Baby Hammocks

I just had to return a amby hammock my 5 month old loved it and im now considering buying one.. how long did your baby sleep in one? is it ok for their backs? just wondering if worth the investment?? Thanks

Yasin was in his until he was about 10 months old. Imran is still happy in it at 6 months old.
Are you planning to have more children? If so it's probably worth the investment because you can pack it up after Tariq grows out of it and get it out for your next baby.

we have one, I used it with milo until he was around 5 months or so, and we only stopped because he was too tall/long for it and was getting uncomfortable.

I think its actually good for their back as it moves with the shape of their spine. My hospital used them in the childbirth centre.

Rachael, I'm bringing mine to the hospital with me :)

Olivia was in hers till she was 11 months (she is a tiny titch)....and Charlie was in his till 10 months. And Lexie is in hers right now......and will stay in it as long as I can get her to!

(Christy, I took mine into hospital too......they have one in the nursery but it is always in demand so I took our own.....Jovie will melt your heart when you see her all tucked into it.....)

Imran has started trying to roll when he's going to sleep in the hammock and sometimes he suceeds :eek: so I think its time to switch to the cot. Mainly for day sleeps (we co-sleep at night) but if he likes it I'm thinking of putting him in the cot and sleeping in Yasin's bed while DH is away so we can all share a room and I don't spend my nights shuttling back and forth between rooms.
I moved Yasin to the cot when he was 11 months and he never took to it so when he was about a year old he had a mattress on the floor and then a bed.
Its a lovely cot and I would like one of my children to use it.
Does anyone have any tips for a more successful transition? He has a toy lamb and a dummy that he likes to go to sleep with so I'm hoping that they will still be sleep triggers in a new environment.

Hi

DS(9weeks) sleeps great at night in his cot, but during the day refuses to, and screams and screams, i have hired a hammock and the last 2days he has slept so far happily during the day between feeds in his hammock.. at this stage will hire it for 3mnths, does anyone know, that after the 3mnths when i know he will have to have day sleeps in his cot, will he adjust ok, or will there be an issue as he will be possibly used to day sleeps in the hammock, also i dont want him to get used to the hammock that he wont use cot at night. anyone use both?

oh no... there are no replies to this post? I have the same question... my friend said it took 4 days for her baby to go from the hammock to the cot, with lots of wrapping and patting (however she is believer in controlled crying) so I would like an alternative to tears as well if possible? let me know how you go as it is a while since this was posted... cheers!

Hi Dachlorstar,

We did it!!! With out tears or tantrums or anything... the first day felt beautiful, to hold my baby in my arms while she drifted to sleep was something I did not know I had missed.

The next night I held her for one song on her music CD then lay her in her cot while stroking her face for about one song, then I walked out... she made the "mmmm" noise for 25mins, but as my DH said, she makes that noise when she is in the hammock too... or when we are rocking her in our arms..

The next night, one song in my arms, the next song I stroked her face, then walked out.. 8 mins of "mmm" then fast asleep.

The next night was so beautiful, (again to music) I held her, lay her down in her cot, stroked her face, she looked up at me, smiled (I smiled back - I don't believe in no- eye contact) then she gentle yawned, closed her eyes and feel asleep.... my DH was standing at the door and he just said "that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, you are such a good Mum"... (I was so proud - we both had tears in our eyes).

it has now been a week and she ALWAYS goes to sleep within 8 mins of the "mmm" noise (sometimes she will only go "mmm" for a second and then fall alseep. No crying at ALL... She now also sleeps better during the day, she has gone from the baby at Mothers Group nobody wanted to sit next too as she was always crying from being tired and hence waking their sleeping babies to the first baby to drop off to sleep in her pram... None of my friends at Mothers group can belive how much she has changed. They all want to know my secret!!!!

I LOVE the cot. I am a full convert... The hammock was a God send, but when they are ready to move to a cot, I think they will let you know ...

Ally was waking up evey hour on the hour wanted to be rocked back to sleep, so to me that was telling me she was ready for a big girl bed! She is so much better in the cot as now during the night she wakes once or twice for a feed and that is it! She has also gone from the classic 45min cat napper to the 90min sleep ledgend!

So, I guess I wanted to let you know that for us, it was not as scarey a transition as we thought it would be and it has made our daughter a lot happier.

All the best, hope it works as smoothly for you as well.

Well done Cee Cee :)

Zander made the transition easy as, it was as if nothing had happened, so I cant help!

Sarah
He hee.. sometimes I think it is us as Mums that want to hold on to the current situation rather than our babies. We just love them to bits and can't imagine anything else.

Poor Ally had to spend 3 weeks trying to tell me she wanted to change her bed routine... She must think I'm a silly mummy!

Heya

Fox moved out of his hammock at around 8 months. He was trying to roll too and resisted going in. He is now sleeping in a port a cot waiting for me to move his sister into a big girl bed (will be 3 in 2 months) but I haven't had a full nights sleep since she was born and i dont want to start her night wakings again by moving her.

