Pinky,

I am a hammock user. When I was pg with Olivia, a friend recommended the hammock to me (she had used one 13 years previously, for her daughter) and it immedietly struck me and my gut as "the way to go". It just looked and sounded like the most comfortable and safe little cosy bed. They are said to be great for minimising the SIDS risk which was a huge plus for me, and it just "felt right" for us.

Olivia was in the hammock from the moment she was born, and has always been a very good sleeper.....I am not sure if that is her nature, or due to the hammock, but either way, I will definately be using the hammock again for number two.

The bouncing up and down motion (that can be done by the baby or by the parent) lulls them off to sleep really quickly, and when they wake, it seems that they wake really slowly and gradually......Olivia has literally never woken up crying, not even as a newborn, because I beleive they feel so "secure" in the hammock.

For the first 4 months we had Olivia in the hammock in our bedroom with us. After this time, when BF was really well established along with a very predictable routine, Olivia started sleeping through the night from 7pm to 7am, so we moved her into her own room. She made this transition really well, with no issues whatsoever, and this actually helped ME sleep better as well!

Olivia is a titchy tiny baby girl, so she was able to stay in the hammock for ages......but we moved her into a traditional cot about 12 months. I was TERRIFIED of the transition, as the hammock allowed Olivia to settle and bounce herself off to sleep and I was convinced that a traditional cot would take us all backwards, but all of my fears were unfounded and she maintained great day sleeps (2 x 2 hours) and a 12 hour bight sleep in the cot without any problem at all.

In the hammock she slept on her back. Now she is in the cot she moves onto her tummy straigt away to sleep. But now she is 15 months, I have relaxed about the SIDS risk, so we are all happy.

HTH