A crucial decision that new parents have to make for their baby is deciding a place to sleep. Since newborns are sleeping most of the time, you need to consider this carefully. Old-era parents were not given much choice to choose a new sleeping place for their babies.
However, fast forward to today. The new parents have a vast range of options and all the information you need for your newborn baby’s sleep. Anything that works best for your newborn baby is available, from Co Sleepers to cots and bassinets.
Co-Sleeping Most Important Questions
What is Co-Sleeping?
Co-Sleeping is a practice where newborns or young children share the same room with their parents. The baby either sleeps alongside the mother mattress or at a short distance from the adult bed.
CoSleeping also means parents and newborns sharing the same bed as well. However, against the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome, room sharing has been encouraged over bed-sharing as a safety concern.
Why should you avoid bed-sharing with infants?
The American Academy of Pediatrics has strongly recommended against bed-sharing with an infant. Many parents believe bed-sharing is essential to form a strong bond with their children. However, bed-sharing may come with severe risks for the babies. The WHO and AAP have also discouraged the use of sleep positioners or in-bed co-sleepers. According to Professional medical advice, the babies should sleep in a crib or separate sleeping space with a flat surface. Moreover, the baby should sleep on their back without any extra or heavy blankets, pillows, or beddings. Bed-sharing threatens an infant’s life by exposing the baby to risks like SIDS, suffocation, asphyxia, falls, and strangulation.
Is Room Sharing Viable & Safe?
Room sharing is an excellent alternate to bed-sharing. Updated recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested the best place for a baby to sleep is in his parent’s room. It can be followed by the baby sleeping in his bassinet, co-sleeper, or crib.
Not only does it foster a strong bond of closeness, but it also reduces the chance of SIDS. However, room sharing comes with its own set of drawbacks too. It can make you compromise on your sleeping schedule, and your baby may develop unhealthy sleeping habits or associations. Room-sharing or cosleeping may also cause trouble later when you try to transition your toddler to their room.
Co-sleepers, A Detailed Overview
For parents who wish to sleep close to their infants without risking their baby’s safety, bedside co-sleepers are the way to go. Co sleepers are convenient, practical and allow parents to monitor their children closely. It is an extension for the adult bed that helps your baby to cosleep near you.
The bedside co-sleepers are effective for newborn babies (aged between 0 to 12 months since they demand extra care, frequent feeding, and diaper changes. Many parents today use the Co sleepers. Not only does it help the infant sleep well, but it improves parents’ routine too.
Benefits of Co-sleepers
- Hassle-free: Co sleepers could be a game-changer for new parents. It doesn’t require them to go to another room to check up on the baby. With co-sleepers, the parents don’t need to be fully awake.
- Adjustable: A co-sleeper has high functionality with adjustable height and railing. It creates a safe sleep surface that helps the deep infant sleep.
- Easy Access For Mothers: A bedside co-sleeper is a life savior for breastfeeding mothers. The sleeper gets attached to the mother’s mattress by lowering the railing. It allows easy access to the mother and assists in nighttime feedings or diaper changing.
- Strong Bond & Closeness: The bond between infants and parents grows strong with co-sleepers because the baby is nearby. Functionality: Many co-sleepers have a storage section on the lower side. You can use it to store essentials for the night, such as sheets, wipes, and extra pair of clothes.
Drawbacks of Co-sleepers
- Not Space-efficient: Whether in-bed co-sleepers or bedside sleepers, there’s usually a problem of size & space adjustment. Often the adult beds are not spacious enough to accommodate the in-bed baby sleeper. Moreover, most bedside baby sleepers are big enough to sit perfectly with the adult mattress. Even if the parents somehow manage to attach the bed, they may find it challenging to get out of their bed.
- Limited Usage: As soon as your baby is eligible for movement at the age of 1, you may need to switch to cribs.
- Negative Sleep Associations or Unhealthy Sleeping Habits:: It could be challenging for children to transition to sleep independently in later life.
Baby Bassinets, A Detailed Overview
Bassinets are a dream come true for parents, especially multitasking or mothers on the go. A bassinet is a space-efficient, portable and affordable baby sleeping option. It is used in the first four months of a baby’s life. One of the best bassinets is the bedside bassinet, which goes right next to your bed with ease.
Often confused with cradles and crib, a bassinet is a different baby-designed bed. Unlike a crib, a baby bassinet doesn’t take up a lot of space. In addition, in comparison to cribs, the bassinets feature lower sides, providing easy access to parents. The cherry on top of these is cost-effective and comes in various models.
