[ShannonMVT]

I've got a question for you. I know you have the arm's reach co-sleeper. Did you get the mini or original? Do you like it? Is Oliver still using it? I'm a little worried about it being tall enough to reach our bed, our bed is really tall but I think I read you can get leg extenders.

Also, I know you are very into organic. Did you get an organic mattress for your co-sleeper? The cheapest I can find one online is around $100, pretty $$$ for what is going to be a tiny mattress. I do plan on getting an organic crib mattress for his crib. But the mini co-sleeper holds up to 22 lbs so I bet I will be using that for awhile.

[Resi]

I have the mini co-sleeper. The mattress is not organic but I bought an organic sheet. I had to buy the leg extensions because our bed is tall. With the leg extensions it still isn't perfect. No matter how it attaches you have to lift baby out of it. I thought I would be able to just roll him over. I used it the first few days home and after that he ended up in our bed. I basicly use the co-sleeper as a cloth diaper storage holder. I use to change him in it once in awhile but haven't in a long time. I didn't have it attached for the longest time but I reattached it before I went back to work and it still wasn't worth using. It's much easier to have him in bed with me. If I did it over again I would not buy it. I got a good deal on it on craigslist for $85 so it wasn't too bad.

[ShannonMVT]

Thanks Resi. I will have to think about it. I really don't feel comfy having baby in bed with us and it seems like this is still the next easiest thing.

[Miracle]

I have an arms reach co-sleeper.. the original size. It was passed down to me from my aunt who had her baby a few years ago.

I love it. It's big enough to store diapers, wipes, toys, etc.. on the side of it and she sleeps on the other side. Gabriella will be four months old in a week or so and she still sleeps in it. It's wonderful to have your baby right next to you... you can check on him/her anytime and feel confident everything is okay. I usually change her on my bed and I have the diapers and wipes right next to me.. it's very convenient.

It is true that you will have to pick up the baby because even if it is the same size as your bed it has a ledge.. but you'd have to pick them up out of a crib, too, and that would be harder..



I just realized that you can actually attach it to your bed lol because we haven't. We just pull it up so it's against our bed and that's worked for us so far.

I think it would be a lot more convenient than a bassinet because you don't actually have to get out of bed to pick your baby up... you just sit up. Sometimes I just lean over and pick her up while I'm lying down, too.

[ShannonMVT]

I just realized...I guess I will have to be changing baby's diaper every couple hours, every time I BF? In that case, I may have to be getting up anyway, unless I do like you and change in the co-sleeper/bed. I had planned on putting a small changing table in our bathroom (right off the bedroom) but maybe I should put it right in the bedroom for at first?

Hmm...I am thinking Dh may be kicked out of the bedroom into another room if he wants to get any sleep! (Once he starts going back to work.)

[~Jess~]

I just realized...I guess I will have to be changing baby's diaper every couple hours, every time I BF? In that case, I may have to be getting up anyway, unless I do like you and change in the co-sleeper/bed. I had planned on putting a small changing table in our bathroom (right off the bedroom) but maybe I should put it right in the bedroom for at first?

Hmm...I am thinking Dh may be kicked out of the bedroom into another room if he wants to get any sleep! (Once he starts going back to work.)[/b]

I always changed baby on the bed--I had a c-section so getting out of bed was very painful. Changing on the bed was super easy and much less tiring than having to get out of bed.

[Resi]

I just realized...I guess I will have to be changing baby's diaper every couple hours, every time I BF? In that case, I may have to be getting up anyway, unless I do like you and change in the co-sleeper/bed. I had planned on putting a small changing table in our bathroom (right off the bedroom) but maybe I should put it right in the bedroom for at first?

Hmm...I am thinking Dh may be kicked out of the bedroom into another room if he wants to get any sleep! (Once he starts going back to work.)[/b]

I always change Oliver on our bed. So does Damon and my Mom. We bring him there every time he needs changed. It's the perfect height. We just lay a towel or changing pad down to protect the bed. You will be changing a lot of diapers the first few weeks. Newborns go every time they eat. Once he is older (like Oliver's age) you will change every 2 hours or so. I think the co-sleeper is better than a free standing bassinet. I didn't think I would be comfortable with having him sleep with me at first but it worked out best for us. Damon started sleeping outside of our room because he didn't want to be dead tired for work in the morning. It became a bad habit because he still is not sleeping in bed with us.

[ShannonMVT]

Once he is older (like Oliver's age) you will change every 2 hours or so.[/b]

Please oh please tell me that is a typo! I thought it was every 2 hours or so only for about a month? Don't they sleep a bit longer at a time by 3 months?

Thanks for sharing ladies, it's giving me a lot to think about. I could kick Dh out of bed (he won't mind) and turn his side of the bed into a diaper changing station.

[Resi]

Please oh please tell me that is a typo! I thought it was every 2 hours or so only for about a month? Don't they sleep a bit longer at a time by 3 months?

