baby furniture and co-sleeping

[ltk]

Hi everyone,

This is our first child and I tend to be a minimalist. I am sure I will have more junk that I know what to do with, but in the meantime: We have a 2 bedroom, and aren't sure how long we will stay. The second room is a guest room, office type room, and I don't think that needs to change YET.

I am wondering: what purchases are essential? I want to co-sleep in the beginning, although I don't have the details figured out. Can I JUSt get a CRIB, or JUST get a co-sleeper, and a dresser? Do I need a basinette? I plan on b/f so I know I need them in or near the bed at all times....but what are you all planning. I think I will eventually be a p/t co-sleeping mama....but full time in the beginning. Advice? Thanks everyone......

[tomtemama]

My personal experience with dd was that I needed basically no furniture. We co-slept with her in our bed. To start with we had an insert in the bed (because dh was uncomfortable with the idea of co-sleeping initially) but that was more trouble than it was worth and in the end we stopped using it after about a week. I did however need a bed rail for when dd was on the side of the bed that she could hve rolled out of.

As far as change tables and dressers goes we just used an old dresser of mine for her clothes and diapers and bought a change table top that can be attacheds to any surface (I think we paid $20 CDN for it at Toys R Us). We kept it in the other room (we had the same set up as you do now with 2 rooms) and at night if she needed changing we just used a changing mat and would bring in some dipes and sleepers into the room.

HTH

[SusannahM]

We really didn't need any furniture at first. DD slept in our bed. We have a king size bed, so there was no danger of DH rolling over her when she slept near me (he was so far away from her), so she just slept on the side of me that was between us (no siderails needed). All of her clothes fit into our closet (it's a walk-in). We just set up our changing station on our bathroom counter, we still have it there and she's a year old now.

[ChattyCat]

The only thing we *needed* was a wardrobe to put ds's clothes and blankets and stuff in. I could have bought shelving for his closet, but we were moving and a wardrobe was portable. I do like having a changing table. His diapers are in 2 baskets on the top shelf, and toys in 2 baskets on the bottom. The table is actually in our family room, because most diaper changes happen there. I don't use the top of the table to change him anymore, but will when we have #2. Also, we bought a changing pad for the top of our dresser to use in our bedroom at night, which was very convenient.

[MOM2ANSLEY]

If you have room for babys clothes you don't need a dresser, As far as a changing table...I am not a minimalist(wish I was) but I rarely used dd's usually changed her on floor or couch with changing pad or towel(a must to prevent accidents. I kept a basket with dipers, washcloths etc and a towel or pad in living room so it was all togeather. you may want a bassinette....or you could use a pack n play for baby to sleep in during day and when not co sleeping (a pac n play) will help you stick with your minimalist ideas jmo

[Snowdrift]

My great-grandma's trick for a place to put baby down to sleep when not in bed or when you want something moveable. Use a dresser drawer--line it with blankets, and you've got a free bassinet. Better than free, because it's not even an extra thing cluttering up your life. I was planning on doing it until I was given a baby basket that's been in the family for fifty years--and still may if the paint on it turns out to have lead in.

[merrick]

I really liked having a bassinet. I found it to be really useful for naps when ds was really little because I could keep him in the same room with me and keep an eye on him. I had one that was supposed to also convert to a co sleeper, but it didn't line up with the height of our bed, so we just put the bassinet beside the bed. But ds would always wake up when I put him back in it after nursing, so we just went straight to cosleeping in the bed.

We had a crib that we never even put together. DS slept with us from day 1 and still does. Completely unnecessary purchase, at least for us.

We had a dresser to put ds's clothes in.

As far as the changing table, I found it useful if for nothing but storing diapers, changes of clothes, and diapering accessories. Not altogether necessary though and you could get by with a couple of cute baskets to hold the stuff and some changing pads.

I had all of this in a one bedroom apartment. We put the changing table in the living room, the dresser in the bedroom along with ours, and the bassinet we just moved around wherever we needed it.

This time we're planning on basically the same thing. not sure if we'll need another dresser or not, as we'll be moving before the baby comes so I'm not sure about closet space.

[sapphire_chan]

Dh's first cousin once removed, whose mother, to the best of my knowledge, did not plan to co-sleep at all, ended up spending at least the first month of her life sleeping on her mothers chest.

My mother recommends using a dresser drawer or laundry basket as a bassinette.