Anyway, I was a bit naughty and I put bedding around him in the cot, pillows or fluffed up blankies to make him feel snug and moved them once he was in a deep sleep. We also coslept half the night but he sleeps better alone now. So there it is, recreate the cosy feeling. He also needed a wind down routine as well to make sure he knew it was bedtime (see the baby whisperer, or PM me and i will go into more detail)

Anyway I am here looking for help to get him to sleep through. I am absolutely buggered!

Beck, Mum of Charlie 34 months and Fox 10 months

Hello
If anyone has an Amby Baby Hammock I'd love to know what linen they used and whether they think they were warm for their baby to sleep in, as well as any other tips and thoughts in general. I have one and it is beautiful, but I want to make sure I use it safely as it was given to me and I dont know much about them. I believe you would have to sleep the baby with their feet at the end like bassinets and cots?

I also want to sew extra covers for the mattress (might get mum to do it actually, she is more savvy with a sewing machine!!) maybe some plastic backed ones too.

Any tips and thoughts appreciated!

i hired a amby hammock and did not like them at all... and i dont think they are warm at all ... we had nix in one and he just kept rolling over in it all the time and getting cranky in it .. personally i like the baby hammock co ones they are cheaper and are alot shorter which i think is better as amby are quite long and narrow .. i tested ds in on at the baby shop and was more comfortable in it ... and heaps cheaper .. and they dont look dated as i think amby do ...

however they do have a good reputation , but others out there have the same intention .... if this hammock that you were given comes with instructions and all necessary componets to ensure saftey for your bub ... i would try that first and if bubs doesnt like it ... then you know... and if they do .. maybe save your money and keep the one you have ...

i know of a few ppl who have forked out the money for one and have had expectations shot to pieces because the bub was not happy in it ...

but see what other ppl say and shop around ... only bub can let you know what he like ... as they are not yet used to the idea of conformity !!! :p

WE have one and loved it. DS grew out of it fairly fast, so theres no way I could have got a shorter one.

No linen other than a sheet wrapped over the mattress that came with it. this was we were still wrapping DS when he was in it, so I would wrap him the same as if he was going in his cot, and put him in the hammock wrapped.

I had an Amby hammock and loved it. It did take a week or so to get used to it, but I actually brought it to the hospital with me so Jovie went straight into that. I had a double sheet made into 3 sheets for it from a tailor we use. I then just dressed & wrapped Jovie in it.

I loved the fact that you can bounce them up & down which helps with pain receptors in the brain. When Jovie had wind or reflux issues I would bounce her & she settled very easily.

Both my boys loved thier Amby hammock. Imran stayed in it for his day sleeps until after his first birthday so a shorter one wouldn't have been such good value for us.
I wouldn't bother making plastic backed sheets since in summer they would reduce airflow and might be a bit sweaty. The matress isn't very thick and nor is the cover. I found that if they needed wash in summer I could wash them in the morning and go out for a few hours and they would be dry when I got back. In winter they would dry before bed timeon a sunny day with a bit of a breeze.
I bought sheets but it would have been easy to make them.
I usually put the boys down wrapped and if the needed a bit of extra warmth I used baby wraps as blankets.
When Imran was very small I used one of those back snuggler things (with a roll on each side and a bit of fabric between to stop them from rolling - in baby shops) to keep him centered.
Yasin was about 3 months old when we got it and took about a week before he decided that he loved it.
You can rent them so if you wanted to try before you buy that's a great option :)

I used an Amby hammock for my son and LOVED it too. He took to it immediately. I used to wrap him then put a light blanket over him. He stayed pretty warm in there because it is so snug. In summer just a sheet would do. I only used the mattress sheet it came with and would use a normal bassinette sheet if I had to wash the fitted one. Like dachlostar said, you can just throw the mattress in the wash, it dries really quickly. You can buy spare mattresses if you ever want an extra one while one is in the wash.

Just wondering if those who use a baby hammock noticed that bubs needs time to settle into it. My DD is nearly 6 weeks and we decided to hire a baby hammock (prior to buying) and she seems a bit restless in it. SHe will doze off but not for long sleeps, she then wakes and cries and I need to resettle her. Having said this, she does not seem to mind the hammock...just wondering if she needs time to adjust or is it too much stimulation for her??

Appreciate feedback...

Thanks...."A new mum with 2 left feet!"

DS didn't. If he was really unsettled it would sometimes take a while for him to go to sleep, but once he was sleeping, sometimes I'd have to wake him to get him out.

All babies are different though, your DD might take some time to get used to it, or it might be that its not for her?

Yasin started using it when he was about 2 months old and he took a while to get used to it - may a week or two (it's hard to remember). Imran went into it from birth so he never had an adjustment period.

I have used it from birth. He won't sleep in it during the day but sleeps well in it at night. I would suggest that there probably would be some period of adjustment if bubs is changing from one sleeping environment to another.