In recent times the smart bassinet industry has caught eyes with its advanced features. It ticks out most of the safety concerns you might have. This one has secured mesh walls and mesh sides out of many sleeping options. Even a regular bassinet is highly breathable, saves space, and quickly shifted around the house. Many of them even have a canopy against bug protection.
Benefits of Baby Bassinet
- Compact and lightweight: For smaller places, infant bassinets are very effective. Not only are the bassinets space-efficient, but they also are lightweight. It means they are easy to carry around.
- Portability: Due to the lightweight and compact design combined with foldable features, the bassinets are great for traveling around, and car rides to keep the baby nearby.
- Range: If we are talking bassinets, it means a lot of variety. The bassinets cover it all for parents, from sizes to colors, structures, and materials.
- Cost-effective and Affordable: Bassinets are less expensive than other baby sleeping options and inexpensive.
- Safe and Breathable: Newborns love to have soft bedding and a cozy space of their own. A bassinet checks on significant safety standards and prevents suffocation at night by using breathable fabrics and bedding.
- More Profound and Deeper Sleep: Unlike co-sleepers, the bassinet is much easier to access. Not only does your baby sleep well in a bassinet, but the parents can also enjoy an undisrupted night’s sleep.
Drawbacks of Baby Bassinet
- Weight Limit: Bassinets come with a weight limit, which means if your infant is above that limit, they can’t use it. A standard bassinet can accommodate a child weighing up to 25lbs.
- Limited use: Baby bassinets are intended for babies from age zero to up to 4-5 months. Once a baby starts to it up, you need to upgrade it to the crib, as it has outgrown the bassinet.
- Mattress limitation: The options are pretty limited when exploring and choosing other supportive mattresses. A bassinet already comes with a mattress, but you may choose a fitted sheet or any other one of your liking.
- Not for toddlers: bassinets are not safe for toddlers because of their weight limitation. Because they are compact, they fit kids of a certain height only.
What is a CoSleeper Bassinet?
A safe way for your baby to sleep with you is in a co-sleeper bassinet. This keeps your baby close and is considered one of the best bedside baby sleepers.
A co-sleeper bassinet is a hybrid of a bedside co-sleeper and a traditional bassinet. A co-sleeper bassinet, also known as A bedside bassinet, has four sides but has a side panel that can be railed down to get attached to the adult bed. Just like a crib or a co-sleeper, the baby’s is at arm’s length, and mothers can reach them easily.
Is a Co-Sleeper bassinet safe?
As per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines, any baby sleep gear that meets the safety standards of the consumer product safety commission (CPSC) is safe for a baby to sleep. With that being, the AAP allows parents to use co-sleeper bassinets that meet the infant safety criteria. It means it is not wrong to say that these bedside infant sleepers are one of the safest options to use for cosleeping families.
With belts and mesh wall protection, co-sleeper bassinets are a much safer option than sleeping with your baby in the same bed. It would be best if you got a quality co-sleeper that keeps your child secure and safe.
As they are considered safe, it is something you should think about. For the first few weeks with your newborn, these have provided parents with peace of mind with easy access. Not only it allows mothers to sleep well after midnight feeding, but it makes checking up on the baby easy.
What to Choose?
No one knows your newborn better than you do, so it’s only you who can choose the best and perfect sleeping space for your little one. When choosing between the bassinet or a co-sleeper, always consider under the light of your requirements and needs.
Suppose your baby is sensitive, premature, or you have a particular feeding method. In that case, both cosleeping bassinets and bedside co-sleepers will be a great help to you. Also, if you wish to develop a bond with your newborn, sharing your room & bed is excellent. And that’s why a co-sleeper or a cosleeping bassinet is perfect for you.
On the other side of the spectrum, if you want to practice healthy sleeping habits, a bassinet is the right sleeping gear for you. Your baby can sleep in the same room without associating a negative association. It gives a safe way for the baby to sleep on their own. Besides, if you want a baby sleeper that’s portable, then a traditional bassinet is perfect.
Accessories you may need for co-sleepers and bassinets.
One of the must-have baby products is a baby sleeping bed. While it may be the most important, it’s not the only thing you may need for your little one’s nursery. You may want to consider baby bed accessories to make their sleep more comfortable and secure.
These side accessories include a mattress, bassinet sheet, mattress protectors, fitted sheets, and baby blankets or wraps. It would help if you had a changing table and a place to store their stuff.
