Please recommend a co sleeper

[melon]

A friend is having her second baby, and we are having a shower for her. They don't need much new stuff, but the dad mentioned that they'd like a co sleeper to sidecar to their bed.
Please recommend one, or tell me what to stay away from. It will probably be from a bunch of us, so cost isn't too much of an issue, as long as we try to keep it under $200 we should be ok.
TIA.

[wetcement101]

What a lovely gift. We wound up HATING our Arms Reach *Mini* because it didn't fold down properly and the mattress was very thin. We have very small space, so we were stuck with it.
I've read a million good reviews of the full sized Arms Reach. Not that this helps- but there are a couple of great posts about attaching a full sized crib to the bed as a side car, which is nice because its much bigger so the baby/toddler can sleep in it much longer.

[Lilygoose]

Although there are many who do not find them useful, we LOVED our Arm's reach cosleeper. It was wonderful being able to sleep next to my daughter and hold hands at night! I was scared to have her in the bed when she was that little. Since then I've also learned about side carring a crib, which also seems like a great option and has more longevity (it is not safe to use the Arms reach as a cosleeper once the baby can get on his or her hands and knees, but it still works great as a pack n play). After trying several different options once she could no longer use the arms reach we ended up cosleeping with our DD in the bed (well at least I did, hubby got kicked out of the bed b/c DD needs her space) which is also a really special time for us.

[Snapdragon]

We just set our arms reach sleigh bed style up today. It looks pretty nice. It was about $350 though- but it looks way nicer (to me) than the other arm's reaches.
Only problem is the screw holes didn't line up right on one side so it is not fully set up yet. Plus the mattress looks too thin and not cozy so I am going to find something else to put in there as well ( a wool pad or other mattress or something.) and we haven't used it yet as I am still pregnant! But it looks good to me.

[cloudbutterfly]

I love our Arms Reach mini convertible (we have the hibiscus print...so pretty in our bedroom). I bought an organic mattress pad and an organic cotton soaker pad from a different company to replace the mattress it came with, and they're much nicer. My only complaint besides needing to replace the mattress pad is that he'll out grow the mini before I want him to, but we didn't have enough space for the full size one. It's just not long enough. I'm looking at buying a mini crib to have DH sidecar to our bed to extend the time we can co-sleep in our little bedroom with our crummy adult mattress I won't let the baby sleep on. I love the Arms Reach enough that I hesitate *not* to recommend it...I'd just suggest the full size one if there's room for it.

[Snapdragon]

Originally Posted by cloudbutterfly

I love our Arms Reach mini convertible (we have the hibiscus print...so pretty in our bedroom). I bought an organic mattress pad and an organic cotton soaker pad from a different company to replace the mattress it came with, and they're much nicer. My only complaint besides needing to replace the mattress pad is that he'll out grow the mini before I want him to, but we didn't have enough space for the full size one. It's just not long enough. I'm looking at buying a mini crib to have DH sidecar to our bed to extend the time we can co-sleep in our little bedroom with our crummy adult mattress I won't let the baby sleep on. I love the Arms Reach enough that I hesitate *not* to recommend it...I'd just suggest the full size one if there's room for it.

Where did you get your new mattress from? I am looking for a good one.

[SolaSola]

We love our Arm's reach mini co-sleeper. It folds up nicely and we take it traveling so that DD has a safe place to sleep. DD is 3 months and is outgrowing it, so we are transitioning to a crib.

[ErinYay]

nak

We have the full-sized Arm's Reach, and love it. I thought about getting the mini, but I love that the weight limit in the play-yard part is like 50lbs. We primarily bedshare, so we joke that it's the nicest clothes hamper ever, but she does sleep well in it and she's so long that she'd likely outgrow a mini lengthwise well before she hits the weight limit.

[lonegirl]

I loved out Arm's Reach Universal co-sleeper....it can also be used as a pack and play

[momoftworedheads]

we have the arms reach mini and it has worked well. This was my first time using a co-sleeper and I was glad to have it. We will be taking in down soon and putting a crib attched to the bed. Good luck.

Take care!

Jen