Seeking Advice/feedback on Arm's Reach Cosleeper

I bought the regular sized one before my daughter was born and tried starting her out in it, but it did not work for us. She refused to be even THAT far away from me. She was nursing and eventually ended up (at 6 wks) sleeping in my bed.
They are not flimsy in my opinion, but it's a lot of money to spend if she ends up not sleeping in it!

What about these ideas?
Put her on the outside of the bed>> Get a good bedrail or 2 (if they are short ones you might need 2 end to end) and a bumper pad for the outside of "your" side of the bed. Then you would be next to your hubby and you would not have to worry about him rolling over onto her.

OR if you are too cramped with the CPAP machine and all (I know those can be a pain, my hubby was on one until he had surgery- which was a success!) ... how about putting your mattress on the floor, or even 2 mattresses on the floor? That would give you more room to all be together. I've heard of families who just have a "wall-to-wall mattress" where they and their children co-sleep LOL

Other options that some moms do- sleep part of the night with baby, part of the night with hubby, or let her fall asleep in your bed and then transfer her to crib, etc.

Also, the Arm's Reach just seemed to me to be a taller version of the Graco playpens when it was all said and done. Maybe you could use one of those if you have it to see if she is able to sleep that far away from you before investing the money.

I would also advise against sleep training.

-A.

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The CPAP part is a very important detail, C. thank you for including it. If your husband has obstructive sleep apnea, he has likely been snoring up to this point and possibly startling himself awake during the night. None of you have been getting any descent rest.

The Arm's Reach or similar product will relieve your stress at the very least about your child being in danger of roll over. Please do something to move her. You are both likely sleep deprived at this point and co-sleeping in the same bed is putting her at risk for suffocation by either of you. Keep in mind both of you have been responding to a very young child's needs. Parents are sleep deprived under normal conditions, now factor in the apnea and you have overwhelming sleep issues that can compound many other areas of life quickly. Feed your daughter close by and return her to the cosleeper attachment on your side, knowing that you and your husband are doing all you can to keep her safe. Best wishes. HeatherL

For other readers of this response, sleep apnea is a common problem in this country and people tend to think it's just men but women do have this as well. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend the Mayo Clinic site for starters at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep-apnea/DS00148

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I am sorry I do not know what a cosleeper is, could you let me know what that is, it may help me?

Thanks

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if you go with the co-sleeper get the regular size. i used the mini with my newborn until he was 3 months and it got a liitle tight. iloved it! he was safe and i knew i wouldn't roll over on him but yet he was right next to me. Isn't the cpap a little loud with the baby to be right next to it and be comfortable sleeping?

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I currently use the arm's reach mini cosleeper. I love it. If my daughter were in her crib I would be there all night and not getting what little sleep I could. When we first started to use it my daughter did not want to sleep there on her back. With some difficulty we would be able to get her to sleep partially on her side with the assistance of a positioner so that she could not role onto her stomach. She would sleep fine on her back if she were on our bed thought. We finally figured out that the pad on the cosleeper is kind of hard so we wrapped it in a small blanket so that there is some padding. She now has no problems with sleeping on her back in the cosleeper. It is also nice so that if she is just fussy at night all I have to do is reach over to comfort her and she goes back to sleep. I would recommend it.

L. R.

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I used the mini Arms Reach co-sleeper for my daughter and thought it was great. I would recommend it to anyone.

Good luck.

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i used the arms reach cosleeper and i loved it! I only used it for the first few months, but then when she got older we used it as a play pin. I thought it was a pretty good buy :)

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I used the mini co sleeper and I loved it/ It was very sturdy and never had any problems. It has stablizers that go under the mattress if you are concerned but we never had to use them. We used it up till our daughter was 6 months due to her out-growing it and us wanting her to start sleeping through the night. She loved it also, she could reach out and touch me if she needed me adn I held her hand most nights while she slept. I would use it again and again with each and every child, it was a life saver for me. I bought mine on ebay as it was much cheaper than the store. You can get them at most resale shops or put a wanted ad on the freecycle sights someone may have one in their basment that they no longer use.

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Personally, I'm not certain why you have to do one or the other. This is not a black or white world people!

I used the co-sleeper for the first 4 months and LOVED it!!!! Super convenient and worth the money (which really isn't a lot).

