Sleeping Babies

Choosing where and in what your baby sleeps is one of the first things that you think about. And one of the most important decisions to make.

For me, I love vintage things – in fact the shabby chic look is one of my favourites, so I was really keen to use the moses basket which has been in the family and that we used as babies.

When my brother and his wife used it for their children, they bought a stand for it. Having it on a stand, made it super easy to pick Leander up without having to stand all the way up holding your baby and saving your muscles. (Similar available from John Lewis  and Mamas & Papas)

Once he was a bit older, a little more alert and harder to get to sleep, we moved him into a crib which was my other sister-in-law’s that she kindly painted white for us along with buying a new mattress and bedding. This was originally from Mamas & Papas but there are plenty on the market from standard retailers, also including Mothercare & John Lewis.

The bonus of the crib is that it rocks so if you need a little extra help getting them to sleep, you unbolt it and push it from side to side.  I have to say that this feature for me was brilliant as you didn’t have to hold a baby doing this which can be tough when you’re tired and especially if you’re breastfeeding and your muscles are all relaxed.

Many people also co-sleep which although I said I would never do at the start, actually have ended up sometimes doing.  When I didn’t do this, those that did, said that they made it safe with a Sleepyhead. What I did find though, was that breastfeeding lying down saved holding him and so as a result we did semi co-sleep falling asleep after feeds.

I was recommended Sleepyheads before I gave birth but I decided to see how I went at first with the moses basket and then didn’t end up buying one.  However, when we hit a bad sleep regression with wake-ups every sleep cycle, I tried my friend’s out and it worked like magic. Or was it coincidence? So we ended up using the Sleepyhead inside the crib for while too which made it even easier to pick Leander up from as it was even higher.

We were forced to switch to a cot which is a little bit bigger when Leander became stronger and started almost pulling himself up.  So we painted my brother’s John Lewis cot white (120cm x 60cm)  which his youngest had just finished with.  On the lowest setting I can just reach into it and lift him up without it being too much of a stretch. I’m not sure this model still exists but many are listed in that smaller size on the John Lewis website www.johnlewis.com