I’m in the 10 week countdown now, and until last week, this baby had nowhere to sleep. The first time around, we pretty much had a fully stocked nursery at 20 weeks. This time, I have vague plans to shift a clothes rack out of my bedroom to make room for a cradle.
In some ways, the downside to my job is that I see too many baby products. While others may walk in to a baby superstore and say, “I’ll have that, that and that in the Heritage Teak, thanks”, I’m wondering about whether a $4,000 Dutch designed, polyurethane and walnut baby cot is the ultimate statement piece.
When reality kicks in and I realise that my budget doesn’t stretch to avant-garde concept furniture, it’s time to draw up a good ol’ list of what my requirements are, before finding the right match.
Last time around, I used a borrowed Moses basket for the first four months. It was pretty, light, and portable although my son soon started scratching on the wicker. Not the most pleasant noise at 4am.
Hammocks look fantastic and are apparently great for settling – but installing a suspended version from my ceiling would probably not be welcomed by my landlord. As for the ones on a stand – well, I have a two-year-old who doesn’t know his own strength.
I love the look of the Seed and Cariboo wood and canvas cradles, but they don’t rock and aren’t on wheels. There is something quite lovely about putting your newborn to sleep in whatever room you’re in, especially during the babygaze phase when you’re too worried to take your eyes off them lest they are kidnapped by pixies.
So in the end, I went for a solid, rocking cradle on wheels, a larger size that would give at least 4-6 months use, during which time I could transition my son out of his converted cot and into a Big Boy Bed.
It’s standing forlornly in our sunroom. I will make room for it sometime in the next 10 weeks, just not right now, OK?
Update from last week: after a few goes at standing on my head and a vigorous yoga session, I think baby may have moved 180 degrees, so getting closer to head down, bum up! Never under estimate the power of humiliating body contortions.
$200, Big W, white rocking cradle. It has wheels and looks pretty. It may not be avant garde, but the baby won’t know that. And I promise not to tell them.
My baby is 9.5 months only and has only had somewhere to sleep as of the past two weeks.
When she was first born, I hired a hospital bassinet. Then we travelled for four months, and she slept in a portacot. Returning to australia via Portugal, London and Singapore was a series of portacots interspersed with sleeping in our bed. We’ve finally settled and she’s now sleeping soundly in her cot, albeit with the occasional leg getting stuck in the railing.