I am a little unsure on wether I should buy a bassinette or not. The thought of putting our tiny little man into such a big huge cot is a little daunting to tell the truth. Is it best to put bub straight into a cot so he can get use to it though??? I’m not sure what to do.
I haven’t had a look at any bassinette’s yet but would I be right in saying they are about $250??
IMO they are a waste of money... babies grow out of them so quickly. I went straight for a cot...but thats my choice... easier and chepaer.. DD went really well.. they look so cute in such a huge cot compared to their little bodies!
I was given a bassinette for jett when he was born (I didnt want it but it had been in the family for 60 years so I felt obliged to at least take it home!) He slept in it twice and that was it, he didn't really like it and now that he is 3 months old he doesn't fit in it!! I think it is better to just buy the cot, if you want bub in your room you can put the cot in there and move it back into the bubs room when you want, they take much longer to grow out of a cot too!!
You can buy cot snugglers to go inside a cot. You can get them at the baby shops and they're about bassinet sized.
Another option is the baby hammocks. Imran used his from birth until a bit after his 1st birthday for his day sleeps. We have an amby hammock.
I've had this discussion with myself many many times. My mum has been telling me that it would be good to get a bassinette to keep Avaleigh in during the day so she is close to me and then at night, she can go in to her cot. So this is what I am going to do. I am not buying a bassinette tho, I am borrowing it off my sis's MIL. If you are able to get your hands on a bassinette that you can borrow then go for it. But if you are going to buy one, try look for one thats cheaper. I think I have seen some around Perth for $150.
And I am sure your lil man will be fine in his cot!! Putting straight in the cot is what most people do I think...
I have a moses basket that DS still fits in - most useful as he's not sleeping through yet and we can't fit his cotbed (a cot that turns into a toddler bed when you remove the bars) into our room. Depends on how much space you have, I find I like having the basket next to the bed at night, but push-awayable when we get up.
Another option is to have the portacot in your room with you (these often have a bassinet attachment or similar)
I think dachlostar mentioned the baby snuggler things you can put in the cot, I think they are heaps cheaper, I'm sure you could buy one on ebay or borrow one to see if it suits you.
Personally both babies went into the cot, although no. 2 slept in the portacot in our room for 90% of the time until 4 months old (so I could have her nearby).
There is no medical/physical reason why you should use a cot over a bassinet or vice versa so do what you feel most comfortable with, although the option of borrowing is a really good idea as They do grow out of them very very quickly. The hammocks seem to last longer.
I am having this debate with myself as well!! MIL was going to buy us one but I had a huge fight with her and told her we wee raising this baby our way and not her's cause she was getting concerned that we hadn't gone out and chosen one yet and I told her why I thought it was a waste of money on one hand and on the other hand it was a good choice!!
Then I had the thought of the hammock, but SUPRISE SUPRISE I mention that to MIL in the fight and she said.....I don't like them so I am no putting my money towards that!!
But then there is the option of the snuggler like someone else mentioned so I think I will look into that myself as well!!
I will be keeping an eye on this thread as well to see what everyone elses opinion is.
I too have been having this conversation with myself for ages now. DH and I decided that a bassinet was an extra expense we didnt need, but last night at our antenatal class our midwife suggested having bubs in one durring the day out in which ever room you are in so they can hear some noise. Her point was that while in the womb it is noisey and in hospital no matter what time of day there is some form of noise. She said if bubs is in, say the lounge room with the tv on durring the day and in his cot at night it will help him distinguish day from night too. Hope that makes some sense. DH and I are now going to look for one on ebay for bub's day sleeps.
I put both DD's straight into the cot in their won rooms down the opposite end of the house, both were fine I dont like monitors, but I still easily heard them when they needed me...
But as Indah refuses to get out of her cot I started looking at an alternative.
Then the most precious of Ladies offered me her Amby hammock to borrow & ofcourse I snapped up the offer! Thanks HUN! MWAH!
BUt had Indah moved out of the cot I'd have not bothered wasting money on something you use for such a brief amount of time...
I used a bassinet for DD and loved having her in my room with us at night, I will be using one this time too.