[SusannahM]

I made Phoenix a pallette on the floor for naps when she was younger. I wasn't sure why you really needed a child to be contained if she was on the ground and not mobile yet?

[NYCVeg]

We live in a one-bedroom apartment, so we're definitely trying to keep it minimal. We're going to get a co-sleeper and a dresser/armoire of some sort for the bun's clothes and things (I would just use a closet, but in a one-bedroom apartment, there isn't a lot of closet space to spare!). The co-sleeper can be used as a changing table, so we may just use it for both. My ILs have also offered to get us a glider--if we can find space for it, I think that would be a wonderful luxury--but the space is really going to be a problem.

[luckylady]

my experience was also minimal - no crib, no changing table - we did get a small dresser for clothes though and DD slept with us.

this time around I am going to buy that Amby baby bed in hopes #2 will sleep on his/her own and I won't have to be the human pacifier again - that was just too hard on me and will be even more so this time around.

[FireWithin]

We had a big, clunky bassinet the first time. We never really used it. (We also live in a one bedroom apartment) I am hoping to get a moses basket for when the baby is really little. I already have a toddler, and I like the idea of being able to move the baby around the apartment when it is asleep, and not have to worry about what my toddler is sticking up its nose. For a first baby, and a household without any pets, I agree a pallet on the floor would be a good solution.

[merrick]

Yeah, we used pallets a lot too. Especially when visiting my parents. I guess it would depend on what kind of pets you have and if you can be sure your older kids won't trample them!

[flowmom]

What worked great for us was ditching the traditional bed (consider putting yours in storage) and buying a king sized foam mattress and putting it on the floor. Voila, no worries about baby falling out of bed! You can make it look nice by putting up a "headboard" on the wall above the bed, like a blanket or a bamboo screen (that's what we have). We have not needed any cosleeping accessories at all with this setup. I can leave ds on our beds for naps by himself with no worries at all.

What our ds did need was his own dresser. What I learned is that babies have tons of clothing because they are always growing out of the them and you start accumulating all sorts of sizes.

Cosleeping has been very convenient for us. As long as ds is still breastfeeding at night, cosleeping makes my life a lot easier and maximizes the amount of sleep that I get. Plus we live in a small home and space is at a serious premium.

[eorr]

DH and I have a small 1 bedroom condo as well, and we need to keep things simple. I would love to get a mattress for the floor, but we desperately need our underbed space. I'm hoping to clear some closet and drawer space in our already shared dresser for clothes, etc. We're going to need to do some clearing out, I think!
I plan on co-sleeping, but haven't decided on what products to get if any. I'm hoping to keep it really simple and sling a lot. I saw a great little highchair that attaches to the table which I would consider for later on. I have thought about a pack-n-play for later as well.
Good luck!

[tiffanyrk1786]

We co-slept with our dd the first 4 months but then she started waking through the night because of me moving around... So we tried the crib and now she gets a GOOD nights sleep (but her crib is next to our bed) Anyways, this time around, we know space is getting tight with 3 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats, a fishtank, and a birdcage LOL.. So we are opting for a baby hammock.. I saw it on the askdrsears.com site and I think its made by Amby ??? Not sure but it looks AWESOME and doesnt take up much room and can be using from birth which is nice and then after they outgrow it, it becomes a jumper thingy.

[tiffanyrk1786]

Oh and also, about the dresser thing.. you will need something! LOL.. Babys have tons of clothes in a million different sizes LOL.. We have a changing table/dresser which is great BUT if you dont want something huge.. For our son, we have one of those plastic rolling cart things with clear drawers and put a different type of clothing in each one.. Its nice and it saves room (he has way toooo many toys so we needed all the floor space we could get) and we put a cartoon picture and the name printed out of what type of clothes are in each drawer and he can go in and see the picture and knows which drawer to pull what out of.. (Hes 2)

[ltk]

gracias!

Thank you, everyone! You have been more than helpful and I have a lot to ponder! I forgot to mention kitty cats (indoor)......we will close the bedroom at night, but they are a factor in all of this (both for dander and jumping potential). My newest cat likes to pounce on my belly,which is EVERY so pleasant! hahaha

I still have to read ALL the posts, but so far: I like the king foam idea, the changing mat on the dresser and some kind of portable sleeper. Wish we had a KING!

Thanks again!