Crib or no Crib?

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

Hi all you experienced mama's (papa's?)

as soon to be first time parents, we strongly believe in attachment parenting (we feel its only natural!) and co sleeping. we have lots of friends with the same views as well. (family, well not so much!)
now we pretty much were dead set against having all that 'unneccessary' stuff needed; ie, swings, exersaucers, playards, etc. i just think that a few good slings, a good stroller, will be all that you really 'need'.
any of these things actually worth buying (or registering for, lol!)

our plan is to cosleep until the babe is ready for his or her own bed, we were going to equip the babys room with a twin size bed, on the floor, with bed rails, and the usual, dresser, armoire, etc. needed for clothes and diapers.

is there anyone out there that doesnt use a crib? anyone who didnt get a crib?

we figure that if we find we need one, then we will get one, just wanted to see others thoughts.
thanks for your help and insight!
meg

[beebalmmama]

This is what we did with ds 1 and I was really glad. My brother actually gave us a crib, but other than trying to side car it once (which just didn't work for us) we never used it. Ds was in our bed until 18 months and then in a twin bed without a frame.

I'm not getting a crib for this one either. We have a pack n play with an elevated area that we'll use for the first several months, well unless he's determined to be in our bed like ds 1. I'll consider getting a crib if this one is a better sleeper than ds 1, so we have time to decide later if we need/want one.

I did have a swing for ds 1 and he really liked it. It was just about the only place I could put him down and he'd be happy. But it was such a pain to move and store we got rid of it. I have a bouncy seat and I'm sticking with that unless I find I will need a swing. We just don't have a lot of room in the current house we're in so I'm trying to minimize.

[olliepop]

I vote no crib. With our first, we rarely used the crib. Maybe for an occasional nap? She slept with us every night. When our ds was born three years later, we got dd a toddler bed and he slept with us every night. His nursery looked nice but the crib became a catchall for the children's laundry. Now he's in her old toddler bed, she's in a twin, until the middle of the night when they both come back into our bed. They are (almost) 3 and 6.

Skip the crib. Spend the $$ elsewhere.

[moonrae]

I had a crib for my son, but he never actually slept in it. I would occasionally put him in there for a safe place while I took a shower, but could easily have done without it. I had a swing and it was important for me to have that thing I was single and if I ever had anything that needed to get done (like a shower) or just a few minutes without baby in arms, I would put him in that. He loved it. He would not sleep without being held, so a few naps in the swing were very helpful. This time around I won't have a crib, but i'll have one comfy swing!

[DocsNemesis]

I have had a crib for one (soon to be two-we aren't sure how my fiance will do with a baby in the bed, so we're putting a crib at the end of the bed and seeing how they both do with it). I'd get a free or very cheap one off of craigslist if you aren't sure. You don't want to spend a fortune and then never use it! But if you do end up using it, you could always get a nicer one later. With the other kids I never even considered it. They just went straight from my bed to their own twin bed at a year or two, depending on the kid and how annoying they were in my bed (darned wiggly things! lol).

My 2nd did use a crib because for some reason, once she hit about 9 months old, she didn't sleep very well in my bed. I tried the crib and she was one of those rare babies who would cry for all of a minute and then just go to sleep. It was actually rather nice! She ended getting a lot more sleep in her own bed. The others, no-they wouldn't have slept at all.

As far as other stuff goes, I have a swing for my babies. I didn't with 2 of them and I ended up regretting it. My kiddos REALLY liked the swing, but it all depends on the individual baby. Mine also very much prefered the type that goes side to side, not back to front (I've had the fisher price natures touch one for the last two). Imo, if they like it and they aren't in it all the time, its perfectly ok to use. Oh same goes for bouncy seats. Some like them, some don't.

[MaybeSparrowMaybe]

thanks a lot for all of the discussion on this and your input.
i think we'll stick with the no crib thing.
im sure ill inherit a swing from my sister. dont have room for it so i wont be buying one, ill see if the baby likes it but i think ill get a bouncy seat, so i have portable, something to put babe in when im showering etc.

we did buy an arms reach co sleeper mini bassinet, the kind with three sides that straps to the side of the bed.
i think i will like that for the first 3 months, and then after that likely we'll shove the bed against the wall, putting the matresses on the floor will eliminate much used 'under bed' storage, which is half of my closet, lol!
with a 100 year old house, we lack any closet space, so we use under the bed too.
i think we'll just invest in a good dresser and armoire for the babys room, and then put the twin bed in there.

i think for naps, i imagine the baby sleeping in the sling, in the bouncy chair, or in a portable little moses basket or something. i dont really want one of those pack n play things as they take up so much space and everytime im at someones house who has them, they are just a storage container for toys and other stuff.

thanks!

[Lilygoose]

No crib. My mom bought us a beautiful bedroom set (with crib) for our DD and she REFUSED to use it. She is a year old now and has slept in the crib for maybe 15 minutes once. She cosleeps with me and this is the only way she will sleep. She will occasionally sleep for 20 minutes to an hour in the pack and play, but usually she has to sleep with me or her daddy. However I would recomend you get something that can contain her (swing, excersaucer, whatever) for short periods of time when you need to get a couple things done, like shower. For us the swing probably worked the best, but nothing worked for long. Our DD likes her freedom.

[Phridae]

DS is 9 months old and we still don't have a crib. We have a pack an play set up in the room that he sleeps in for a few hours here and there (What, I like to stretch out sometimes. And its not easy to DTD with a sleeping baby in bed. )
I would like to get a crib, but not for the crib use. For the toddler bed and adult bed usage. I see it as a great investment for when he's not in our bed anymore.

