BTDT mommies - first few months sleeping question

bliss · #1 August 10th, 2010, 01:00 PM

What has been your experience? Would a baby need to sleep with us in the same room for a few months and why? Or is it okay to let him/her sleep in their nursery (across the hall from our bedroom) from the beginning?

DH and I are trying to decide whether we'll need a bassinet of sorts in our bedroom for the first few months, while we can offer the future nursery as a temporary guest room to family members who will come to help with the baby at the very beginning. Or do we put the baby into the nursery right away and make the guest room in the basement?

Sam914 · #2 August 10th, 2010, 01:06 PM

I dont see why the baby couldnt sleep in their room, we just personally found it easier to keep Michael in our room and yeah... he's still in there

he sleeps in his pack and play. We didnt want to get a separate bassinet when we were getting a p&p anyway

CandaceDianne · #3 August 10th, 2010, 01:37 PM

We use a pack n play in our room. She sleeps in there most nights, but does sleep in her crib too.

Micksbabe · #4 August 10th, 2010, 01:38 PM

Hunter slept in her pack and play in our room for the first 3.5 months. We then moved her to her crib and she has been in there ever since. I think whatever works best for you is what you should do

MommaLee · #5 August 10th, 2010, 03:19 PM

Our house has a very unique floor plan.....the builder only built this plan once and we own it. with that said, she is in our room in her crib and sometimes sleeps with us. It is much easier on me because I have that mommy sleep and will wake up when she starts stirring to feed her. she never has a chance to cry, so she doesn't get worked up which is why we think she sleeps so well at night.

hearts.0nfire · #6 August 10th, 2010, 04:21 PM

Even though I can't say anything about it yet, a lot of friends kept a bassinet or pack and play next to them for awhile.

JessMitch · #7 August 10th, 2010, 04:29 PM

hmm that's a great question bliss! I feel like we get so wrapped up in having the perfect nursery and then they don't even sleep in it for quite some time!

my friend had the baby in her room in the beginning bc it was just easier to grab the baby and bring him in the bed to nurse him. I think a question to ask yourself is, will you co-sleep? If so, you might as well have him/her in your bed... but if you are not doing that, then i would put the baby in your nursery so you or dh aren't waking the other one who is still sleeping you know?

Lyz · #8 August 11th, 2010, 05:37 AM

we had Bella in our room for the first 6 weeks in a bassinet. At her one month appt (that happened to fall around her being 6 weeks) her pedi asked if her room was close to ours and if so to put her in her crib and NOT use the monitor. Bella's room is right next to ours and I can hear her every night without the monitor. I have a video one, though, so I still turn it on so I can see her if I need to but turn the volume off.

anyway, to answer your question, it's all about what you want to do. It was way more convenient to have her next to me in her bassinet then having to get up and walk all the way to her room to feed since she was up every 2-3 hours. Plus, I wasn't ready for her to be so far away from me when she was so little.

MommaLee · #9 August 11th, 2010, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JessMitch

I think a question to ask yourself is, will you co-sleep? If so, you might as well have him/her in your bed... but if you are not doing that, then i would put the baby in your nursery so you or dh aren't waking the other one who is still sleeping you know?

I just wanted to comment that you can have the baby in your room and him/her not wake dh. Every whimper Julie makes no matter how quiet it is wakes me...she has only woken dh up maybe 3 times since being born and she is in her crib about 80% of the time in our room.

*Mommy2Camden* · #10 August 11th, 2010, 08:22 AM

In my honest opinion, it will it depend on your baby and his/her needs personality. Also, what do you guys feel more comfortable with? I see nothing wrong with having your baby in the nursery from the start, however for us it was much easier having him in our room, and it still works best for us. He loves his crib, and never had an issue sleeping in it. My GF's little girl is now 4 months old and REFUSES to sleep in a crib.

fromustobaby · #11 August 11th, 2010, 08:38 AM

Kaiden is still in the packnplay in our room...he wakes up so much during the night, it would be too hard if he was in another room...we also have a rocking chair in our room so I can nurse comfortably

MarinaAndCharlie'sMommy · #12 August 11th, 2010, 01:25 PM

We use a pac n play which has a bassinett in our room. The nursery is upstairs and it is so hot in there (we will have to get a new unit to heat/cool the upstairs). A lot of times though when she wakes up I put her in bed with me to feed her which is very convenient. I think you should do what you feel comfortable with. Good luck! The first few months are rough but soooo worth it!!

