The Glorified Drawer

Newborns pretty much only do three things, and one of the most appreciated is sleep.  Even now, my day seems to hinge on the sleep I got the night before - too little and everything feels twice as hard.  Granted, my definition of what "too little" is has certainly changed!

The hardest part of shopping before a baby is born is that you have no idea what type of baby they'll be.  You'll hear about babies that refuse to sleep anywhere but their (fill in the blank): stroller, swing, co-sleeper, parents' bed.  You're not a fortune teller, but at the same time, a place for the baby to sleep is definitely on the list of must-haves for that first day home.  Thus, I decided to hedge my bets a little.

Currently, we're living in a one-bedroom apartment with a den (which currently functions as an office).  If we're still living here when Thumper is a bit older, that den will certainly turn into a nursery for him, but we're actually in no rush to do so.  Even when we had more space, I always planned to have our (at the time) future baby sleep in our room for the first several months; it's recommended to prevent against SIDS, and it just made more sense to me when it comes to waking up in the middle of the night for feedings.

So I knew I wanted to have Thumper in the bedroom with us.  I also knew I wanted to avoid bed-sharing if at all possible.  I know myself, and my anxiety, and I knew I would never get a good night's sleep with Thumper in the bed with me, not as an infant at any rate.

(Random aside: one of the nurses in the hospital encouraged bedsharing and actually said putting the baby in the hospital bassinet was a good way for the baby to not get any sleep.  I did try sleeping with him in the hospital bed with me, and neither one of us really slept.  But he conked out in the bassinet.  The opinions fly fast and early.)

At first I looked at the co-sleepers that were open on one side, but they seemed awfully expensive for such a limited use.  Then I realized that thanks to the layout of our bedroom, we can only put the bed on one wall and the space on either side was too narrow for a co-sleeper.  Well, that decided that.

Eventually I started looking at deluxe pack'n'plays that had a bassinet setting.  I didn't want to use a pack'n'play as a crib, but looking at bassinets in person made me realize that there's really no mattress in any of them to speak of - newborns are practically sleeping on boards - and the options in the pack'n'plays were as good as any.  And a pack'n'play could be useful down the road, for traveling or containing Thumper if I need to.  Like Alton Brown, I love a multitasker.  We wound up going with this one, the one with the Newborn Napper Elite, and put it at the foot of our bed.

However, I wasn't sure if Thumper would actually sleep in it.  So, to hedge my bets, I also bought a Fisher Price Rock'n'Play as well.  People rave over them, and I liked the portability and versatility of it.  My hope was that at least one of them would work.

As it turns out, both worked splendidly.  Thumper tended to sleep in the Rock'n'Play, in the living room, for naps, and in the Newborn Napper section of the Pack'n'Play at night.  Both have a vibrate function, and man did we fly through the D batteries in those first few months.

All things considered, he slept great in the Newborn Napper.  I'd put him down when we were ready for bed and I didn't even have to rock him; he'd conk out on his own after a few minutes (he's not quite as good at that anymore).  He has always managed to work his hands out of swaddles, even in the hospital, so after awhile I started wrapping the blanket under his arms.  That way, I figured, he wouldn't be able to scrunch down and get the blanket over his face.  And since the napper was relatively small, I felt comfortable in the knowledge that he wouldn't somehow wiggle out.  

At two and a half months, we tried the bassinet setting on the Pack'n'Play.  It didn't go well.  I think the bassinet platform was too springy and unstable-feeling, not to mention a bigger space; he went to sleep, but woke up 20 minutes later and freaked out.  We reinstalled the napper and decided to keep him in it until he was ready for a full crib.  He was a small baby, but growing quickly and we knew soon he'd be rolling over.  The Napper recommends stopping at 3 months, and he was a week or two past that when we put together the crib.  

Towards the end, he'd scrunch down and stick his feet up

It was fairly nerve-wracking (for us) transitioning him into the crib; because he didn't have his own nursery, we'd basically be swapping out one structure for the other, cold-turkey, instead of slowly introducing him with naps the way some do.  We didn't want to fold up the pack'n'play altogether, as we still use the diaper changing table, but we moved it to another location, and we left the napper in place... just in case.  

I was actually really excited about the new crib.  I didn't really get the nesting bug when I was pregnant, and didn't decorate a nursery, so I guess I'm doing that now in small bursts.  I've always liked modern and mid-century modern furniture, and I was instantly drawn to the Babyletto Hudson crib, two-toned in wood and white.  I especially liked that there was no "front" and "back" to the crib, which made it ideal for being at the foot of the bed.  

no, the blanket doesn't stay there. safety first!

I knew that once Thumper had more space and started rolling, he'd probably manage to get out of his blanket, so I switched over to sleep sacks a few weeks before we put together the crib.  I loved the Aden and Anais blankets for swaddling, and Thumper loves to chew on the muslin whenever he can, so I got their sleep sacks as well.  

As far as how the transition went: surprisingly, really smoothly.  He woke up an extra time or two that first night, but he didn't seem scared the way he had in that bassinet.  I don't know if it really was an issue of stability, or if he was just "ready" to be in a bigger space.  The transition was probably helped in general by the fact that he was in the same location, in our room, and he could see us easily.  

In the last few weeks he's had more difficulty falling asleep at night.  Even his most difficult is maybe ten or twenty minutes to fall asleep, though, so I'm not complaining.  And though he's not consistently sleeping through the night, stretches of 5-7 hours are becoming increasingly frequent.  I'm sure there will be new sleeping obstacles in the future, but for now I'm taking my victories where I can get them.  Naps, too.  

commemorating the night he slept from 11:30 to 6