Can someone please let me know how many sheets, blankets etc bubs normally go through and how many sets we'll need? Mum keeps telling me we'll be changing the bedding multiple times a day. Having no experience with parenting, I have no idea. What would be a realistic amount of sheets, blankets etc?
FWIW, Mum says she'll buy us a bassinet for upstairs. I'm still umming and aahing about getting a snuggle bed (looking at Tetra model, but not sure it will fit in the bed with us). I still don't know what the best option would be for easy in-bed breastfeeding. Then there's the pram, the chico pack and play for downstairs (includes a bassinet option). We're figuring we won't need a cot immediately, but will eventually need to buy one and get sheets etc that fit.
I have only 3 sheets for DD's Cot, had them since the boys and two mattress protectors. I definitely don't change them every day or multiple times over the day. If you have a chucky baby you can put cloth napply unfolded as a 'protector' under their head while they are not moving much.
As a NB you may 'swaddle' and then put perhaps one blanket over them if it's cold.
We also don't have any blankets as once they start to move a bit they risk getting tangled up or under them.
IMO one of the best things we have is the gro bag or snugtime sleeping bags/suits.
The bassinette I also only had 3 sheets and that was plenty.
The other thing to keep in mind is the size of your baby. Not all babies fit in the bassinette for long (DS2 only lasted 1mth). I used the Cot during the day so as to get them used to sleeping in it, some babies don't transfer well from Bassinette to Cot if they have never slept in a Cot before. Cots can also take up to 6wks to order if they don't have floor stock of them.
I have yet to use any of the top sheets yet as DD is in a gro bag at night and will be for quite some time most likely until she goes into a bed, that's how it was with both the boys.
The cot I have converts into a junior bed and that's when I started using the top sheet and blakets.
Good luck with it all. Try not to get caught up in the 'wants/must haves' too much, easier said than done I know , you may end up with a whole heap of stuff brand new with tags to sell on Ebay.
I had 2 fitted sheets and 2 mattress protectors for the bassinet. I thought I might have to get more but actually this was fine- one in the wash, and one on the bed. It was always dry by the time I needed it. I used a terry cloth nappy in the early days too under his head which was much easier to whip off and replace with a fresh one.
for the bassinette I have 2 sheets but I have a spewer so I put a cloth nappy under her head so just change that when she spews and her sheets every few days.
With the cot i have about 4 sets of sheets, but because we use sleeping bags for DD1 and will use them for DD2 when she gets bigger, Mum sewed elastic around the flat sheets off DD1's sets to make fitted sheets for DD2s cot
As for blankets for DD2 she is still wrapped so I have 4 stretchy blankets to wrap her in and a few to tuck her in when its cold.
For our bassinet we only had 1 fitted sheet as it was on loan. My son was a bit of a spewer, so we put a flannel cloth tucked in under his head and changed that regularly (every few days). That way the fitted sheet barely got dirty.
As for his cot, I have 3 fitted sheets and 3 mattress protectors. I'll change this weekly or so depending on how dirty it gets. We have only had to do two night time changes due to wetting through his nappy, grow suit and sleeping bag. Thanks Dad for not putting the nappy on properly!
I have occasionally used a flat sheet as now that Mitchell is in his sleeping bag he likes the security feeling of being 'tucked in'. However you have to be careful with sheets / blankets in cots as they can be a SIDS risk. I have 3 blankets and he is currently using all of them. They don't get dirty so I can't see myself washing them regularly. I air them every so often and that seems to be working well.
I know how hard it can be to know what you need! Don't hesitate to ask.
i use a lot more wraps than cot sheets. bub is wrapped in a wrap (bunny rug) then placed on top of the sheet with a blanky on top. so if bub nappy leaks it only messes the wrap.
wraps are 1m x 1m in size up to 1.2m x 1.5m and made of cotton, muslin or flannel. stretchy ones are good.
think of the season bub will be born and where you live. if you are hot, you may not be wrapping so much- or only want thin covers.
hi,i think 4 sheet sets will be plenty,you'll probably be washing every day,rain,hail or shine.I did the snuggle bed option with 2 of mine,put it into a cot.I have seen in k-mart a similiar idea to the snuggle bed,i would think it would be a better option for sleeping in bed with you,i think it was a fisher-price produoct,it was smaller than snuggle bed,had a built-in night light,it was advertised as a co-sleeping product.I found sleeping bags great for mine,you can get light-weight ones as well as heavy ones for cooler nights.I think half a dozen bunny rugs/wraps is enough.Glad to see your ticker moving along...Keep your cot sheets for pre-school days,they fit well on the beds they use there for rest time
Thanks for all that. Think we'll be investigating sleeping/gro bags next It's interesting that fitted sheets aren't used much at all.