Thanks for sharing ladies, it's giving me a lot to think about. I could kick Dh out of bed (he won't mind) and turn his side of the bed into a diaper changing station.
[/b]

It's no typo. If he is sleeping I don't wake him up to change him. But, during his waking hours it's about every 2 hours and he is almost always wet. With cloth diapers they get really wet compared to disposables. He only poops maybe once per day. Sometimes he skips a day. At night sometimes I don't change him until the early morning. I put a fleece inset in so he doesn't feel the wetness as much. When he was a newborn I was chaning him maybe every 1-2 hours. He always had poop and pee waiting for me!

[~Jess~]

Alyssa stays in the same diaper all night now & has for at least a month. She does need to be changed every 2 hours or so during the daytime though.

[Resi]

Oh! lol.. and sleep a bit longer? Oliver still wakes up at least 2 times per night. I don't get more than a 4 hour stretch and sometimes it's less than that. He isn't a long napper either. Sometimes it's 20-30 mins at a time. Don't worry about the sleep thing.. from what I can tell Oliver is a rare breed! Almost all the babies in my Sept. Play Club have babies that sleep for 8-12 hrs and nap for 2-3. I'm use to it and it's not a big deal anymore.

[Resi]

Alyssa stays in the same diaper all night now & has for at least a month. She does need to be changed every 2 hours or so during the daytime though.[/b]

Now I don't feel so bad for sometimes not changing him all night. I always feel bad in the morning when I waited so long. I get better sleep and so does he when I don't change him.

[ScottishBrit]

ohhhh Shannon.....Cambria STILL wakes me during the night to eat. Maybe once or twice a week she'll sleep straight threw. Last night she was cute. I swaddled her and At 4am I heard her making noise's so I knew she was up to no good. I peek in the pack and play and she's smileing and laughing away. 4am!!! Crazy girl. All I could do was smile threw my half opened eyes cause it was still cute She goes threw the night in the same Diapar as well. At first I wish we would have had a co-sleeper just cause she didn't like her pack and play but now she's fine in it. We do change her on her dresser/changeing table in her room though.

[Resi]

ohhhh Shannon.....Cambria STILL wakes me during the night to eat. Maybe once or twice a week she'll sleep straight threw. Last night she was cute. I swaddled her and At 4am I heard her making noise's so I knew she was up to no good. I peek in the pack and play and she's smileing and laughing away. 4am!!! Crazy girl. All I could do was smile threw my half opened eyes cause it was still cute She goes threw the night in the same Diapar as well. At first I wish we would have had a co-sleeper just cause she didn't like her pack and play but now she's fine in it. We do change her on her dresser/changeing table in her room though.[/b]

Ugh! Oliver has woken up at like 4AM a couple of times too smiling and kicking away. It can last for up to an hour! It wasn't bad when I didn't have to work..

[ShannonMVT]

Ah, okay, I can handle frequent changing during the day. I just did hope that I wouldn't have to be up every 2 hours during the night once baby got a few months old. I guess that is why the cloth diaper mommas stick in some extra inserts for nighttime.

At night when they wake up for feeding, do you just check to feel if they are wet and then decide whether you need to change or not? When they are newborn are you changing with every feeding, like every hour or two? And then it tapers off till they can go through the night in one diaper?
I feel dumb asking but I am clueless and you have to learn somewhere...

[Resi]

Ah, okay, I can handle frequent changing during the day. I just did hope that I wouldn't have to be up every 2 hours during the night once baby got a few months old. I guess that is why the cloth diaper mommas stick in some extra inserts for nighttime.

At night when they wake up for feeding, do you just check to feel if they are wet and then decide whether you need to change or not? When they are newborn are you changing with every feeding, like every hour or two? And then it tapers off till they can go through the night in one diaper?
I feel dumb asking but I am clueless and you have to learn somewhere...[/b]

I don't check at night time because I know he pee's but doesn't poop. Since he is the bed with me I just whip out my boob and let him nurse while we both our still laying down. I usually fall back asleep while he nurses. When he was a newborn I changed him at night with every feeding. That was every 1-2 hours around the clock. I don't think a baby as young as Oliver could go a whole night without wetting a diaper.

I have the Mini Arms Reach Co-Sleeper and love it! I got it at a garage sale for $50 I can (and sometimes do) sleep with Reid actually in the bed, but I don't like to....only because I sleep so STIFF. I don't roll over or stretch in fear of waking him up. I like the Arms Reach because he is still right next to me, I can see him without getting up or craning my neck, and I barely have to sit up to pull him into bed with me to nurse (after he eats and falls back asleep, I transfer him back into the Arms Reach)

I used to change Reid every time he woke up. I had a diaper station on the floor next to the bed. I would lay him on a blanket. Now, I only change him if I hear him pooping or smell him I too feel bad when I don't change him at all because that diaper in the morning is usually WET WET WET but it really doesn't seem to bother him, and NO WAY I could deal with changing him each time he wakes now that I'm back at work.

He wakes up 2-3 times per night right now He slept throught he night from 3-8 weeks for the most part, but it's been a LONG TIME since he's done that again. It's hard, but he always falls back asleep after he nurses, so its easy enough I guess. I'm tired, but not deathly tired, ya know?

[ANGWife]

We already have a bassinet that will be donated to us from my MIL's friend, but I'm loving this information!