How To Get Your Baby In A Bassinet
So your bundle of joy has finally arrived, now it gets down to business, critical choices have to be made on what stays and what to ditch and choosing a bassinet is one of those choices.
Deciding where your baby sleeps is as important a decision as any you have to make when it comes to furniture purchase and arrangements for your child’s room, so you definitely shouldn’t with a confused mind.
Bassinets are good but so are many other baby beds, so if you need to go with a bassinet for your newborn, you should definitely know what to expect and how to handle a bassinet properly to get the best from it.
With safety, comfort, and satisfaction in mind, we are going to look at tips on getting the best baby bassinet and the proper ways to get your baby into the bassinet, take a seat and read on, while you pat your gorgeous baby, who will hopefully let you read quietly.
What Is A Bassinet?
A bassinet is a bedlike cradle that is manufactured mainly for newborn babies; it is created in such a way that the child can fit into it and sleep conveniently.
There are a lot of other beds for infants like a Moses basket, and they have little differences that set them apart, for instance, a bassinet is usually lighter in weight than a Moses basket which makes a bassinet more convenient for movement and lifting.
A bassinet is also larger and usually more fanciful than a Moses basket which makes it appear more desirable to expectant moms and parents.
Bassinets are typically used for babies for short periods of time, usually between when they are newly born to around four months after which they are transferred to other sleeping spaces such as cribs.
Why Should You Get A Bassinet
Firstly, a bassinet allows you as parents to place your baby close to you while you sleep which has many benefits, mothers generally feel more comfortable with the thought that their babies are at arm’s reach rather than in another room, if you are a breastfeeding mum then you know what glory that brings.
A bassinet also provides a personal space for your baby which is not only comfortable but fitting for him or her.
Aside from sleep times at night; you can easily move the bassinet with you around during the day from one place to another without inconveniencing your baby, it works well for travel times too.
For mothers who have for example had a C-session, a bassinet allows you to keep a close eye on your baby while you get your much needed rest as well. In all terms, a bassinet is beneficial both for you as parents and your newborn.
Tips For Choosing The Right Bassinet
- Portable Size: Portability is a major aspect of making bassinet choices, and most bassinets in this present day are built with the smooth movement of the bassinet in mind, so this shouldn’t be an issue.
One thing to look out for in your bassinet of choice is how easily it can be dissembled and re-assembled without problems and hitches.
This is of importance because a bassinet which has a very tedious assembling process can lead to improper tightening and could pose a danger to the baby.
Examine the bassinet closely looking out for joints and bolts, see if it will be easy for you to manoeuvre before you make the purchase.
- Neatness: When your baby is in a bassinet, you should have it at the back of your mind that there will surely be urination, vomiting, spills and other ways a baby can make his her sleep place dirty which is completely normal and expected.
So you should get a bassinet with clothes that are easy to maintain and quick to wash. That is not to say that if you have the time on your hands, you cannot go for bassinets with more sophisticated materials and clothing.
It is just paramount for you to put this into consideration while making your choice for a bassinet so that you do not get frustrated along the way.
- Duration: Whichever one you eventually decide to pick or choose you should know that it will be for a short period of time which is usually about four months, and then your baby should be moved to a crib.
What does this mean? It means that after four months, your baby should no longer make use of a bassinet and as bassinet was not built for extended periods of use.
In some cases, the time of use could vary, if you have a baby who is chubby or bigger than babies his or her age, then your baby might not use the bassinet for up to four months.
For the safety of the baby, a crib should be the next sleeping place after four months.
How To Get Your Baby Used To the Bassinet
Now, here comes the real work, making your baby actually use the bassinet! Of course, you didn’t go all the way to get that colourful bassinet for fancy but what do you do when your baby seems to just not warm up to the idea of being placed inside, here are some tips to follow.
- Start A Night And Day Routine: As it is with most newborn babies, they find it more appealing to sleep all through the day and lay awake at night, crying for attention and depriving you of sleep as well in the process.
You can start off by trying to make you baby sleep at night by creating routine and keeping him or her as engaged as possible during the day with activities and play, with time, they should get used to it and sleeping at night will become something they get used to.
You can then place them in the bassinet with the hope that they will at least get some good hours of sleep at first and adjust as time goes on.
- Lay Him Awake In The Bassinet: This can be relatively hard to practice and may be harder to bear as a parent, but it is a relevant step in getting your newborn to sleep in a bassinet.
Lay him down in the bassinet bed when he is still awake and when he begins to cry, which of course is expected as he is just getting used to it, pat him gently and sing for him while he tries to take a nap.
This is a gradual process, so don’t be discouraged even if your baby cries continuously after you have placed him or her in the bassinet, it might even seem like the process is futile but be assured that he will get the sleep he needs once he warms up to the bed.
- On and Off: At this stage which should be the fourth or fifth day, your baby has started to get the hang of it and understands that this is where he will be doing most of his sleeping.
Even at that, you can experience seasonal crying from your baby, this is usually seen as a form of protest but if you can keep him in there for that period of time, babies usually just cry a bit and fall back to sleep or stop crying altogether.
Don’t be tempted to feed your child each time he is awake for fear of discomfort; your baby could just want to lay awake for some time, overfeeding your baby could even cause to the discomfort you are trying to avoid.
Finally
There is so much excitement that comes with becoming a new parent, and I don’t think saying congrats is ever tiring, I could say it over and over again.
Your baby deserves a very welcoming place for resting and quality sleep time just as you also need some hours of sleep in order to function properly throughout the day.
After your baby gets used to sleeping in the bassinet, you still need to be conscious of their cries, check the bassinet periodically for signs of anything out of place that could disturb your baby.
If you have tried everything possible to make your baby sleep alone and it seems hard to achieve as he or she refuses to get any sleep till you are close by, then you should consider co-sleeping with your baby.
Certain arrangements can be put in place to make it comfortable for both you and the baby. In the end, nothing is more important than your baby’s comfort.