Then at about 5-6 months we "attempted" "sleep training". Some of you moms make it sound so heartless and immoral! You can implement some sleep GUIDANCE without being overly firm. The word "training" sounds like you are raising a puppy. I like to use sleep guidance instead. Every child benefits from it at one point or another. I will add that the later you try to implement it, the harder it might be. But, the question is this: Do you want to have a life and raise a good sleeper? If yes, read Ferber. Even if you don't use all the techniques, it's worth the educational value. WE can breastfeed, engage in child-centered rearing, and sleep train at the same time. Let's think outside the box here!!!!

Good luck.

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I wouldn't waste the money on the cosleeper. She will only fit in it for a short while longer. When my son was a baby, we took the rail off of the crib and pushed it right up to our bed. Our mattresses lined up perfectly. If he fussed, I was able to put my arm around him or pat him. Eventually, we put the rail back on and gradually moved the crib farther from out bed. At about a year, he was sleeping better in his own room.

As for your daughter not taking the bottle, keep trying. Try different nipples and have someone else give it to her. She isn't going to take it from you. They are small but very smart. Both of my sons were exclusively breastfeed. I had the same problem with the second one. We just kept trying and eventually he got it.

Good luck.

C.

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I would highly suggest sleep training as the best option. If you wait, it will be harder and harder, and the longer you wait, the longer it will take to train her. You may also potentially have nap problems in the future as well. Just my 2 cents worth.

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I also took the side of the crib and pushed it against our bed. It worked well for us when we had the twins.

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Hi C.,
Co-sleepers are great, but do your research...once they sit up your not suppose to use them any more. They have a co-sleeper sleigh bed which they can stay in for a long time...but it is sold out every where. Hope this helps!

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Hi C.,
Given your breastfeeding status, it is probably much easier to have your daughter sleep with you, but the only thing is that it is going to be so hard when she gets older to get her to sleep alone. I am talking strictly from experience.....we didn't necessarily have our son sleep with us a lot, but we ALWAYS rocked him or laid with him until he fell asleep in his bed. There would be chunks of time where it was routine and easy and then out of nowhere it would be the biggest stressor trying to get him to sleep. It tooks hours every night for months if he wasn't rocked to sleep. He is 3 1/2 now and I still lay with him a little bit when he initially goes to bed, but I usually leave the room before he falls asleep. I tried sleep training when he was about four or five months old and it was heartbreaking - (the first time it really worked, when he slept through the night, he cried for 2 hours). I only wish I was rigid with the sleep issue and to this day vow that if I have another one, I will definately be strict about sleep. With all that being said, many of my friends co-slept with their kids and had success. I think it really depends on what works the best for you. You could have her sleep in the pack n play right next to your bed or something. A lot of people I know have done that for the exact reason you are looking around at co-sleepers, because of the fear of rolling on her. I laugh because that is the single reason I never had our son in bed with us as a baby - I was so afraid of rolling on him. Good luck, and whatever you do, it will be the right thing.

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At 5 1/2 months I would opt for sleep training. This is a stage when your daughter is setting up perminant sleep habits. I personally like the Ferber book, although people have had good luck with Weissbluth too.

I have a co-sleeper (regular size) that I used with my son until he was 3 months old. Now we have it set up as a travel bed at our sitter's house for him to nap in, and we take it on weekend car trips. I've always found it to be sturdy, and I think the weight limit is around 30 lbs. But I don't think it's the right solution for you right now.

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I would not do sleep training. I just feel that that is cruel to babies. My son (who was also exclusively BF to 6 months) continued waking in the night until he was a little less than 12 months old, and I would just start him out in the crib, then when he woke I would take him to bed with us. I got a long bolster pillow that straps to the side of the mattress (kinda like a bed rail) to ensure that he wouldn't fall off the bed and only put him on my husband's side if I felt the other breast really needed to be emptied. I think the co sleeper would be a bit expensive and probably you won't be able to use it much longer. Crib next to the bed may work as well.

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I would highly advise on sleep training. Yes, it's hard in the beginning, but in the long run it is well worth it. We never have a problem with my daughter going right to sleep and she is now almost two years old. As for the co-sleeper, I would definitely recommend it if you ever have another baby. We moved our daughter out of it when she was about 5 months old because she was outgrowing it so I'm not sure how much use you would get out of it. It was wonderful, though, and I strongly recommend it, especially if you are breastfeeding.

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