Arms Reach Co-sleeper??

[mad4mady]

Hello-

I am pregnant with dd #2 and I am considering buying the Arms Reach co-sleeper. I do not have any experience with cribs or co-sleepers as dd1 sleep in our bed until she was old enough for her own twin bed..and even then she was with us for the most part. This is not the arrangement we have chosen for this time around but, I still want baby very close so...How is the co-sleeper? How long can baby use it? I am hoping it can work for the first year? Is there anything better on the market if you have not been found of the arms reach.

Thanks Megan

[Snapdragon]

I loved

my arm's reach when ds was a newborn.  We had the sleigh bed style one.  I found it to be  nice safe small cozy place for ds to sleep.  I was surprised when he grew out of it by four months! but I still think it was worth it.  We then transitioned to a sidecarred crib which was a seamless transition.  I liked having the arm's reach first though, because since it was small it felt safe and cozy for the little baby.

[Buzzer Beater]

We love our cosleeper. If you don't want your baby in the bed, it's the next best thing. Your babe is right there. There is, however, a height difference as the mattress of the cosleeper is four or five inches below the side. It's not as easy as you might think to get your LO in the big bed to nurse. You should be able to use it until your babe can sit up and climb out... that would be well before a year.

[Jewels*]

Congrats on your pregnancy!!

DD would have been between 4 - 6 mths while she used it (I couldn't fit it in my suitcase to go home from my parent's house otherwise she would still be using it today). I wish i would have had it from day 1!! (DD slept in a firmly secured laundry basket her first few days of life... hahaha...long story :) 

Anyway, due to some injuries I had I didn't use it "attached" to my bed, just put it right beside my bed like a bassinet but i would recommend connecting it to your bed if you can - certainly the first month or so postpartum.  DD would sleep all cozied up in the corner of it - when she'd wake to nurse that's when I'd bring her into my bed. 

I really liked that the side are mesh type material and so you can see through the sides, I was never worried about her head snuggled into the corner and not being able to breathe and I liked that it had wheels on two of the legs (to make for easy transport to vacuum etc.) 

The only "issue" i had was the sheets that it requires; they are really really nice and if you put them on correctly - very secure...velcro thingies that won't let baby pull fitted sheet off the mattress... however they seem to not be made "preshrunk".  I was always worried about it shrinking!!!

I ended up hanging mine to dry instead of putting it in the dryer... usually fine as i hang many items to dry but if baby is having a diaper explosion and spit up episode - it's nice to be able to dry the sheet in the dryer without worrying if it will still fit the mattress when it comes out!!!

I was happy to get one, and it's probably good up until they are able to pull up to sitting on their own.  I remember reading 25 lbs? My DD is 6 mths and getting close to that weight - to me, worth the money for the difficult first few months

Congrats again!

[Snapdragon]

regarding the mattress and matress height- when I was pregnant I was hearing a lot about how the matteress height was lower than the bed and how some people found that annoying.  I thoght I would want it even with the bed. But for me, I sit up and take ds out of bed to nurse anyway. So I actually found the slight lowered height to be fine, and it felt like a safe thing. I did not like the little mattress that came with the co sleeper though, it was too thin and didn't seem inviting.  I made a new mattress type thing for it.

[MiaFL]

Are you looking at the mini or the regular sized one?  I didn't think the mini was really worth it for the price.  We didn't use it for the first month, then we had to stop use it once DD was about 5 months old because she could climb out of it.  The regular one transitions into a play yard and I wish we would've gotten that one because we ended up getting a pack n play also because we needed an occasional, safe baby containment device. 

[mad4mady]

So it sounds like it is only going to work for the first few months....Hmmm, I really wanted something that would last longer. Any suggestions as to an alternative that will last the first year.

Thanks, Megan

[Knitting Mama]

A sidecarred crib is a longer lasting alternative.

[umsami]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

A sidecarred crib is a longer lasting alternative.

