Baby bed for first few months in a tiny apartment?

[lmk1]

There's a strong possibility we're still going to be living in a 750 sq ft one bedroom when ds #2 comes. We've gotten rid of the co-sleeper, the bassinet, and a lot of other big baby gear after ds #1 grew out of it....so now I'm wondering what to get. We never had a crib for ds #1, as he always slept with us, and now sleeps on a futon in our room. So we probably won't get a crib for #2 either. I'm wondering if we should get a moses basket, bassinet, or a pack n play for the first few months for when the baby is sleeping and we're not? I was thinking a bassinet would be nice so ds #1 can rock him (just thinking of ways to involve #1 in the care), but a pack n play seems more practical for longer term - not just for sleeping? What do you all think? And are pack n play easy to move around - like daily? I wouldn't want the baby in a different room (even though there's only 2!) than we are...just in case #1 gets some kind of idea (he's only going to be almost 3) that he needs to try out...I'd like to keep an eye on both of them at the same time.

[cristeen]

My little guy hated his bassinet, so he's been sleeping on the futon with me since day one, at naps and at night. Not until he decided it was fun to crawl over the pillows to go crashing to the floor did I finally get a pack and play, 2 night ago, and he's 6 1/2 mos.

And it's really easy to move room to room - it has wheels.

[lmk1]

cristeen, what kind do you have? and does it fit through doorways? We'll go check it out at Babies R Us. Just having another lo around, I definitely want something that's not our bed for #2 to sleep in if we're not sleeping ourselves.

[Novus]

We had a Moses basket, which was wonderful and portable and DS loved it, but we only used it for the first 6 weeks or so because after that, he was able to pull on the sides and partially collapse the thing onto himself.

He also has a pack'n'play, but rarely sleeps in it (but then he rarely sleeps anywhere but his crib or our bed...he's just a picky guy!) The PNP is easy to move, but ours is too big to fit through doorways unless we collapse it first. I know they have slimmer ones though, so you might want to measure your doorways if you decide to go the route of the PNP.

[texaspeach]

we have 750sqft too, in two (tiny) bedrooms.

I would get the pack n play, just because there will be times when you need to put the baby down in a safe place s/he can't roll off of. We have a crib and use it for naps because I don't like to leave ds on the bed alone. it seems like the pack n play would last longer.

we don't have one, but borrowed one while on vacation a while back and it was very easy to move from room to room and ds napped in it with no problem

[Friendlee]

A PNP will be really nice IF the babe will sleep in it, because you can use it for sleeping, diaper changes and later a safe place to play. So you'll get lots of use out of it.

However, my baby and LOTS of other babies of my friends just would not sleep in the PNP. Of course, I'm sure lot's of babies will sleep just fine in it though. I guess that depends on the mattress type and the baby's temperament.

However, I got so much use out of the little Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper that folds up. The baby is elevated which is great for little tummies after eating and you can SO very easily scoot it from room to room. It's small and goes through doorways. I love the fact that it rocks. When my dd was awake I would take those linking rings and attach them on the sides with toys and she would happily play and rock herself (when on hard floor) as I cooked or whatever. Then at night, if she wasn't going to sleep in the bed with me, I would put her in the rocker right up against the bed (It's safe for all night sleeping and has vented sides). We'd fall asleep looking into each others eyes and rocking. She loved it. I think she felt really safe and like she was being held because of the way it's made. And since it can easily fold up, we'd always take it up to my mom's with us and we took it on vacation and she had her familiar little spot wherever we went.

[lmk1]

Originally Posted by Friendlee

A PNP will be really nice IF the babe will sleep in it, because you can use it for sleeping, diaper changes and later a safe place to play. So you'll get lots of use out of it.

However, my baby and LOTS of other babies of my friends just would not sleep in the PNP. Of course, I'm sure lot's of babies will sleep just fine in it though. I guess that depends on the mattress type and the baby's temperament.

