Now that your new baby has arrived or is to arrive soon you will need a place for him/her to lie down. Eventhough holding your new baby all the time is a tempting idea, the baby will need to lie down 24/7 for the first few months and that makes it a bad idea. The obvious solution is a bassinet, cradle or a crib. Considering the baby’s safety and your cost, deciding which to buy and which make the most sense can be a challenge.
Gregg Hall, an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida provides the following contrast for bassinettes, cradles and cribs.
“Bassinettes are small, often egg shaped bed that has tall sides, a skinny mattress, and sits on a wheeled stand. To keep the legs and wheels from showing, a bassinette is often decorated with lacy skirts, ribbons, and bows. The basket portion of the bassinette is usually large enough to hold nothing more than the infant and a few blankets.
Cradles are similar in size to a bassinette. A cradle is often on a wooden stand that allows the wooden bed portion to rock slowly with manipulation from an adult. Cradles tend to bring about images of handmade wood cradles, roaring fires, and days of old. Many cradles are handed down from generation to generation. Cradles have low edges, so they are not recommended to any infant that is able to freely move around. There is a danger of an infant rolling against the edge of the cradle and causing it to tip over.
The best choice for any infant is a crib. Cribs are bigger and have extremely tall sides. One side of the crib drops down so that a parent can gently place the infant into the bed while sleeping. Then the side is easily raised back up. Cribs offer two height settings for mattresses. The higher setting is for infants, and then the lower setting is for babies who are able to stand with assistance. This keeps a baby from being able to fall over the edge of the crib rail.” For more on Gregg Hall, go to http://www.shop4blankets.com.
A few weeks ago, on October 16, 2006, I posted a blog titled Selecting Your Baby’s Crib (http://www.babystoregiftshop.blogspot.com). You will find some valuable suggestion there. To see a pre-select inventory of quality cribs go to www.babystoregiftshop.com.
