Moses basket in bed with you?

[breanna31]

We are having our second baby in Ocotober and as things get closer I am getting more stressed about our sleeping arrangements. Currently we live with my sister. My husband and I share a small bedroom with our 18 month old daughter. We have a queen and a double pushed together, I put our daughter to bed in the queen (which is pushed against the wall with no gaps anywhere) and then just get in bed with her later on once I am ready for bed. My husband sleeps in the full. When the baby comes he/she will be with me until I go up to bed for the night but I am just not sure what to do at that point. I co-slept with our daughter from the day she came home from the hospital but I didn't have a toddler waking up multiple times through the night wanting to nurse. I am worried about the baby being next to me in bed because I don't want our daughter crawling over me in the middle of the night and landing on the baby. I thought about a Moses basket and wondered if it would be safe to have the baby in the basket in the top corner of the bed against the wall (again, there are no cracks or any place the baby or basket could fall into). Then I could sleep right next to the basket and that way when our daughter woke up I could nurse her in any position and not have to worry about the baby if I dosed off or if she were to climb over me. Has anyone done this or does anyone have any opinions about this from a safety point. Would it be possible for the basket to tip during the night trapping the baby or do you think it would be pretty stable. I am not a real wild sleeper and pretty much wake up to the smallest noise so I am thinking it might work but I want others opinions. Any other ideas? There is really no room for a bassinet and I don't trust my husband sleeping in the same bed as our daughter yet. He sleeps really heavy and isn't aware of much throughout the night. Thanks for reading and any advice would be appreciated

[AllyRae]

I personally would NOT do it. They make stands for the moses basket where you can keep it right next to the bed though.

Honestly, it would be almost dang near impossible to nurse a baby while the baby is in a moses basket. The sides are like 18" high...you would probably be in some serious pain leaning over that to nurse. And if by some miracle, you managed to fall asleep in that position, you could risk flipping the basket.

I think it would be stable on the bed, but there are so many other factors that make it not seem like such a good idea. But like I said, there are small stands that you can put the baby in. Or, what we did was put a bed rail on one side of our bed, with the Humanity Family Bed bolster right next to that. Then I put the baby next to that, and me next to her. My 3 year old sleeps on the other side of me.

[breanna31]

That's a good idea about the stand. I didn't realize there were stands for them. I wouldn't be nursing the baby while in the basket. I would take the baby out and sit up in bed to nurse. Then put the baby back in the basket once they were sleeping. I am not comfortable laying next to my baby and nursing until they get bigger because I feel like my boobs will suffocate them. The basket would just be a place to put the baby down so I could get some sleep and nurse my daughter as she needs it. Thanks for the info on the stand though, I think that makes more sense. I have never seen a bed bolster before but I just looked it up and that could be an option too. Did you co-sleep with your baby since they were born? Did you ever have issues with your older child climbing over you in the middle of the night?

[gemasita]

I don't see a problem with it. When I do postpartum doula work, I often have the baby in a Moses Basket beside me when I lie down to rest on the bed. I usually roll up blankets on either side of their torso and make sure there's nothing near their face but I like that I can take a peak to check on them since they are right beside me.

[Kallie]

We ended up with this kind of arrangement with our little one (although there was no toddler to think about). We'd planned to use a sidecar arrangement but ds just wouldn't sleep in the 'open space' and through trial and error we ended up with a moses basket next to us. I breastfed sitting up until ds was asleep and then dp would usually settle him into the moses basket (on top of the sidecar and right next to us). This worked well for the first three months until he became to big for the moses basket and then seemed happier with bedsharing.

[SunRise]

I think the moses basket is very handy for such purposes.

My first born slept in a moses basket on the bed for his first few weeks. I felt the baby was safe (from blankets and other possible things) and confined and I woke up instantly upon his need to nurse i.e. he was still close enough to me that I was keenly aware of his needs and could get him to me before he completely woke up. I brought him out of the basket and he lay beside me to nurse.

For my 2nd I got a moses basket and rocking stand. This also work well. In fact, she still naps in it during the day.

[breanna31]

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like this might end up working for us. It makes me feel better to know that some people have done it this way and had success.

[Momtwice]

I did some research on Moses baskets a while back and the main safety issue is the handles. They should NEVER be picked up by the handles. This can make it tilt and tip the baby out, and there have been incidents where the handles came off.

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by breanna31

That's a good idea about the stand. I didn't realize there were stands for them. I wouldn't be nursing the baby while in the basket. I would take the baby out and sit up in bed to nurse. Then put the baby back in the basket once they were sleeping. I am not comfortable laying next to my baby and nursing until they get bigger because I feel like my boobs will suffocate them. The basket would just be a place to put the baby down so I could get some sleep and nurse my daughter as she needs it. Thanks for the info on the stand though, I think that makes more sense. I have never seen a bed bolster before but I just looked it up and that could be an option too. Did you co-sleep with your baby since they were born? Did you ever have issues with your older child climbing over you in the middle of the night?

Yep, we co-slept since Amelia came home from the hospital...Jocelyn also co-slept with us at the same time (and sometimes Brandon hopped in the bed). Jocelyn tried flipping over me once, but I felt her on top of me, and put her back. Really, the biggest issue we've ever had is that Jocelyn will kick the heck out of me on one side of me, and Amelia kicks the heck out of me on the other side. :

[beep]

We sometimes used a Snuggle Nest when DS was very tiny. I would usually hold him for sleep, but liked to get one stretch of sleep on my belly nightly and this gave us some peace of mind. We actually kept ours above my head, and instead of using a pillow I used a rolled-up cotton baby blanket that I was sure wouldn't encroach on DS's space at all even if I moved around. It was comfortable for me, but I'm not very tall. I did need to bring him out of it to nurse, although it might (?) work to nurse sidelying if it was positioned that way--we never tried it. Anyway, it didn't last very long, but long enough that DS had some neck strength and was sleeping slightly longer stretches so I wasn't so crazy tired. Might be an alternative to the moses basket if you decide not to go that route.

[SunRise]

Originally Posted by Momtwice

I did some research on Moses baskets a while back and the main safety issue is the handles. They should NEVER be picked up by the handles. This can make it tilt and tip the baby out, and there have been incidents where the handles came off.

The moses basket comes with a warning that advises one NOT to carry the baby around in the basket. That the basket should only be used for stationary purposes.

breanna31 - As for the rocking stand - just wanted to let you know that it's a bit wiggly. We do use it and I feel comfortable with it, but it has loosened over time (but can be tightened again).

[leam811]

We used a moses basket in bed with us for months. It worked great, and as a pp said, I was still very attuned to her needs and woke quickly when she needed me. I would take her out and sit up to nurse, esp because she was refluxy then.