I think Mum was remembering 30-40 years ago with a bunch of spewy, refluxy babies in old terry cloth nappies, wrapped up in sheets and blankets. I'm going to get a bunch of old style cloth nappies to put under bubs head. Sounds like that's common.
Bub is due late Aug/early Sept, so will be coming out of winter into the mixed weather world of Spring in Melboune - we'll need to be prepared for all seasons i think.
I already have about 8 muslin wraps from target. Will look at getting more swaddle blankets too.
heather - good advise about introducing bub to the cot early. DH and I are both tall, so we're not expecting a small baby, so not sure how long they'd use a bassinet for.
OT - Matthew's Mum - was the snuggle bed/cot in your room? Did you find that worked well for breastfeeding or just responding to bub quickly? I was worried about the SIDs issue if bub rolls into the side, but tetra say to stop bub using the snuggle bed once they start to roll. How long were your kids in the snuggle bed?
I just wanted to add that we only have 4 sets of sheets for DD cot. I also found that while she was in the bassinette that I could use her bunny rugs as bottom sheets instead of fitted sheets. From memory we only had 2 sheets for her bassinette. I also used flanelette nappies to protect the sheet as others have suggested
I have three fitted sheets for the bassinet and I have also been told to use old pillow cases as a sheet for the bassinet also cause they slip right in!
I have three sets of sheets for the cot and two mattress protectors also, but again - I have been told to use the old style nappies under bubs head when she sleeps incase she is a spewer (saves washing the sheets every day)
Those old style nappies come in handy too for
-Leaky boobs in bed (if you planning on breast feeding)
-as a protector for your change table mat so you don't have to wash the protector all the time or if its not a plastic wipeable type
- as baby spew rags for over your shoulder.
I bought the big softies colourful ones and white ones.
tashybabe-sorry it has taken me a while to get back,i put the snuggle bed into the cot, sounds terrible but i can't remember how long they were in it for,they were only small though when i stopped using it
we had 3 sets of sheets with DD we never used the flat sheet only the fitted ones. for the bassinet i just used the flat cot sheet folded over.
And snuggle bed we had one of them too and even in our king size bed we didnt have much room so we used to put it in the cot
My parents got us sheets, then realised very late they got the wrong size and silly me mentioned this in passing to the inlaws - so I bought myself two sets off ebay at the last minute and then everyone else got us heaps too. I have around 10 sets of cot sheets. Several are still in their packets and I probably should resell them.
Only the fitted sheets of two sets get used - plain ones in summer, flanellette ones in winter. Last bubs wasn't a puker.
We NEVER used those stupid wraps everyone gives you. We have dozens. They are too small to properly wrap a baby. They make good dusters and change table covers though. I got my mother to make us some special, really long polar fleece thingies to wrap the wrigglebum with in winter, which wrigglebum now uses to make cubbyhouses with behind the couch.
This baby has to be in a bassinette as we have no room for a second big cot, and I'm probably just going to use the top sheets from the cot as bottom sheets in the bassinette. We bought a secondhand baby capsule and the person we bought it from threw in a stack of flanellette bunny rugs too, so we're seriously set for sheets. Even if this one turns out to be a puker I reckon I could go a solid month without *needing* to wash sheets, we've got so many.
What we did find useful was "puke cloths". Basically tea-towels or facewashers. Great for mopping up milk dribbles after feeds. Essential stuff, as we had a baby that stuffed herself at high speed at feeds and would then need burping or she'd scream a few hours later (took us a while to work this out), and those burps needed cleanup. Every baby is different.
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Sheets and stuff
, you may end up with a whole heap of stuff brand new with tags to sell on Ebay.
It's interesting that fitted sheets aren't used much at all.
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