Yes! We finally did this for baby #4 and my only regret is not doing it sooner.  We bought an $80 crib on Amazon and basically followed the directions for the Toddler bed (no side).  The mattress on the highest setting was the perfect level for our bed, but others use foam to bring them in line.  We then bungee corded it to our bed...and used some foam in between to stop up the gaps.  Worked great.  I found a bunch of tutorials online.  Just look for how to sidecar a crib. :)

[lkvosu]

Side-carring a crib is what I would recommend. You'll get more life out of it, plus there are so many more options, style and price wise, for cribs than co-sleepers.  We bought a co-sleeper and were gifted a crib; however, ds won't sleep in either of them.  From our many attempts at using them, though, I found that I like side-carred crib better.

[vegrunr]

We have the Arms Reach Mini Convertible.  My son has used it from 2 weeks and still uses it now at 6  months.  He can roll but never has in the cosleeper and does not try and pull up or anything yet, so I feel that he is safe in there.  I love it and am glad we got it.  I will probably do the sidecar crib soon but for a lil one I liked the co sleeper.  We used bed risers to bring the co sleeper height up since our bed is pretty high and it was much lower than our bed.  Ive heard you can also used pvc pipes, just stick the legs of the cosleeper in them to make it taller.

[Jewels*]

I'm also going to say the side car crib... we finally did this and are VERY happy with the results... DH followed this tutorial online...

http://www.freewebs.com/sidecarcrib/index.htm

[motherhendoula]

I do think you will get more useage out of a side carred crib...we were given the Arms Reach Mini as a gift and i did love it...DS was 6 months old and 20 lbs and 28" long when we moved him out of and onto a futon next to our bed.....still considering the side carred crib myself!   At that size - he still fit in it fairly well - but it was getting to be a little tight!

[rachael07]

Loved our co-sleeper. We used it (or even just the mattress) as a portable crib, too. Once the baby outgrows the bassinet part (when they can pull up or sit up), the floor drops and it is a play yard that works for sleeping, too. We bought the organic mattress to go with it, because I felt like the thing pad that came with it was uncomfortable. Still, our DS actually started refusing the cosleeper. Here's how it went

Months 0-4: co-sleeper in room, baby in co-sleeper from 7pm to around 3-5am, baby in our bed after that

Months 4-6: co-sleeper in our room, baby refuses co-sleeper, in our bed most of the night

Months 6-7: co-sleeper in nursery, baby in co-sleeper from 7-10pm, in our bed after that

Months 7-8 (now!): crib with a comfy mattress in nursery, baby in crib the whole night

I still can't tell. Was it the soft mattress that did it? The change of scenary that did it? (He cried for less than 5 minutes and now finally falls asleep all on his own) Or did DS just start sleeping better becaue he was ready? No matter the reason, I'm still grateful for the co-sleeper. I loved having him that close. I fell asleep every night watching him breath, and I still had room to sprawl out in bed. Plus, it wouldn't have been safe to leave him in our bed before I was in there with him (and I can't go to bed at 7pm!), so I really liked not having to move him from the nursery to our room in the early days. Now, we bring the mattress with us when we're over at a friend's house... and he'll fall asleep right on the co-sleeper mattress (it smells familiar!)

I would suggest that if you do it, make sure to get the regular arms reach or the mini one that converts to a portable play yard... we get lots more use out of it that way, and probably could have used it all the way up to a toddler bed if we hadn't been gifted a hand me down crib

[Janesque]

We have the full-sized Arms Reach (not the mini) and we love love love it. There's a lot of comfort in being able to just open your eyes and he's right there next to you at eye-level. And when he fusses a little, just drape your arm out and cuddle him without the worries of falling asleep on him or my duvet covering him or any of the other co-sleeping worries.

We bought 3 extra sheets for it, so we could easily whip one off and throw another on without needing to launder there and then.

The fullsized one lowers a few feet below bed level, so you can still use it side-car style once he's big enough to pull himself up. The Arms Reach website says they can be used up to about 3 years of age at the lowest setting,as a kind of toddler bed. Or, as mentioned earlier, you can use it as a playpen.