However, I got so much use out of the little Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper that folds up. The baby is elevated which is great for little tummies after eating and you can SO very easily scoot it from room to room. It's small and goes through doorways. I love the fact that it rocks. When my dd was awake I would take those linking rings and attach them on the sides with toys and she would happily play and rock herself (when on hard floor) as I cooked or whatever. Then at night, if she wasn't going to sleep in the bed with me, I would put her in the rocker right up against the bed (It's safe for all night sleeping and has vented sides). We'd fall asleep looking into each others eyes and rocking. She loved it. I think she felt really safe and like she was being held because of the way it's made. And since it can easily fold up, we'd always take it up to my mom's with us and we took it on vacation and she had her familiar little spot wherever we went.

This looks great! How long can you use it for? Until baby starts sitting up or rolling over? It would seem hard for the baby to roll over in this, so maybe that's not an issue. Can you easily move it from room to room with baby in it? I like the rocking factor and the height. Ds #1 will love being able to see the baby, but it's tall enough to discourage him from trying to climb in. We're going to go check it out at Babies R Us, but I see that Amazon has a great price for it.

[Friendlee]

Yes, you can very easily slide it from room to room with the baby in it. When it's unfolded it locks into place so I've even lifted it off the ground a couple times when I needed to and it's very sturdy.

It says 1 month and up, but I'm not sure how many pounds. My 6 month old at 18 lbs still sits in it comfortably. It has a 3 point restraint belt to hold them in, but I tuck it behind the fabric...there's no way she could get out of there. But, if she still fits in it once she is pulling up on things, I'll just start buckling her in. I see it lasting for quite awhile! Of course the more active she is, the less she'll want to be confined. But as she gets older, she doesn't mind it at all if she's watching stuff happening (me doing stuff) or when she's drowsy and wanting to just chill. It's great for taking outside too. I can put it on the patio in the shade and the breeze gently rocks her. We don't stay out for very long but I can sit out there and drink coffee or rake a little and she's very comfortable and happy watching the clouds go by!

[lmk1]

Originally Posted by Friendlee

Yes, you can very easily slide it from room to room with the baby in it. When it's unfolded it locks into place so I've even lifted it off the ground a couple times when I needed to and it's very sturdy.

It says 1 month and up, but I'm not sure how many pounds. My 6 month old at 18 lbs still sits in it comfortably. It has a 3 point restraint belt to hold them in, but I tuck it behind the fabric...there's no way she could get out of there. But, if she still fits in it once she is pulling up on things, I'll just start buckling her in. I see it lasting for quite awhile! Of course the more active she is, the less she'll want to be confined. But as she gets older, she doesn't mind it at all if she's watching stuff happening (me doing stuff) or when she's drowsy and wanting to just chill. It's great for taking outside too. I can put it on the patio in the shade and the breeze gently rocks her. We don't stay out for very long but I can sit out there and drink coffee or rake a little and she's very comfortable and happy watching the clouds go by!

So what do you use for the first month?

[ellemenope]

We used a da vinci mini crib. Eventually took off one side and converted it into a side car. It was a setup to die for. I miss it.

[lmk1]

Originally Posted by lmk1

So what do you use for the first month?

Actually, the fisher price web site says use from birth:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?...=bgb&pid=51903
"Developmental Guidelines: Use from birth until child is able to pull up or sit unassisted."

Is it on the box that says one month and up?

[lmk1]

Originally Posted by ellemenope

We used a da vinci mini crib. Eventually took off one side and converted it into a side car. It was a setup to die for. I miss it.

We just measured our doorways and any bassinet/crib would have to be 27" or less...so I don't think this would work for us. Looks good though!

[Friendlee]

Ha! Oh...right...I didn't even realize the implication. Um, I didn't discover it until she was 3 months. However, I think the baby would be just fine placed in there when tightly swaddled. It's title includes the word "newborn" so I really think it's fine. We placed our baby in between us in bed or in the Arm's Reach Cosleeper for the first months but she didn't sleep. She finally started sleeping longer stretches when we got this rocker. All infants have a little reflux and I think being upright in the rocker really keeps the reflux at bay and helps them sleep. I just can't see why a 3 week old wouldn't be safe in it, while a 5 week old would be...there's not much difference in body strength at that point.