It is important to get fitted sheets for bassinets or co-sleepers that make changing the bedding easy and quick. They are considered a good option as they do well into the mattress.
As far as the mattress is concerned, firm surfaces are the best for your baby. It might be news to many parents, but soft ones could cause suffocation. For a baby’s comfort, make sure they feel warm and secure, lying flat on their back, probably on a hard surface. They don’t need extra pillows.
Factors to Chip In To Decide Between Co-sleeper & Bassinet
Though it may seem easy for you, choosing a baby sleeping bed is quite challenging and overwhelming. It’s more accurate for first-time parents. But guess what? If you know the right things to look for, you can pick not only the right sleeping option but also the best one for your baby.
Here we have listed the factors that you should consider when buying sleeping baby gear:
Age factor
The age factor is one of the most important things to consider when choosing the baby bed. Each kind of baby bed is intended for a different age group. For instance, cots are best suited for 0 to 4 months babies, bassinet for age group 0 to 5 months, a crib for 0 to up to 2 years babies.
Safety
Most beds for children may not meet the CPSC safety standard rules. Always look that the sleeping gear you are choosing meets CPSC’s criteria, have a firm mattress with breathable fabric. Moreover, always check if there are any belts or straps attached.
If the baby bed you choose comes with belts, don’t buy them, as they increase the risk of strangulation. Check for gaps and loose sides, so your baby does not roll and slip in between. You don’t want hazards and injuries to occur in the middle of the night. Also, make sure that the baby bed you choose for your baby is ventilated enough to prevent suffocation.
Stability
Sturdiness and stability are other factors you should never ignore. Ensure that the crib or a bed does not trip over when the baby is inside it. Otherwise, it will harm the baby directly, causing an injury.
Pricing
Not everyone can afford expensive sleepers; this is a personal debate. So, consider the price of the product. Pick the one that comes within your budget and checks in with all your requirement. For instance, a co-sleeper is a piece of short-term equipment; it does not have the versatility of a crib. A crib can be used in further early years of the kid.
Comfort features
Always look for comfort features like automatic rocking, soothing sounds, nightlight, etc. Also, make sure that the baby bed you are choosing is spacious enough.
Ease to Maintain
Like any other home furniture, you also need to maintain your baby cribs, bassinets, or co-sleepers. The cost of maintaining a baby bed is often more than the actual price. So look for an option that is low maintenance.
Space
Apart from babies sleeping beds, you should also consider the available space in your room or baby nursery. Go for a sleeper that fits well into the room, or you may consider the adjustable options.
Feeding method
When selecting the right sleeper for your baby, always factor in your feeding method.
If you’re a breastfeeding mother, who prefers to nurse during the night as well, a co-sleeper might benefit you more than a bassinet.
Style
Many parents look for a specific style of bassinets and cribs to match out with their home environment. Today there’s a wide variety of baby beds available in the market. You have a wide range of styles, designs, and colors to choose from. Go through the various styles and colors to pick the perfect addition for your nursery.
Functionality
The first few months of a baby’s life are mostly spent sleeping. This means you’ll always hang around your co-sleeper or bassinet most of the time. When deciding on the sleeper or cot you will be buying, always look out for its functionality.
For instance, if you need to feed your baby and take them out without getting out of bed and needing close access to the baby, co-sleeper bassinets or bedside co-sleepers are an excellent option to invest in. Moreover, the sleepers and cots should be easy to set up,
Various baby bed models can be size customized to accommodate your growing baby. Some baby beds can transform into toddler beds.
Easy to Clean
No one wants to sleep in an uncleaned space, not even the babies. Plus, as the babies are sensitive, you need to keep their beds hygienic as well. With babies, mishap happens, and they spit and spill. So you want to make sure that the sleeper bedding is easy to clean and change (if needed).
Choose Right, To Sleep Right!
A night of good sleep is essential for both the parents and the baby. Choosing the right co-sleeper or bassinet is one of the challenging decisions of good parenting since you want to provide what’s best for your child.
A co-sleeper or a co-sleeper bassinet is the most optimal sleeping arrangement. You can share not just your room but also your bed with your kid while they have their own separate space. Besides, they prove to be of great assistance in the first few months for breastfeeding moms.
Not just for nursing moms, but even if you bottle-feed, the middle-of-the-night and early morning feeds become less exhausting with a cosleeping baby bed.
