Bassinette or straight into a Cot?

Hi Ladies,

Well I was just going to put bubs straight into his Cot in his own room right from the get-go and skip the Bassinette but now I am unsure...

I have a newborn rocker that he can sleep in during the day if I am pottering around the house and want him near me but for the first few weeks of sleeping should I get a bassinette so that he can sleep in with us? I am planning on Breastfeeding him so it might make it easier on me to have him in with us for the first few weeks but the whole reason I was avoiding a Bassinette is because
A) DH and I like to sleep in the Air-Con during the hotter months
B) Didn't want bub getting too comfortable in with us and then making the transition into his own cot in another room more difficult than it needs to be...

What are your experiences? What worked for you / didn't work for you?

Thanks! :)

My opinion = get a bassinet.

Especially if you are BF, you will very very quickly learn that getting up every 2-4 hours and getting him from the cot is going to be a huge PITA, waste of time and energy and unnecessary.

Bubs will sleep more safely the closer he is to you initially, and needs to know you are there by being able to smell you. NBs have no concept of anything beyond what they can see/hear/smell - so "the other room" is a non-concept.

Having him so close you will also find you will be more in tune with - so instead of waking by the screaming baby, you will wake just prior to him as he comes out of his sleep cycle most of the time, personally I found this so so much gentler on you, it meant I was already "awake" and not being "woken by" the baby, made the tired factor almost non-existent. ITMS.

Having the bassinet next to your bed will be honestly the easiest, and best, option for both of you.

Keep in mind bubs will be in the bassinet for 6 months sometimes, not a few weeks. I kept Charlotte in hers (when she wasn't sleeping in our bed anyway lol) until she was physically too big for it.

Of course, having said that, there is no reason why you can't have the cot in the bedroom with you, easing your concerns about transitioning (we never had issues with that at all, but we also coslept lots)

GL :)

Whatever works for you, we had DS in with us for the first 6 months (which I think is what is recommended now) until he grew out of his cradle. Then into his cot in his own room. Had a few rough nights but he took to the change quite well, better than us probably lol! I think he missed his wrap more than his cradle as we switched him to a bag at the same time.

I did find having a cradle handy as we could wheel him around the house in the early weeks and have him close by. Plus it was great for rocking him off to sleep. Loved having him right there for those night feeds too!

Can you fit the cot in your room? Or maybe find a cheaper 2nd hand bassinet?

Thanks Ladies :) yeah I was thinking that the bassinette would make life easier for all of us. Being a first time mum people have bombarded me with a lot of information and sometimes it just gets all too confusing. Hearing personal experiences is much more informative so thank you :)

I think I might take up my SIL's offer of the Bassinette for a few months and see how we go.

We put DD1 in a cot in her own room from day 1. We simply didn't have the space for any other furniture in our bedroom, but it ended up working out fine anyway. If you want a "middle ground", you can try putting the cot in your room for 6 months and having a newborn insert in the cot to hold DS in place.

HTH, PX

I've never had a basinette. MIL lost a baby in a basinette, so even though I know what went wrong, we have never felt comfortable with the idea.

I do, however, have the cot in next to me. We have a cot with a raised base, so its not so far down to get bub out, then when they get older you put the base down. It also converta to a toddler bed.

I do a mix of cot/co sleeping. On bad nights we co sleep, otherwise DD is in the cot. I honestly didn't see a reason to use both a bassinette & cot, since the bassinette is only used for a few months.

If you are worried about bub having trouble going into his/her own room, my advise is to move them before 6 months. We moved DD1 at 5 months & she was fine, DD2 was 9 months & took a long time to get used to it. DS was alot older. Well over 1 & mostly co slept til he got his new bed a few weeks ago anyway.

We used a bassinet for all of ours. I just feel it is better to have bub in the same room at night, it helped us all to sleep better and it is much more handy for night feeds. Plus the cot won't fit in our room. For our youngest bub we got a new bassinet with wheels on it, which was great because I could move it around the house. It also had a detachable basket which meant we could take it out with us if need be. We kept our babies in our room until they got too big for the bassinet, which was around the 4-5 month mark. Then it was into the cot in their own room, starting with day sleeps and then overnight.

If your SIL is offering you a bassinet I would take it :)

My parents bought a cradle when my sister started having kids and so theres one in the family. So we used that. However, if there wasnt one in the family, no way would i bother with it. Both my kids were only in it for a max of 6 weeks. So if i had have purchased one, to me it wouldve been a waste of money.

subscribing im having this same dilema.

Hi Blondie!

Congrats on your soon to be birthed bubba! I was admamant that DD was having her own cot in her own room but then when she came home we chased around and ended up lending a bassinet. I personally found it less stressful having her there as I could hear her breathing and it was much easier to check her. Those first few weeks are hard though because newborns are ridiculously noisy sleepers :D

In relation to the air con, I found having DD in the same room meant I knew exactly how warm/ cool it was in there, FWIW we had no issues at all moving her to her own room and found she started sleeping better in there then she was in her bassinet.

If you are worried about the size of bub in a cot too you can but a 'snuggle bed' which DD used from 5 months-9 months because she was so small in that big cot.

Good luck x