[Friendlee]

Oh just saw that you said it's from newborn...I saw "1 month and up" on the amazon website.

[wombatclay]

DS was born after we moved into a one room cabin (a familly of five and a dog in 850 sq/ft)... there is a sleep loft but it's not "full height" so we couldn't use the cosleeper and honestly a full height bed frame would have been pushing it too!

Anyway, we more or less cosleep from day one (the bigger kiddos are in a sibling bed, or "sibling air mattress" next to our main bed) but we got a fisher price soothing motions glider. It's not a "real bed" but it is the same height as our bed, and it made a good nap location. It does have a belt/straps but when ds was itty bitty I'd just swaddle him even without the swaddle there was no way he could have pulled himself up over the sides.

It is fairly light (I carried it up and down into the loft more than a few times) but wont flip over if a big sib bounces off it, it can slide "front/back" or "side/side" in case you have a babe with a real preference, and its the sort of thing that can be used in more ways than just as a sleep spot (ds enjoys sitting in it and watching me bath the older kiddos for example).

Here's a picture of it in action. DS is about a week old? (and yes, he has a blanket but I was right there )

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by lmk1

We just measured our doorways and any bassinet/crib would have to be 27" or less...so I don't think this would work for us. Looks good though!

At 27", you're going to have a hard time finding anything large that fits. The pack and play that I got was one of the smallest in BRU, and it's 28" wide, which is fine for my house, since the narrowest door is 29". It does move very easily, but it's a moot point if you can't get it through the door.

[bananabee]

Originally Posted by lmk1

Actually, the fisher price web site says use from birth:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?...=bgb&pid=51903
"Developmental Guidelines: Use from birth until child is able to pull up or sit unassisted."

Is it on the box that says one month and up?

I'm planning to get the Rock and Play Sleeper to use once my baby is born. Mainly so I don't have to bend over a lot, and so I can have her by the bed at night. Just piping in to say it's cheaper on Amazon.com (the price seems to fall a bit every week) and comes with free shipping.

[Darlingricki74]

Originally Posted by Friendlee

However, I got so much use out of the little Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper that folds up. The baby is elevated which is great for little tummies after eating and you can SO very easily scoot it from room to room. It's small and goes through doorways. I love the fact that it rocks. When my dd was awake I would take those linking rings and attach them on the sides with toys and she would happily play and rock herself (when on hard floor) as I cooked or whatever. Then at night, if she wasn't going to sleep in the bed with me, I would put her in the rocker right up against the bed (It's safe for all night sleeping and has vented sides). We'd fall asleep looking into each others eyes and rocking. She loved it. I think she felt really safe and like she was being held because of the way it's made. And since it can easily fold up, we'd always take it up to my mom's with us and we took it on vacation and she had her familiar little spot wherever we went.

Yay, I'm happy to read this!!! I'm having my baby in about 3 weeks, and I just bought this for her to sleep in! I used anArm's reach cosleeper with my son, and loved it, but it's so big. In our room now, there is nowhere to put it without blocking access to either the closet or dresser drawers. I bought the sleep and play because I thought it would at least be easier to move out of our way. I bought mine at Target.com and it just came in the mail today!

[Mom@Work@Home]

I just wanted to add another vote for the Fisher Price Newborn Rock ’n Play Sleeper

It's at a perfect height for me to reach over from bed and comfort DD or pick her up for a feeding. The incline has helped with her reflux symptoms.

She also enjoys spending awake time in it. It's small enough that I can bring it in the bathroom when I have a shower. I also like that its higher than her bouncy chair, so I don't have to worry about DS stepping or falling on her!

We'll bring this with us instead of the PnP when we travel.

[Lillitu]

PNP is very versatile. we use our mainly as a changing table and a place to store cloth diapers. but the folks we got it from used it as a sleeper and later as a playpen.