Gray_baby · #13 August 11th, 2010, 01:30 PM

Megan slept in our room for about 3 months - we have an Arms Reach Mini Cosleeper so I could side car it with the bed and reach her very easy (didn't even have to get out of bed). We'll do the same with #2 but not sure how long we'll keep him/her in our room (no more than 3 months probably though).

karenwalter · #14 August 11th, 2010, 02:46 PM

Connor's been in his room from the beginning. I really think it's a personal preference. For us it was easier to let DH sleep since he was getting up to go to work and I was BFing so I had to wake up anyway. And I knew once I had Connor in my room it would be harder, for me personally, to move him into his room when the time came. So, just putting him straight into the nursery when he came home worked out great for us. We've had him in our room and few times when we've had company or something and I slept terrible with him in there! Every little noise he made woke me up and I sleep alot better when he's in his own room. He also doesn't get up to eat as much when he's sleeping farther away from me. But, ultimately it depends on what works for you and your husband and what you guys think is going to be the best sleep solution for you.

But, we did use a bassinet for the first 3 months anyway because it felt more snuggly and cozy for him to sleep in, the crib just felt so big! We got ours on craigslist for like $30 so it was no big deal for me to get a bassinet and crib too. So, even if you want him in the nursery you still might want something other than a crib. Maybe you could look on there or use your pack and play if you're getting one. But, I also know people who had them in the crib right away too and it was no problem for them. Again, it's a personal preference.

KCMomma · #15 August 12th, 2010, 08:13 AM

Yes, it's a very personal decision, but here are my thoughts about sleeping. Our main goal with Paige was to have her sleep in her crib from day 1 because I didn't want the headache of getting her in the crib later. Yes, in the beginning it may seem easier to sleep in your room or co-sleep but how will it be in the future? How hard will it be to get them where you ultimately want them...in the crib??? HOWEVER with that being said...our original plan did quite work out. Paige was super colicky and had reflux so was a complete bear at night. So we found that the bathroom exhaust fan calmed her so she literally slept in her car seat in front of the bathroom with the fan on for the first two months of her life!!! Not my ideal plan, but it worked. Then from there she went right to the crib and has been there ever since.

Again, this is my opinion, but I'm completely 100% against co-sleeping. I work as a detective and have seen too many dead babies from being smothered from being rolled over on. Again, just my opinion.

It's very personal, but I encourage you to think about the future too and how hard it may be to get her to the crib.

Jodi0804 · #16 August 12th, 2010, 09:40 AM

Billy was in our room in a pnp with a bassinet for the first 6 weeks or so. We were waking each other up though so we decided to move him to his crib in his room. He has been there ever since. It was nice because he wasn't used to being in our room since he was so little when we moved him. Yes it was a pain to bf and go get him ALL THE TIME but we made it work!

Good luck with your decision. Remember you may start with one thing and end with another, just be flexible!

MommyPoky · #17 August 12th, 2010, 08:37 PM

We had Josie in a bassinet in our room for the first month, then moved the bassinet into the nursery after that. Our mattress is super old and creaky so either of us getting up would wake her. She is still sleeping in the bassinet in her room, but I think she's big enough to put in the crib, plus the crib seems more comfortable. The bassinet has a tiny thin mattress on a board. She might sleep better in the crib. Tomorrow night maybe...

Oreobaby · #18 August 14th, 2010, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Micksbabe

Hunter slept in her pack and play in our room for the first 3.5 months. We then moved her to her crib and she has been in there ever since. I think whatever works best for you is what you should do

Ok...so this is totally off topic, but I missed this some how!! I just noticed your siggy!!! Congradulations!!

We got a bassinet for cheap with a bunch of other things, and we now have a pack and play as well...too much furniture. LOL...anyway, Rayanne has slept in our room from the beginning, and sometimes it's a blessing, others, it would be nice if I felt more comfortable with her in her own room..I'll explain what I mean.

I love her in our room, when she was getting up in the night, it was easy to just grab her and feed her, and there was no problem. Except that Rayanne is a very noisey sleeper.

I find myself often waking up to her grunt and growns, and last night to her fist sucking.

I liked having her in our room last night, because she is kind of stuffed up and not feeling well from her vaccines, but it is kind of tiresome some times getting up to her noises, when she mostly sleeps through the night now.

It is totally a personal decision. I wouldn't change my decision to have her sleeping in our room, but some people put them in their cribs right away too.

She just looks so little in her big crib. lol

Lauren S · #19 August 14th, 2010, 10:07 AM

I agree with those that have said it is completely a personal preference. We kept Brady in our room in a Pack N Play for about 10 weeks. Then we moved him into his crib. We all slept better once he was in his own room. I really think his crib was more comfortable to him than the PnP. Plus I wasn't waking up with every tiny noise he made anymore. When we would wake up, I would go in his room and nurse him back to sleep in the rocker. He rarely if ever would come in our bed.