baby proof: baby in a basket.

Twelve weeks. That’s all folks. I’m not a sleep expert or a baby whisperer or any of the other people who might actually want to consult to learn the secrets to sleep. But! I am a mom to a 12-week-old living in a one-bedroom apartment and a bunch of you have asked about where and how we put Faye to sleep, so here’s an answer.

Before Faye was born, one of the very few baby supplies that we purchased was a Moses basket. Because I try to keep things as affordable and simple as possible, we opted for a no-frills, organic basket that didn’t come with a mattress or liner. To cozy it up a bit, we purchased an organic cotton futon. (Note: Check dimensions when ordering a futon and request a custom size if need be.) The futon is a nice base, but actually quite thin, so for the first few weeks we folded up a wool blanket and put the mattress down on top of that. When Faye received a sheepskin as a gift, we began to use that on top of the futon instead.*
Faye sleeps in her basket in our bedroom at night.** When she was very tiny and waking up multiple times each night to feed, we slept with her in the bed between us to make middle-of-the-night feedings more tolerable, but we moved her into the basket fairly quickly. Our tiny bedroom means there’s only room for a double bed, so there’s not a ton of extra space for another human between the sheets, snuggly though she is. Maybe more importantly, Faye seems to be cozy and comfortable in her basket, so for now we’re sticking to that. (In the name of simplicity and space-saving, we opted not to get a stand for the basket, but it wasn’t for a lack of options.)

During the day, we take the sheepskin out of the basket so she can loll on the floor and coo at various things on ground level. When I take a shower, I pop her back into the basket. You know, because she might suddenly learn to roll over and scoot about while I’m shampooing. No matter the logic, the basket feels like a safe spot for her to hang out in by herself. When she’s ready for her mid-morning nap (this should probably read if she takes a mid-morning nap) we put her back into her basket and into our bedroom. She tends to sleep more peacefully with the curtain drawn and in the relative quiet of that room (jackhammers, screaming children, and impatient cabbies loitering outside our apartment, please take note.)

As Faye grows, we’ll likely transfer her to a crib, but like most things, we’re taking this bed stuff slowly, so that conversation will have to come later.

I think that about covers it.

*My sister’s mother-in-law gave Faye her sheepie. She’s mother to six, grandmother to ten (soon-to-be 11!) and something of a sheepie connoiseur. She recommends always opting for the shorn sheepskin and ordering from a reliable source that doesn’t overly process the skins in tanning. Ours is made by Kaiser and imported from Germany.