cot or basinette

just wondering what sort of furniature to buy.i am not sure if a newborn is even supposed to sleep in a cot. i guess the question is, should i buy a cot or basinette or both?

HI Hollo

Babies are fine to go straight into a cot.. You can get a brochure from your hospital that advises all the safe "SIDS" guidelines for sleeping in a cot.

Cot vs Bassinet is a personal choice. You can use what ever you are more comfortable with.

I used a bassinet, and this was in my room until DD sleept throught the night at around 8 weeks. I found it easier for night time feeds to have her next to me. A cot would not have fitted in our room!

Bubs look so tiny in a cot when they are a newborn, but it is not a problem to have them there from birth.

This will just be one of the decisions you get to make with your baby!

We used both. I brought a bassinnette and was given a cot, so it didn't cost us much cause we only had to get a cot mattress. I wanted a bassinette because the bub was going to be in with us for a while. The basinette we got had castor wheels on it which was great because I could wheel it around the house easy. It really is a personal choice though because some don't use basinettes at all and just use a cot and others co-sleep.

Or you could opt for a baby hammock: I have used one for both my babies and I swear by them!

There is a big post about them HERE

we have just bought a cradle, and we were given a cot as well...

personally, i feel a cot would be too big for a newborn strait away! and i love the look of wooden rocking cradles.. i got mine off Ebay for $30 so i can't complain if we don't use it for too long anyway!

We bought both. Lily stayed in the bassinette for 5 months then moved into the cot. It really is a personal choice.

My sister and i went halves in buying a bassinette off ebay (she is TTC) we got it for $80!. You can get some serious bargains on there. The one we bought was just a neutral colour with teddys on it and in such good condition. I got given a cot but my pram, bassinette, portacot were all off ebay. I suggest you try there before going to a store.
Have a great day
Mel :D

We are going the hammock like Lucy was talking about...

We used both cot and bassinette, although we were given both, so that was a bonus. I prefered using a bassinette when they were first born and then put them into a cot a few months later.

I guess it is just personal choice, really.

We bought neither. Our son has coslept from the day he was born and we still love it :) He's nearly 2 1/2 now. When he was about 6 months old we bought a secondhand cot and it's now sidecar - up against the wall, with the side off facing out and my bed against it. It just provides a bit more room. In a few months I'm dismantling the cot and replacing it with a single bed as there'll be another cosleeping bub along in winter to share with! Can't wait :)

we just went straight into the cot - they do look funny though. He enjoyed being wrapped until the weather got to hot and was a good sleeper so it was no hassle plus I have terrible difficulty sleeping with babies in the same room as me.

Had we been getting a bassinette for next to nothing I may have considered it but from my perspective couldn't see the point of both.

I have heard of some babies who don't seem to like the open space of the cot straight up though so it really is personal choice

I've bought both for our baby. It will stay in the basinette for as long as it's comfy then move onto it's cot.

I have to agree that I personally think cots are just waaaaaaay to big for such tiny little bundles. In saying that I have seen those like cushion things that have raised/padded sides which you put them in and straight into the cot for a bit of extra 'protection' around them.

when i was pregnant with my first child - the whole time i was my baby is going to sleep in it's own room in the cot from the day we bring it home, so we brought a lovely cot and i had it all set up ready for bubs for when we came home - well the first night home i just couldn't put her in the cot away from me in the other room i was just to upset - what if i don't here her cry (even tho i had a monitor) what if the cat goes and sits on her face (cat was locked in the garage) what if she chokes on vomit and i don't hear her - omg i was driving my dh crazy, i was in tears for most of the night and spent most of the night walking down and checking on her - dh even tried moving the cot into our room at around 2am but it wouldn't fit through the doors. next day i found the phone number (it was in a parenting magazine) of a company called hire for babe and we hired a bassinet (back then in 1998 it cost us around $50 for 3mths hire) it was a lovely bassinet with the netting and everything and nice and clean as well - don't know where you are but i think they may be an australia wide company.

sorry for the long post just thought i would post my story here, because i remember way back in 1998 when i was thinking the same thing - seems like a waste to buy a cot and a bassinet

good luck

We plan on putting bubs straight into the cot.

Although we did get a bassinette attachment with our pram so we could use this if we change our minds.

We bought a cot and were originally putting the baby straight into it's own bedroom, however:

Hubby's Aunt and Nan have laybuyed us a crib/bassinette as a gift, so going on how I feel at the time, bubs will either sleep in it's own room in it, or in our room with us in it....and then move into the cot later on.

A great idea if you wanted to save money is to buy the cot, and then buy a 'tetra snuggle bed'....they are like a little coccoon bed the bubs can sleep in inside the cot....plus it can also be layed on the floor or in your bed as well. I think there are cheaper optionss available at BigW etc than the catelogue one.

Its another slightly cheaper option that buying a bassinette.

We bought a cot, and Milo was going to go straight into that (which he kind of did).

While we we still in hospital after he was born, the only way to get him to sleep at all was in a hammock, so MIL bought us one, and Milo sleeps in both, depending on his mood (grumpy and overtired = hammock)

He slept in the hammock in our room for the first few nights home from hospital, but after that I put him in his cot, and he seemed to sleep better.

Its up to you. The idea of hiring a bassinette is good - Milo had a valco cocoon which he outgrew within 2 months, so I don't know how long he would have lasted in a bassinette.

We just used a cot with Aidyn from when he was born, although a lot of the time he was co-sleeping with us anyway.
I would have liked a bassinette, but we couldnt afford one at the time.
Next time I will probably get a cheap bassinette, that way its easier to have him in the room next to us.... or we could always just take one side off the cot and put it against our bed... I did this when Aidyn was older too.

We used a basinette with Seren because when we took her home she was only 3lb13oz, so I think a cot would have swallowed her! When she reached about 9lbs we then put her in the cot.

I will be using a bassinet for the first 8 - 12 weeks and then move bubs to a cot. I was lucky that there was already a bassinet in the family so I didn't need to buy one. :p