You don't need to spend heaps of money on them, I borrowed one from a family member for DD and this time around I brought one off ebay for $30. (I will buy a new matress for it). They are also VERY handy when you are out and about visiting, you will need somewhere for bub to sleep while out and a bassinet is a much more comfortable and safe option than a pram etc in my opinion.
As for whether they grow out of them quickly or not - it depends on the size of the baby and the size of the bassinet. My DD was in hers till nearly 6 months! She slept in her cot during the day and in her bassinet at night in our room.
Like everything, it's a personal choice, but if you can borrow one, I would do it - that way if you don't like it, you haven't wasted your money.
Last edited by Willow; June 21st, 2007 at 10:34 AM.
we have a cot which bub wont sleep in, got a bassinette and wont sleep in it (even with the anti roll snuggler). Now bub will only sleep in her cocoon (which we put in the bassinette). our mw thinks that she feels more conforted in the cocoon cause it is smaller and more snug than the openess of the bassinette. so will stay in that until she i too big and move into bassinette cause i am sure cot will be too open just yet.
however we were alo never getting a basinette - we borrowed from a fiend - and it is great cause you can wheel it right next to whichever side of the bed you like in our room. which is good because it is too cold to walk around the house at 3am!
I love our bassinette! It has wheels, so I can move Nicky around during the day to be where I am if I want to. And there's no way I'd be ready to leave him in his room at night yet. When we first brought him home his cry was so tiny we wouldn't have been able to hear him, even though his room is next to ours LOL! I love that I can just reach over to settle him without getting out of bed, especially when it's really cold.
Ours is a family heirloom too, but we had two others on offer to us as well. I'm sure if you ask around you'd be able to find one, either a giveaway, loan, or cheap to buy. As Willow said, if you can borrow one, and bubs doesn't like it you won't have wasted any money. IMO it's definitely worth having.
ETA I would guess that Nicholas will be in his for at least another three months, and ours is on the small side. And we had a new mattress cut at Clark Rubber.
Hey Renee
I'm going to be using a family handed down bassinet. If we didn't have one given to us then I wouldn't have brought one though, unless pretty cheap. It is a good idea to let Rory get used to day time sounds when sleeping so that if he has a sleep at someone elses house or out shopping (which I know you love doing) then he won't be so bothered with noises. Those hammocks sound like a good idea as well, I would love to have someone lend me theirs to trial once lil miss is out but until then unless someone else offers to buy one then I'm sticking with what I've got.
Good luck making the decision.
i had a bassinet for my DD and i loved it,
i could put her anywere in the hosue, if she cried during the night i could wheel her in the lounge room, if i wanted her near me at night i could wheel her in
casue our bath was far away from her bedroom i put it outside the bathroom and put a towel on it and straight from the bath in her towl on the bassinet and dried her there
she was inn it for about 4 months, we borrowed the 1 we had but
when im pregnant im deff buying one as we plan on having more kids so it will be money well spent
We put Claire straight into a cot. We were given a bassinet - it is one that gets passed around the family - but i didnt feel it was safe enough for her. Its old and the matress seemed crappy, so we didnt use it. She is fine in the cot, and she has been since her first night in it. We still have the bassinet floating around the house - never used it or even put it together, but she would still fit in it now, at 3.5 months. Some seem bigger than others.
We did not bother with a bassinette for DD but I had a cot snuggler/moses bed instead.We actually put up the porta-cot in our room and used the snuggler for the first 4 months, then she went into her cot with the snuggler for another couple of months.
This time I will use a bassinette only because my SIL is lending me one. If I had to buy it then I would go the other way.
Also if you get a good snuggler you can take that every where and they are great for bub to sleep in until they start rolling. HTH
We used a wooden cradle for our DS until he was 5 months old and I loved it, but you could just use a Snuggle bed in the cot to snug them in. I think it really is a personal choice and it certainly isn't a must have item. We also used an Amby baby hammock which was the BEST baby item we ever bought and ended up using it for my son's day naps until he was 18 months old (he just wouldn't give it up!).
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To bassinette or not to bassinette
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