Arms reach co sleeper question

[HappyLoveMama]

I'm clueless just looking at the pictures on the website bit I'm interested in getting this for the next one. With DS, we did a classic bassinet and I just think this would this is a way better option. How does this work in terms of no gap between the bed and co sleeper for baby to get caught in?

I'm still co sleeping with my 3 yo so I'm accustomed to the family bed but when he was a newbie, I'd always co sleep with him and then move into the bassinet as the early days scare me. Anyway, educate me on this arms reach thing. Also, I see it comes with a mattress but I was hoping to get the organic arms reach mattress instead. Anyone do this?

Apologies if this is a stupid question but I never did the side car thing...just right into bed!

[gradstudentmommy]

The Arm's Reach cosleeper was very snug against our bed. There was zero gap (unlike when we tried to sidecar with the crib). But when I got it, I didn't realize the "lip" on it is several inches high so it made breastfeeding lying down in bed impossible for me. I ended up using it for naps occasionally and just cosleeping with our baby in the bed so that I could nurse lying down without getting up.

I plan to try it again with the next baby but in retrospect, we rarely used it and I could have lived without it.

[finnegansmom]

The cosleeper has straps that you attached to the bottom of the mattress and tighten so it is SNUG against the mattress. It shouldn't move away from the bed, if attached correctly.
I actually didn't like the cosleeper we had, or should I say, my baby didn't seem to love it too much. My first did better with the kind of cosleeper thing that lays IN the bed with you with soft rails? My second wouldn't even tolerate that...he would only sleep in arms. For about 14 months. Oy.

I think they are nice and well built. If you do get one used, make sure it comes with all the parts (the straps are pretty important). I think the organic ones are really nice, the one we had was older since this was in 2006....

[luv-my-boys]

Originally Posted by NJMama521

How does this work in terms of no gap between the bed and co sleeper for baby to get caught in?

!

The co-sleeper attaches to your bed via straps so you want to make sure there pretty snug. The co-sleeper itself has a *wall* on all sides, only the side that would attach next to your mattress has a much smaller wall to it (like 4-5 inches) I know its hard to see on the online pics.

[porcelina]

I also got the arms reach cosleeper with my first son. I hated it. I got the full-sized one thinking I could later use it as a pack n play. What I didn't like was that it was not level with the bed since it had a rail that was high up, so you couldn't just scoot baby over for nursing. Side-carring a crib would be better for that. Baby ended up having bad reflux, so any flat position would just lead to lots of reflux and discomfort. Mattress was uncomfortable. He never slept well in it. I hated having to scoot around it while recovering from a second degree tear post-partum --very uncomfortable. At one point, I just moved it away from the bed since it took the same effort to get him in and out and at least that way I didn't have to scoot. I eventually gave up on it, as he would sleep either on my chest with me propped up on pillows to avoid reflux, or else the first stretch in his crib. Later moved to full-time co-sleeping. The co-sleeper didn't even work as a pack n play as it was such a pain in the a$$ to put together!!

So, in short, if you're interested in the idea, consider side-carring the crib instead!

[finnegansmom]

Originally Posted by porcelina

The co-sleeper didn't even work as a pack n play as it was such a pain in the a$$ to put together!!

Now, the bed part always stays up high, it's not like a bassinnet pack and play that you can lower the bed mattress part? So it didn't really work as a pack and play all that long. That was kind of bummer because they say you can't use it once the baby rolls over - because the rails aren't all that high. High for a newborn, not high for a 15# rolling 3 month old. Just something to think about it... I didn't have a pack and play with #1, but we did get one with #2 only as a safety zone for the baby before he was old enough to fend off a over-loving toddler.

[aloneinid]

We have one, too, and the only thing we have used it for is to keep the baby from falling out on my side of the bed. When I purchased ours I didn't realize, like some PP said, that the mattress of the co-sleeper is not level with the bed. So, the baby has to be lifted out of the co-sleeper for nursing. Our oldest nursed about 1,000 times per night and there was no way I was going to lift him in and out that many times. He ended up just sleeping with us. Also, like PP said, it is a nightmare trying to get in and out of bed with stitches with the co-sleeper next to the bed. We had to move it away until I was healed both times. I am going to try it again this time, just because as we get more comfortable having kids we tend to sleep harder and I would rather not have the baby IN bed with us. Maybe third time is the charm?

We have never used the straps that snug the bed to the mattress, but I might try it this time. I usually just stuff a pillow or blanket in the crack to eliminate it. No way this can be used as a pack-n-play, either, unless you are totally done using it for a bed. It is too hard to take apart.

