Arms Reach Cosleeper Vs. Sidecarred Crib

[Logan]

We have always coslept but just on the same bed. Im pregnant and we will have no room left for the baby So this time we will be adding something next to the bed. Either the baby will go in there or DD, whichever seems to work best. I want it to be durable as it will be used for a while.

For those who have tried either of these, or both, can you tell me what the downsides were and what things you liked about them????

[moondiapers]

We've tried both and like the sidecarred crib best. The cosleeper had a hard bar in the way so I still had to sit up and reach in to get her, and I couldn't let her sleep on the edge of our bed because she could get trapped against the bar.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Originally Posted by moondiapers

We've tried both and like the sidecarred crib best. The cosleeper had a hard bar in the way so I still had to sit up and reach in to get her, and I couldn't let her sleep on the edge of our bed because she could get trapped against the bar.

Same here. We have a short bed and the arms-reach was higher and wasn't really like extending the bed at all. A cradle on the floor would have been about the same.

[Snapdragon]

We used both and I liked them both! We used the sleigh bed type of arms reach which is most like a crib. But ds grew out of it after only about 3 months! ( I think that is right but memory is a bit fuzzy)So then we got a crib and sidecarred it. But I was actually glad to have the arms reach even for a short time because it was small and cozy for a newborn. the part next to the bed on either doesn't bother me- we just figure out how to work with it. I did not like the arms reach co sleeper mattress-though, I got a different mattress for it. But that was no big deal.

[henny penny]

Go sidecar all the way!!! Our cosleeper was a complete waste of money. They outgrow even the big one at about 6 months. But the reason I hated ours and didn't ever use it was because if you have a frequent night nurser you will be sitting up to get baby in and out all. night. long. No sleep for anyone!! We sidecarred ds's crib and he still loves it at 2 1/2 years old. Baby dd sleeps in the big bed with us and everyone is happy.

[Sfcmama]

Originally Posted by henny penny

Go sidecar all the way!!! Our cosleeper was a complete waste of money. They outgrow even the big one at about 6 months. But the reason I hated ours and didn't ever use it was because if you have a frequent night nurser you will be sitting up to get baby in and out all. night. long. No sleep for anyone!! We sidecarred ds's crib and he still loves it at 2 1/2 years old. Baby dd sleeps in the big bed with us and everyone is happy.

Ditto all the way!

[Spring Lily]

cosleeper
We used a cosleeper for the first 3 or 4 months with all of our kids. Main reason: it straps right to the bed and there is no gap. Yes, there is a bar so you have to sit up to pick up the baby, but it felt safer to me for there to be a small side between us so so the baby wouldn't roll in between. A sidecarred crib would make it much easier, you could nurse without having to sit up to pull the baby over.

crib
After the newborn phase, I put the baby/ies into bed with me and used a guard rail next to them. Then when they were big enough to roll and crawl, we sidecarred the crib. We strapped that to the box spring and stuffed blankets and pillows into the gap. That is NOT safe for a newborn. The head and footboards of the crib are going to stick out past the crib mattress, so I don't know if any crib would NOT have that dangerous gap.

I think the only way to do it with a newborn is to put the stuffing on the other side and push the crib mattress next to your bed like this: http://sidecarcrib.webs.com/ Which we would have done if we'd known about that foam in the first place! We're past that stage though.

Hope that makes sense, it's hard to explain. But if you can get that to work, there's just no point in a cosleeper. The crib will last longer, they can sleep there all the way until they're 3 or 4. You can even put your weight on it.

Originally Posted by henny penny

They outgrow even the big one at about 6 months.

You must have a big 6 month old. The weight limit on the regular sized cosleeper is 30 lbs, the mini is 15 lbs. I was able to have my twins in the cosleeper until 4 months and they still hadn't grown out of it, but they are small. I'd expect a baby to outgrow a cosleeper because they're sitting up before they hit the 30 lb weight limit.

[henny penny]

Originally Posted by Spring Lily

You must have a big 6 month old. The weight limit on the regular sized cosleeper is 30 lbs, the mini is 15 lbs. I was able to have my twins in the cosleeper until 4 months and they still hadn't grown out of it, but they are small. I'd expect a baby to outgrow a cosleeper because they're sitting up before they hit the 30 lb weight limit.

It wasn't that he was such a huge baby but he was very mobile (rolling over, scooting a lot) and he could grab the side of the cosleeper and it just was not safe. I didn't want to wait and find out that he could pull himself over the side some night. We didn't use it at that point anyway, but that was one of the negatives about it.

[Altair]

We side carred from the beginning and it worked out very well. We were very careful to get the mattresses perfectly level and made no gap by stuffing the far edge tightly and attaching the crib to the bed.

[Logan]

Thanks everyone, I will definitely be going with the crib option now. I was leaning that way anyway, but you have all confirmed it for me.

Is there anything specific I should look out for that the crib has, or doesnt have?

[henny penny]

Ours has a drop side but since those are no longer available (I think....) make sure the crib is sturdy with one side totally removed. Most cribs have all sides attached to the metal mattress support and so should be quite sturdy with only three sides to it.
And it is handy to have several mattress heights available. Ds was a very restless sleeper and so, after he night-weaned, we lowered the crib mattress to about 6" lower than the adult mattress. He had his own space to thrash about in but could crawl up for a snuggle if needed.

[Llyra]

The cribs that are designed to convert later to a day bed are most likely to be sturdy with one side removed-- since that's how you convert them. That's what ours was.

And honestly, it might sound kind of petty, next to really important things like safety-- but I tried to pick one that kinda matched my own bed and the decor of my room. 'Cause you're going to live with it next to your bed for a year and probably more, and it's nice if it looks nice.

We pushed the mattress flush with our mattress, and then stuffed the far side, between the crib mattress and the opposite rail. It can be made very safe, if it's done carefully. It is a royal PITA to change the crib sheet, though-- that was my single only complaint about sidecarring.

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by moondiapers

We've tried both and like the sidecarred crib best. The cosleeper had a hard bar in the way so I still had to sit up and reach in to get her, and I couldn't let her sleep on the edge of our bed because she could get trapped against the bar.

same here! I found the cosleepr to be a PITA. We also couldn't get it on the exactly the same level as the bed, so in addition to the bar, there was also a small height difference. I couldn't just roll over and nurse DS.