First off, I am aware that the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests co-sleeping (they define as sleeping in the same room as parents) for the first year of life to reduce the risk of SIDS. But, with any new parent, you have got to find what works best for you.
I am a super light sleeper and I knew I would wake up every single time my baby sighed or took a deep breath. And, after a long weekend away when he was only 6 weeks old, I found out he was a rather noisy sleeper. Mama's sleep is very important so I decided, from day 1, that he would sleep in his own room across the hall.
Resources Used:
*Consumer Reports
*The Bump
*Amazon Reviews
What I settled on:
1. Babyletto Hudson 3-in-1
Consumer Reports has not reviewed cribs since 2016. That being said, if you are a member of their site, they do give you a basic buying guide telling you things to look for. They suggest that you buy the crib new, fairly basic, and to buy the crib mattress that goes with the crib you purchase.
Since Babyletto's cribs are fairly simple and stream-lined, and the Hudson has great reviews on Amazon, we decided to go with their crib. It also had the added upside that the Hudson had a mid-century look to it which goes with our decor. An even bigger upside that we discovered when it came in the mail was that it was SUPER EASY to put together even with pregnancy brain!
2. Fisher Price Rock 'n Play
We ended up buying a Fisher Price Rock n Play at the suggestion of my lactation consultant when my son was 5 weeks old. He had silent reflux and would wake up as soon as I laid him down flat. Hands-down, best sleeper purchase! It bought us a few months of wonderful sleep-filled nights and I credit this with helping him sleep through the night prior to his 4-month sleep regression. I will link later to how we did the transition to the crib from the RNP.
Updated Edit 4/8/19: As of April 5, 2019, Fisher-Price issue a warning about the safety of their product, the Rock 'n Play. Consumer Reports investigated the link between infant deaths and sleeping in the Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play. We never had issues with it ourselves, but our little one was not able to roll over until 4 months and, by then, we had stopped using the product.
3. Baby Sleep Hammock
I cannot find the original one we purchased to link but I bought mine on Amazon. I had heard about sleep hammocks that mimic the feeling of the womb. You attach it to the crib and then baby sleeps in the hammock within the crib until they're too big. Honestly, this is hit or miss for me. You'd be better off just going ahead and getting a Fisher Price Rock 'n Play. It provides the same feeling for the baby while adding the addition of the rocking motion whenever they move/startle and they're at an incline in case they have reflux. Plus, ours didn't come with ANY instructions so who knows if we even installed it correctly.
4. Moses Basket
My mother bought a Moses Basket and used it to present our baby shower gifts in. She also made fitted sheets for the Moses Basket. It was super adorable but, when we brought baby home, we found that the cat was more suited for the basket than the baby was. The basket was used and it, on occasion, would cave in. It also wasn't very large so our big baby did not spend much time in it besides 1 nap in total.
