snuggle-nest or similar

[taraknyc]

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with one of these. I have co-slept with my ds since birth and I am now expecting our second in May. I'm thinking of trying one of these for dc2, but I would love to hear experiences people might have had. My ds was in the NICU for the first few weeks, and when he came home, we actually had him a little elevated on a wedge b/c of pretty severe reflux. I'm nervous having a newborn right next to my dh b/c he is a very heavy sleeper. We have just transitioned my ds1 onto a mattress on the floor, so I want quick access to him. If I need to get to ds1 easily I need to but dc2 in the middle- between my dh and me. I think I might be more comfortable trying one of those co-sleeping things- if everyone thinks they are useless though, I might have to rethink.

Thanks!

Tara

[mamacake]

We bought a snuggle nest not long after our daughter was born but we didn't end up using it- basically because she didn't like to sleep even that far away from mama! (st six months she still has to sleep pressed up against me

If your babe doesn't mind sleeping a few feet from you then it might work. A couple other things to note though-
a) If you don't have a king sized bed I think it would be very hard to sleep with both parents in the bed and the snuggle nest, unless you are both very thin/petite.
b) I thought that the snuggle nest mattress was too hard- it's basically a thin pad on top of the plastic box part of the snuggle nest. Maybe my daughter was already too spoiled by the softness of mom's bed but she didnt seem to like it either.
c) If your bed mattress is not very firm then the snuggle nest seems to tip downwards (eg, if you sit up on the side of the bed and that dents the bed mattress at all, that tips the snuggle nest quite a bit)

So if you have a very firm king sized bed it might work...I sold mine on craigslist- otherwise I could send it to you to try with the new babe!

I do remember seeing on one parenting list-serv one time that someone said they made their own little snuggle nest for their bed from a cat bed. As long as it was done safely a homemade something like that might be an option....

It sounds like your room might be too crowded for an arm's reach co-sleeper. What about a moses basket right next to the bed?

[taraknyc]

Mamacake,

Thanks for your reply. We do have a king bed (thank goodness!!!) I like your idea of a homemade something- maybe I will start searching. I really appreciate your breakdown of the snugglenest, and I don't like the idea of my LO sleeping on hard plastic- doesn't seem too comfortable. Maybe a moses basket would be an option, but those are usually on the floor and that would mean sleeping quite far from dc. Not sure either of us will like it!!!

Tara

[aprilv]

we used a snuggle nest at first. i liked it somewhat- i was way too scared to have ds right next to me in bed. i liked how it had these little ventilated sides so that he could breathe even if he pressed up on the sides.

downsides: ds had reflux too and we quickly realized you can't really wash the inner lining b/c it doesn't come out. we used to carefully tuck in a receiving blanket so that his spitups didn't ruin the bed! he also outgrew it by the end of the 1st month-- i have since seen a few types of nests that don't have a 'footboard' so that might have helped. now that i think about it, ds didn't really sleep well in the nest. maybe it was too hard (like a pack and play, ouch!)?

i prob won't use it next time as i am used to sleeping with a babe now. it was useful on the sofa downstairs though, so i may use it for that again!

[mamacake]

Aprilv- I think you must have had a different type of snuggle nest than we did-ours didn't have a foot board and the cover came off to wash it. (Our daughter did outgrow it quickly even without the footboard though as she is very tall...)

Tara- I saw someone refer to this in another thread and thought maybe it would work for your situation:

http://www.belababy.com/products.htm

I think i might have gotten more use out of that than the snuggle nest. THe light feature is nice to have- i did like the little light that came with the snuggle nest.

[MommytoHHH]

We used the snuggle nest with our DD until about 6 months. I would put her in it at the beginning of the night so that I could get some really nice comfy sleep. At first I put her back in it, but as I got more comfortable sleeping with her, I would just let her stay in bed with me once she woke. It was definitely a good purchase for us. We started off trying to put DD in a bassinette by the bed and she wanted nothing to do with that, but she was fine in the snuggle nest. She had really outgrown it by 6 months and was crawling by then, so we just took it out of the bed at that point.