right next door to ours and turned on the monitor....worked so much better!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I would always change before the feed b/c if I did it after she would wake up pissed (she always feel asleep nursing in the early days.

 

[Dreamer_D]

As usual, so many great tips. I will re-read this thread before baby is born so I remember everything!

 

[packrat]

Both kids slept in the crib at night and in the bassinet in the living room during the day for naps (for the first couple months-then they slept in the crib for naps too) Our room is just big enough for a queen size bed and a couple dressers..I had to maneuver myself very carefully when I was pregnant around the bed, so there''s no way we could''ve co-slept. We''ve got a rocker in the nursery w/an ottoman, so when I''d be up 900 times a night to nurse, I''d be somewhat comfortable. I kept bottles of water by the rocker and chugged a lot to stay hydrated and boy does it help milk supply-wow!!

As far as changing diapers in the middle of the night, I waited until after they were done nursing and zonked out. Those sleeping gowns w/the elastic on the bottom work nice for that too. Both my kids would generally poop at one point while nurisng..it relaxes them so much-it worked well if they had gas too-I''d give them tummy drops and then nurse-they''d poop and feel better.

I''ll echo the love of sleep sacks-they were such a blessing w/both kids. Mine all had long sleeves, and some of them had the fold over deals for the hands, which was great..I seriously think ALL babies clothes that have long sleeves should come w/the fold over hands-both kids scratched their faces if they weren''t covered. The little mittens never worked for them, so I have a lot of pictures of them w/socks over their hands..

 

[waxing lyrical]

In our bed. We're co-sleepers. Our oldest until 22 months and our 26 month old still sleeps with us. Never owned a bassinet and the crib that was given to us was used for storage. We were planning to co-sleep with DS as well. We're pretty AP.

 

[peonygirl]

Dreamer, please let me know how you like that cosleeper! That''s the exact one I was looking at recently, but I wasn''t sure what color I liked best.

 

[qtiekiki]

DD
I know you already decided on the co-sleeper, but I''ll add my comment anyways. M sleeps in her crib from the day we got home, but I was sleeping in the bed in her nursery. So I don''t have to walk across the hall to feed her at night, and also it lets DH has uninterrupted sleep. I did that for 3 months, then I went back to sleep in our room and using the monitor. After I went back to our room, I would bring M over in the morning when she wakes up to nurse and then we would co-sleep until the next feeding. I still do that on weekends. DH and I sleep all the way on the two edges since we are scared to smoosh her. Oh and she is a loud sleeper in her crib and in our bed, doesn''t make a difference. She naps in a PNP during the weekdays, on our bed or her crib on weekends.

I do not like nursing while laying on my side. It''s uncomfortable for me. And I had felt asleep while sitting in bed to nurse M.

Mrs
I changed M every time she nursed in the beginning since she had a horrible diaper rash that won''t go away. At first I changed her before nursing, but then she kept pooping right after she nursed. So then I started changing her after.

 

[pennquaker09]

For the first 6 months, the twins slept in a crib in our bedroom. During nap time, we take them to the nursery, but when they went to sleep at night, they were in our room because the nursery is upstairs. Now they pretty much sleep in their own rooms, but during the day they nap in our room.

I was always too nervous to try the co-sleeping thing with twins.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thanks for all the suggestion! I can''t tell you how useful it is to hear all the tips and everyone''s different experiences. You are all the best!

Peony I will tell you how I like it when we finally get it!

QT I have heard a lot of other parents say they do that too, especially on weekends.

Pennequaker I don''t know if I could co-sleep with twins either! That''s a lot of bodies in the bed.

 

[lili]

Wrong thread

 

[ljmorgan]

Thanks for this thread dreamer, it is neat to see what everyone did when they brought their baby home. And all of the differing opinions! I actually bought the same co-sleeper as you, the Arm's Reach mini convertible. We pick it up today, and I'm excited. I read a lot of reviews, and people that used the Arm's Reach co-sleepers seemed very satisfied. I guess that only time will tell!

I know that there are different schools of thought about co-sleeping, baby sleeping in a crib, etc. I think my husband and I chose what felt natural to us, and that was at least having the baby in our room for a while. Then I started re-searching co-sleeping and the benefits, and was really intrigued. My mother is very supportive -- she told me that when she had me, she followed the current advice at the time and finally got so frustrated that she threw all of her books out and just did what felt right. She said that I was a much happier baby. I guess the books at the time were rather strict, because she was amazed that the book that I purchased (The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know from Birth to Age Two) supports co-sleeping, picking up the baby whenever they cry, etc.