Learning from my mistakes thread Please help

[afishwithabike]

We don't co-sleep due to Dh's being a poor bedfellow, especially for a babe. In fact I sometimes I don't sleep with him. DD and DS slept through the night at 2 weeks and 4 days respectively. (Through the night means 6+ hours) They were fed on cue since birth and they both did this. I am now checking into keeping any future DC in our room instead of a shared room since we now have a bedroom big enough to fit a bed/crib/bassinet in it. I am interested in either a arms reach co-sleeper or an amby bed. I know I won't have the benefit of sleep nursing like some and I'm okay with that. If I have to fully wake to nurse I'm not upset about it at all. I am just wondering if anybody has experience with either of these sleep systems. I would like pros and cons. TIA

[Al Dente]

I had an arms reach...and the first problem was that ds refused to go in it (screamed every time from day 1), the second problem was that although it attached to my bed, the height level between my mattress and the AR mattress were way different, so I would've had to scoop him out and put him back in every time. The third problem is that it took up a lot of room and I kept forgetting it was there :lol and wound up with some nasty bruises on my thigh from hitting it in the middle of the night. I couldn't bring it with me when I moved, and couldn't find anyone to buy it so ended up donating it to goodwill.

As you can see, I'm not a huge fan! It would be totally different if you didn't do any cosleeping at all though. You can sidecar it to your bed so the baby is really close and you might like that. Once the babe is about 25 lbs or can pull themselves up you're supposed to stop using it.

[ColKathMom]

My DD uses an Amby... it is not the miracle worker that its website claims to be... but for a baby bed with a ton of versatility, it is worth it. She still wakes up every 2 hours or so, and she is in and out of our bed, but she seems to enjoy it, naps well in it, and it is nice to be able to move it from room to room and bring with us on vacation. I anticipate her using it for many more months (is not growing out of it). PM me if you have specific questions!

PS my dd is 10 mos, and she has been in it since birth.

Amy

[alexsam]

We don't have either of these things, but maybe this is something for you to think about... We have one of those "convertable" cribs (crib-toddler bed-double bed). It is VERY sturdy, and we took off the front and sidled it up to our bed and voila! It is the same level as our mattress and with some minor adjustment can be safe (with the cracks and things). It is also heavy, sturdy and strong enough to support some of my weight, so I can kind of roll over and nurse and then slide back over when he's done. No lifting, lots of space.

[BookGoddess]

We have an Arms Reach Mini Co-Sleeper. DD took to it from the start and she sleeps great in it. Sometimes she sleeps in the co-sleeper. Sometimes she sleeps for part of the time in our bed. She's over 6 months but I think we'll be able to use the sleeper for at least another month maybe two.

[lisalulu]

We had the mini arm's reach when ds was smaller. In the beginning he seemed to like it ok at night. He wouldn't nap in it though. I found the angle that you had to scoop them out of it awkward because it sits lower than your bed, like the previous poster mentioned. I would have to fully sit up to get him out so my visions of nursing him back to sleep while I was basically asleep myself didn't come to be with the co-sleeper. I found that most times I would end up just bringing my son into our bed because it was easier. We did end up eventually putting the crib sidecared to our bed and that worked really well. We were able to get it so that it almost exactly matched the level of our bed and ds seemed to enjoy having more space!
Lisa