Do others use the Amby or the Baby Hammock Company hammock? And do you swaddle in a hammock or not? Thanks!

we used Amby. His service was fantastic and we loved the hammock :)

Dachlostar you seem to be a real fan of the hammock...any tips for settling my dd into one - she is 6 weeks old. And do you swaddle your babies when they are in the hammock? Thanks

I swaddled Yasin in it because he liked it but Imran grew out of being swaddled very early.
Yasin sometimes took a long time to settle so I would just find a novel or trashy mag and read that with one hand and bounce with the other hand (or a toe if I needed 2 hands). It never seems to take so long if you're not watching & waiting IYKWIM.
Yasin took a while to get used to it but when he woke up if he seemed grumpy I would just bounce him back to sleep.

We had an Amby one, which was similar to one our daughter got used to in the Hossy special care unit. She liked the gentle swaying or gentle bouncing. I didn't swaddle her in it as it seemed cosy and enclosed enough - just tucked a bunny rug loosely over her. We had tried the same hammock with my son and he wasn't keen on it. Some babies take to it more than others. Good luck with it; I liked having it out in the living area and bub seemed to like having her nigh nighs there. ;)

We have an Amby one. There are some pics on the website if you click on Oskar's name. One in the birth to 12 weeks folder and then one in the 12 weeks to 6 months. He's almost 14 weeks and still in it and loves it. He's partially wrapped...by this I mean from under his arms as he doesn't like his arms wrapped. Then I actually tuck him in with a cotton blanket so his arms are held down but he can get them out. The blanket I tuck under the mattress so it's firm across him. The pics don't show this though cos I only put it on him when I go to bed.

Hi there, I use the Baby Hammock Company Hammock for now my 7 month old. I didnt start using it till he was 5 months old. My husband actually won it for me as he knew I really wanted one. I didnt buy one as I never got around to it as my baby was a great day sleeper I didn't think I could get a better day sleeper out of him LOL...but the hammock did it. I like him to be sleeping where I am and not in his own room so for day sleeps it is brilliant. He is in the lounge and when I put him in awake he self settles without a peep, as he watches whats going on around him ( he is my 4th child so there is plenty to see LOL..) I don't wrap him but he does seem to like to hold a wrap and snuggle it into his cheek so thats what I do.

Hi , I started using one at 5 months ( now 7 months) and he only does day sleeps as we co-sleep at night. He took about 4 days to get used to re settling himself and now sleeps over 2 hours each lunch and still has a quick hour in the morning and a quick hour in the afternoon if he needs to catch up. Best part is I can put him in awake and he settles himself, bad part is he prefers that to having a lap nap on mum..

We had an adjustment period ... even though we used it straight home from hospital, I think it took about 2 weeks before DS would settle into it. He was fine for daytime sleeps, but wouldn't sleep in it at nighttime. We just kept persisting, and now he sleeps in it beautifully! Actually, he will rarely sleep in his cot anymore.

We hired one for DS when he was 9 weeks old and he loved it right from the first time we put him in it. I have heard that babies tend to either love them or hate them.

Goodluck i hope you find a way to settle bub soon!

Went to buy a AMBY baby Hammock today and the sales lady told me that babies would only use the hammock until they were 2/3months of age. She said that when they start to sit up putting them in a Hammock would be dangerous - as they could fall out. THis was not my understanding - in fact I heard it was up to 12 months. What is the experience of others?

I used mine until Luke could get out of it !
He would have been over 1 i would say from memory.
2-3 month blah .. i didnt get mine till he was about 4 months old !

Zander got his at around 6-7 weeks old & stayed in it until he was around 6 months old, he got a bit squishy in there & cranky cos he couldn't roll around.

I'm planning on encouraging a more attached relationship with this baby, because I will be a SAHM this time around I feel I can and won't have to impose a sleeping routine as early on as I did with my daughter (as I was going back to work).

I'm thinking of buying a sling to wear baby from day dot - any suggestions? and thought rather than trying to transfer into a cot for when I am feeling tired or need a break or for night sleeps I could use a hammock that will hopefully mimic that snuggly feeling for bubs.

What's your experiences using one? Good and bad.

They are quite expensive and I would like to find out if it's really worth the outlay! ;)

I have been loaned an Amby hammock from a very dear lass, so it's all ready & waiting , just gotta have baby first!!!!!

Claire,

I am a huge fan of hammocks. All 3 of my babies have slept in a hmmock from birth till at least 10 months. Lexie (my youngest) is still in ours.

I have used the hammock for them as their sole bed for day and night sleeps from birth (although the obviously have slept in prams and in slings and wherever they drop off too!)

I have nothing but positive comments about baby hammocks to be honest.....as soon as I saw one when I was pg with my eldest I knew it would suit us, and in my experience they have worked brilliantly.....and I now have 3 champion sleepers!

Let me know if you have any more questions?

Lucy - that's a great endorsement!

Caro - how much are you selling it for?

I have an Amby hammock, I love it. It did take around a week for Jovie to get used to it, and once she did... it was wonderful. She's outgrown it now & its on loan to a friend.

We use the HAB sling and its been fantastic, I used the same one for Matilda & now am using it with Jovie.