Review of Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper

There are so many options out there for baby to sleep in when he comes home from the hospital. Some people choose to put their baby in the crib right away. Others choose detached bassinets. Still others decide that baby should sleep with them or should sleep in a little bassinet that goes in the bed with them. For my husband and I, none of these options seemed quite right. Then a friend told us about the Mini Co-Sleeper by Arm's Reach Concepts. Upon looking up information about it, we discovered that this handy sleep option was indeed what we would like.

The Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper attaches securely to the side of your bed and you can decide how far up or down you want to place it. The strap goes from one side of the co-sleeper, under the mattress and back around to latch onto the co-sleeper on the other side. From there, it adjusts to however long you need it to be. To keep the bassinet from slipping, there is a thick plastic piece about five inches by five inches that the strap loops through. This is big enough that it doesn't go between the mattress and box spring. Instead, it stays in one place and is easily covered by the sheet. The Co-Sleeper is on wheels and the wheels do lock. The side can come up so that it stands like a regular bassinet if needed. Whenever the Co-Sleeper is not attached to the bed, this side needs to be up. Sometimes the bed is too high for the Co-Sleeper and Arm's Reach sells an adaptor kit to boost the bassinet up.

We liked several things about our Co-Sleeper. It was neutral in color (though they come in many different colors) and was easy to attach to the side of our bed. It has a breathable mattress floor (and the mattress is waterproof and easy to clean up) and mesh all along one side. The other sides are soft cloth, which means no hurt little heads or hands that get stuck in slats. It was very comforting to be able to look over to see the baby in the middle of the night, rather than having to get up or sit up to peer over the edge of a regular bassinet. In order to breastfeed, all I had to do was sit up and pick the baby up. Also, the sheet velcroes down so there is no possibility of it slipping or bunching up. The only bad thing about this was that it caught on a lot of the other laundry when it was washed.

What we didn't like is that the Co-Sleeper was hard to break down. This is good and bad. It is good because it means that it won't collapse on baby. It is bad because it took a good 45 minutes the first time we broke it down to travel and even then still did not fit into the carrying case that came with it. Also, forget making your bed quickly. In order to get the covers down, you'll have to move the Co-Sleeper each time. It is also especially important to keep the covers away from the bassinet at night so that they don't cover the baby, so this may mean making your bed a different way each night..

We used our Co-Sleeper until our baby was 4 months old when he outgrew it by height. It was worth every penny. Though they can be somewhat pricey, oftentimes you can find one on Craig's List or at a yard sale. Make sure that you clean it carefully. For any parent who wants their baby almost, but not quite, in bed with them, the Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper is the way to go. For those who want to use their Co-Sleeper longer, Arm's Reach also makes a full-size version. However, the Mini is not for use once the child can push up on their hands and knees. The full-size can convert into a regular play yard, so it may be more bang for your buck.