Co-sleeper

I used the arm reach co-sleeper with all three of my kids.
It is a play and pack like thing that attaches to your bed. You can sleep close without the baby in bed and it is great for nursing the first few months...you dont have to get out of bed.

If it sounds too good to be true...
Unfortunately one of our local physicians has had a patient die from suffocation while using a Snuggle Nest. If mom's bed is uneven at all, the baby's bed is no longer flat and the infant can roll into the side of the bed and suffocate. Even mom and dad's normal weight alone is enough to cause the Snuggle nest to tip enough to cause the infant to roll. You are much better off buying a co-sleeper that attaches to your bed and allows your baby to be near you- without the hazzards of the bed tilting, or you rolling onto her. Make sure to use a mattress and co-sleeper that is new and approved by the Juvenille Safety Commision. Beds must be firm and flat to be the safest.
Good luck!

I used the co-sleeper in bed with us and loved it. After awhile I moved the co-sleeper into his crib and it was a perfect transition. He was in it until he couldn't fit anymore. In fact I just got it back and was going to put it on Craig's List. If you are interested it retails for $49. I'll sell it to you for $30. All parts are washable and I have extra sheets as well.

you don't need the nest thing. it takes too much room and will get in the way of your snuggling your baby!

it's popular b/c people worry about rolling over on the baby in their sleep, but this won't happen unless a person goes to bed drunk or high. the co-sleeper that attaches to the bed is good if you or your baby are restless sleepers and wake each other up. and yes, it takes up a lot of room in bed.

but you should try them all and see what works for your family.

you can always sell or give away what you don't use--that's how we got our co-sleeper, which we use half the night. we used the 'baby bumpers' for a few months off and on, mostly to elevate baby's head a bit when he got a cold. but we had the kind without the walls around it, so we could still sort of snuggle him.

We used a co-sleeper and loved it. We'll be using it again for our second (whose due date is TODAY:). Is the snuggle nest one of those little things that goes IN your bed, to protect the baby from being rolled on? I don't have experience with those, but found our baby to be snug and safe right in bed with us or else right in the co-sleeper.

I don't have experience with that particular brand, but I highly recommend a co-sleeper. It makes such a difference in the establishment of breastfeeding in the beginning, and also the amount of sleep that you, the mama, get. It's much, much easier to just reach over, get your baby, and latch him on than to get up and walk to_wherever. You can use it longer than the bassinet, too, I believe.

We used this with our son, now 2, and loved it! It was so nice to be able to feel his little chest moving up and down (something you'll do a lot in those first weeks) and to have him right there when he woke during the night. I didn't even have to get out of bed to feed him and the little light it comes with was just enough. We had not used this snuggle nest with our other children and wished it had been available! He slept there for about 6 weeks, then we moved him to a bassinet in our room. So depending on how long you want to share your bed with Baby, you may want to get both the snuggle nest and bassinet attachment for your pack n play. Hope this helps!

We loved our co-sleeper too. We did try the snuggle nest, but it didn't really work for us -- the side walls were too high and made it difficult to actually just reach over and pull baby close -- you still have to sit up and sort of lift the baby out.

the cosleeper on the other hand is right-level with the bed, so you can reach for baby without having to get up / sit up as much. it sounds like a small difference, but at 3am for the 3rd week in a row, it makes a big, big difference! :-)

Good luck!

Hi J.,
My husband and I sleep in a queen size bed and we found that the Snuggle Nest just took up a ridiculous amount of space. We ended up using an Arm's Reach co-sleeper next to the bed and the baby in our bed most of the time since I breastfeed and it's super easy to feed her in the night and just drift off.

Hi J.,
We used the nest sleeper. I liked it, however, if you have a queen size bed or smaller it is a very tight squeeze. We had a queen (and we are not large people), and it made sleeping a bit challenging. Good Luck!

I really support co-sleeping, but highly encourage you to use an in-bed co-sleeper like the one you are looking at. We used this one: http://www.amazon.com/First-Years-Close-Secure-Sleeper/dp...

I was very happy having my son in bed with me for the first 4 months of his life, both because I loved being close to him and it made breastfeeding easier, but also because the apartment we were living in didn't have enough space for a crib!

The only draw-back was that my son was very finicky about sleeping on his back, and the "mattress" on ours was not very soft, which exacerbated this. So if you can see them before you buy, that is one thing to think about.

I applaud your desire to breastfeed, and I wish you all the luck with it! It has been such a pleasure for me, and I hope it is for you too.

i have used it and really !! liked it for the initial phase. it helps to preserve babys space and avoid the fear of either quite sleep deprived parent rolling onto the baby - which you will not do, but the fear is often voiced by many first time parents.

You cannot breast feed over the snuggle nest - you will have to take the baby out to breast-feed... You will find in your exhaustion that you will just want the baby to snuggle with you - you will most likely fall asleep while the baby is nursing and the snuggle nest will just take up extra room in your bed...

Bassinets are nice for the first few weeks because the babies feel snuggled like they are in the womb and they sleep better - - - keep in mind you wont be able to use it for very long because the babies get too big...

If you get the co-sleeper you will scoot the baby in your bed to breast-feed and will probably fall asleep and not scoot the baby back in... :)

we got one at the baby shower but never really liked it. It got in our way like many other people also stated, we did find it nice for traveling though.

We used both the Snuggle Nest and the Arms Reach cosleeper. I found the SN very nice for the first few weeks, especially while we got used to having a baby in bed with us to allay our fears of rolling over on him. We eventually put the SN into the Arms Reach cosleeper (which seemed so big when we first started using it) to give him a cozy little spot. We also sometimes used a rolled-up towel under the Nest to elevate it slightly (the newer version has a wedge for this--it's to reduce spitting up). We also used the Nest as a bassinet in the living room sometimes. Oh, and we were using it in a double bed with no problems. It just depends on how much you and your partner need to sprawl out.

I have a Pack n Play that was given to me. It is so much better constructed and easy to set up and break down than the cosleeper. I wanted to love the Arms Reach because I love the concept, but I did not find it to be a quality product. It also is not safe to use at cosleeping height once your baby can push up on all fours, which will happen sooner than you can imagine! You can use it in a portacrib/play yard set up just as you can the Pack n Play, but again, the latter is much easier to use.

I would say stick with your PnP bassinet and then you can use the portacrib setup as a naptime crib if you choose not to buy a regular crib (we did not as we knew we would be cosleeping). You can spend you money better than on the Arms Reach. I thought the Snuggle Nest was worth it (I did get mine for $20 from Craigslist, though! The cosleeper, too--in fact, I got almost everything from CL--give it a try).

Congrats and enjoy your pregnancy! :D

We had it & it was not a good fit for us. We slept with them in our arms or on our chest. I say return it. Use the money for diapers(smile)
Good Luck

Hi J.-

I registered for a Snuggle Nest during my pregnancy and received one at my babyshower. I also returned it to the store with in a week of my daughter's birth. There is not much "snuggly" about it. It's hard and awkward and definately took up too much space in our queen bed.

I would definately look into getting a co-sleeper that goes up next to your bed and keeps the baby at your level... no need for a bassinet and it can eventually be a play yard when your baby out grows it.

Good luck!