[sunshynbaby]

We sidecared a crib because our bed is small. I would recommend a something like a bouncy seat, swing, cradle, etc. for a safe place to set the baby in when you need to use the bathroom or grab a quick shower. I use a bouncy seat which I set right outside the bathroom door (it won't fit in our small bathroom) so I can still see him when I need to use the bathroom and no one else is home to hold him.

[Alyantavid]

We used a crib with our first when he was about a year old. He hated it. Totally, completely hated it. So I put the mattress on the floor and he was perfectly happy.

We didn't even get it out with our youngest. We did have a pack and play set up in our room and he did sleep in there once he was a little older. When he was about 18 months, we set up his toddler bed.

[Kindofcrunchymummy]

I don't know what we would do without a swing! It's his FAVORITE place to be. I'm all for AP but believe me, eventually you will want to put your baby down!

[boheime]

No crib here.

[zubeldia]

Another fan of the swing...!!! I couldn't do much with the sling/carriers except walk around. The swing was great for when I wanted to make dinner, have a break from the baby, etcetera. He didn't like his bouncer. Someone just gave us an exersaucer and I have to say that it's working out to be a life saver when I need to make lunch/dinner. I have it in the kitchen and he can hang out with me. I find it too dangerous to cook while wearing him.. DS is 4 months old now.

As for crib. We have one... along with moses basket, Amby (someone gave us recently), and a snug nest for the bed. I'm a bit of a gadget woman (hang my head in shame)... but I havent used any of this stuff!! Someone also gave us a pack n'play and we haven't used that either. We bought a convertible crib, though, so our hope is that when he's older we can use the toddler bed part.

[BeanyMama]

No crib x3

[seaheroine]

Originally Posted by Kindofcrunchymummy

I'm all for AP but believe me, eventually you will want to put your baby down!

I held DD most of the time as a newborn but wearing her was a lot different than I imagined...the sling gave me the worst plugged ducts, so I was actually really grateful for my papasan chair. Showers, even if they're only for three minutes, helped me feel human again!

We used our crib for diaper changes only until DD started rolling around in bed around seven months. We then sidecarred it and she still sleeps in it next to me, sometimes rolling in for a snuggle, other times rolling away for some space. It's really nice to not be lying awake worrying she's going to roll off onto the tile floor. We had the Arm's Reach too, but it ended up only holding diapers. I couldn't bear to put DD in it as a newborn (slept on my chest) and then she quickly outgrew it.

We also use the pack n' play a ton. I keep it in the living room and she naps in it - more frequently last year but at least once a day now. I don't want her alone in our bedroom and she tells me when she wants in to rest. Plus, it was quite handy when we were travelling and some places weren't co-sleeping friendly (HUGE captain's bed, etc.)

[MG01]

DS is 8 mos and we were just (within the past few weeks) given a crib. It's in the back room all packaged up now- between the pack and play (actually its a converted cosleeper which i had set up at the bedside until around 6 mos) and the humanity family bed bolster (LOVE it) we generally just bedshare. i too plan to buy a twin mattress and skip buying the crib mattress (we were given one, but honestly it is years old and falling apart, i have safety concerns, and my one cat with claws found it and did some serious damage) so why waste $ on a new crib mattress and space on setting it up if we won't use it? i think a twin mattress, either next to the one we both sleep on now when transitioning (currently a queen, i disassembled the frame and it's now on the floor with the humanity bed bolster/cosleeper) and later into a separate bedroom/bed, is ideal. and honestly, if it weren't nice to have as a pack and play/play pen type thing, i wouldn't actually have minded skipping the whole arm's reach co-sleeper either since he usually wound up in my bed and the arm's reach was like a glorified bed rail more oft than not. plus it doesn't get snug against the bed anyway so you have to stuff towels or pillows in there.. anyway /tangent, but i would say a crib may be fairly useless, but you may want at least one device to set a sleeping baby in other than your bed (moses basket, arm's reach, pack and play, etc.) if you don't get a crib. that said, you can always make do, and i would highly recommend looking into the costs/safety and pros/cons of bed rails versus something like the Humanity family bed (we couldn't afford ours at this time, but got it recently as a gift and i love it love it love it) or even both for different uses i.e. one on either side dep. on where and how you (and your partner? other kids?) sleep. i hope my mini-ramble helped some

[LianneM]

No crib here for either of our kids

[fruitfulmomma]

My parents bought us a really pricey Arm's Reach model when I was pregnant with my oldest. He slept in it for 2 nights. I haven't used one since.

[jess152]

We started DS out in a bassinet when he was newborn. As he outgrew the bassinet, he came into bed with us and all was good. I don't remember just when we tried the crib (a gift to us), but he definitely didn't go for it. We didn't push it and he came back to bed with us.

When we began TTC #2, he was around 18 months and we put him on the floor beside us on the crib mattress. It was bolstered all the way around with firm pillows so he couldn't roll out and didn't face a suffocation hazard. Often he'd crawl up into our bed during the night and nurse, but it was a good start to get him out. At about 2 years he began sleeping in a 'big boy' bed with rails in his own room and he still gets out and comes in with us occasionally, but for the most part, we are ready for a new baby in our bed! Some time in the next 4-5 weeks...

I think it was a nice way to go, a nice transition. We didn't hurry him. We really enjoyed waking up to him in the morning, and look forward to doing that with this new baby!