[jessieb503]

I thought the height of the co-sleeper was adjustable? Two of my friends used it and they loved it- I nanny for one of them and they had it level with the bed. Maybe they just had the right height bed for the co-sleeper.

I'm going to try using it. I've been given two, one is a regular and one is a mini. We'll see what works!

[prettyuglybefore]

I used to joke that our arms reach was the diaper and laundry holder. Which is probably what it will be again. That comes in handy!

[newmommy7-08]

I love my arms reach! No, it's not level with the bed, because of the lip that keeps LO from rolling into any potential gap, but I never mastered nursing while laying so that wasn't a big deal. My full size also dropped down to PNP level. Just remove the bassinet bars, the cloth liner, and lower the mattress... easy peasy. It's not quite as quick to collapse as a PNP but we only used it in our house. DS slept in it at cosleeper level until 4 months old and then at PNP level until 14 months old when he moved to his crib... of course he's now sidecarred to our bed because he doesn't much care for sleeping alone and I couldn't fit him in bed w/ preggo me anymore. I plan to use the arms reach for the twins as well since it's good at cosleeper level up to 30# I just don't know where I'm putting it this time w/ DS on my side of the bed LOL!

[pollyanna123]

My experience was very similar to porcelina's.

The fact that you can't scoot the baby over to nurse makes it pretty useless IMO. For me, it was very awkward to get my DD out of it, so it worked better for me to have it away from the bed just like a bassinet. If we had been hell-bent on having DD in a separate sleeping space, we should've just used the Pack N Play (which we've definitely gotten our money's worth out of). However, as it was, I had researched safe cosleeping and decided to just have her in bed between me and the cosleeper.

For two kids now, the cosleeper has functioned as a very expensive bed rail. But it does come in handy as a diaper holder. I would keep all supplied we would need in the middle of the night for diaper changes there, making sure it was stocked every night before I went to bed.

[Diyan]

We used the Arm's Reach for 8 months and loved it. We plan to use it again when #2 is born in January.

When we first set it up, we had the mattress level with ours, and the lip was a huge nuisance - I had to completely sit up to reach over the lip to pick baby up. Once we changed it so that the lip was just below our mattress, I could easily reach down into the bassinet and lift baby onto our bed without sitting up. After I nursed him, I could scoot him back into the bassinet if I was still awake, or if I fell asleep first I didn't worry about him rolling off the bed since his mattress was only a few inches lower (he only did this once at about 7 months, and it didn't even wake him up). I like having the lip, because I never had to worry that he would roll into our bed while I was asleep and had the covers pulled up.

Now, the bed part always stays up high, it's not like a bassinnet pack and play that you can lower the bed mattress part? So it didn't really work as a pack and play all that long. That was kind of bummer because they say you can't use it once the baby rolls over - because the rails aren't all that high. High for a newborn, not high for a 15# rolling 3 month old. Just something to think about it... I didn't have a pack and play with #1, but we did get one with #2 only as a safety zone for the baby before he was old enough to fend off a over-loving toddler.

No, the mattress can be in the high (bassinet) or low (playard) position - it's just that switching between the two is a major undertaking, so you couldn't use it for bassinet at night and playard during the day. I felt completely secure using it when he was rolling; it was only when he could sit himself up that we switched to a twin bed on the floor. We never did use it as a playard, although we had it set up as one in our living room for several months.

[MamaMonica]

Moved to FB and NP

[creillysheehan]

I love our Arm's Reach. We have the mini, and it's wedged between the wall and the bed, with the lip everyone's mentioned level with our mattress. It works great for us that way--Baby G falls asleep nursing in bed, I scoot her over and down, and happily, she usually stays asleep! When she wakes up after I'm in bed, I just pull her up next to me to nurse and she stays there for the night. Like a PP said, she has rolled over away from me and into the co-sleeper maybe 3 times in 9 months. I like that she's there, rather than in our bed, to start the night so I have some room to stretch out, but then she's so easy to pick up to nurse. We are starting to move her out of the co-sleeper to start out nights, though, now that she's 9 months and crawling.

For Sweetie B we had a traditional bassinet for a little while--next to our bed, the mattress was even with ours, and there was only a tiny opening to see him. Whenever we tried to lay him down in it he popped awake. He hated it, we hated it, and very shortly we were bedsharing.

I've recommended the Arm's Reach to some pregnant ladies I know, although of course it depends so much on the baby!