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Andie
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Topic: Basinettes Posted: 11 July 2006 at 9:37am |
Hi again, ladies,
A friend has kindly lent us a basinette that actually belongs to a friend of theirs (who knows us so it's not dodgy re-lending going on!). It is made of chunky cane, oval, and larger than standard size. It has a very firm foam mattress that was custom-made for it, as you can't get any in the shops that fit it. Trouble is, I don't know what kind of foam it is, or how old it is, or how many babies it's housed already...
I'd read some guidelines saying you should get a new mattress for each baby (and it could be easier to get a second-hand basinette than it would be to have a new mattress made, I think, and then I could use the lovely soft mattress I've already bought that didn't fit this basinette, and not a hard foam one). I was wondering if that's the safety-police going overboard, or is this something that people really do do? Any ideas on how safe an old foam mattress would be, with a new mattress-protector over it?
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Andie
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11111
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 11:07am |
I personally think you should get a new matress. You can go into Para rubber and they can cut some to the right size jsut take the old one in that you have that fits. We had to do this for our one cause ht matress was very old then I jsut made a cover for it. It only cost us about $15 for the foam.
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Anna
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 11:42am |
I would be inclined to get a new mattress too. But if you couldn't I have heard magic things about a dr sprott cover? Can you get them in basinette size?
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Andie
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 2:49pm |
Dr Sprott - that name pops up every now and then - where do you get them from? And anyone know if they're fitted or not? Because if they're not, I could easily convert one into 2 basinette-sized covers.
I've heard a lot of foam has formeldyhyde (sp?) in it and isn't the greatest idea for a newborn... but then again, I'm hearing/reading so much these days and it's hard to know what to consider a serious caution and what's over-the-top. Thank goodness for this website, because I think the advice from mums who have littlies themselves (not had them 2 oe 3 decades ago!) is current and realistic... WHEW!! Not that I'm dissing grandy-advice... its got its place too!
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caraMel
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 3:00pm |
Dr Sprott covers are available at the baby factory. I'm pretty sure you can get bassinette size ones. They're $20-25 from memory.
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Jay_R
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 7:28pm |
Yep, $20 from baby factory and they do them in basinette sizes. I'd heard about them but didn't know where to get them from so went onto their website, phoned the number and spoke to Dr Sprott himself. Bit of a fanatic, but in a good way. Apparently there has never been a wee baby die of SIDS who has had one on their cot mattress. So of course we got one! One thing I don't like is how noisy they are. Every time Joshie moves it crackles so loudly I'm worried it will wake him!!
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meow
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 8:44pm |
We borrowed a basinette from someone at my mum's work, she had used it for her children. We did not get a new mattress, and she was fine. Didn't use a doctor sprout cover either. We only used the basinette for 5 months and she was too big for it.. then went on to a second hand cot with a second hand mattress  used for one child beforehand.
It's not like I don't care; I just didn't see the point in buying a mattress just to throw it away a few months later. Ella was always tucked in tightly and away from the blankets etc, and slept next to us in her basinette until she was 5 months and old enough to roll over.. so we could keep an ear on her.
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11111
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 9:39pm |
I forgot to mention that I have a sprott cover on the foam i got from para rubber too
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mum2paris
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Posted: 11 July 2006 at 10:16pm |
we got a new matress for each kiddie - paris uses her old cot matress to jump around on and practice her rollie-pollies, when she was first in a bed it was near her bed in case she fell out... so of course - i didn't want to use it for Ayja - it had been on the floor and stuff.
We used a portacot from day one for both girls and heaps of people gave us bollocks about that - but hey, they were warm cos we lived in an upstairs flat, they never had to be transitioned to a new unfamiliar bed just when their sleep routine was getting established, and their bassinette was at a good height and VERY roomy so they didn't outgrow it, more that they just got too heavy around 6 months old,.. or like ayja - decided she could maybe learn to climb out.  so maybe another option to think of is - if you are gonna get a prtacot for travel etc anyway - use that for the basinette for the first wee while cos baby won't outgrow it so quick and if you travel - baby will still have fmiliar bed to sleep in.
I think - if i had to do it again, i would have bought a cot with bassinette height that converts all the way down - instead of forking out for it now.. when it'll be used for such a short time (still, VERY excited about the one we are getting)
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Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja
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newmum
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Posted: 12 July 2006 at 7:39am |
That's such a good tip re. Para rubber! We bought a 2nd hand portacot and need to get a new matress for it too.
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mum2paris
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Posted: 12 July 2006 at 8:44am |
Porta cot matresses are pretty cheap anyway - From Kmart i think they are about $25 so that's not too bad... would prob pay about that much if not more for a piece that size from para rubber.
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Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja
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11111
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Posted: 12 July 2006 at 11:10am |
thats true Janine I would buy a new cot matress for a portacot form a shop. The reason why Para rubber is a good idea for the bassanet matress is cause they are all so different size.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 12 July 2006 at 1:59pm |
i second para rubber - i took my bassinet there and they helped me get the best mattress for it.
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Andie
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Posted: 14 July 2006 at 10:27am |
OK, so I'm either going to have a new mattress cut at Para, or make one from a new portacot mattress, and whichever one I use, cover it. Then I'll organise the waterproof cover, and following my midwife's advice from the other day, will put wool covers over that. She said that new babies get cold when they sleep, and they need wool underneath their bottom sheets - not a sheepskin, but a woollen blanket. Also that the issue with older mattresses is that they may have been peed on repeatedly, creating fumes that could be harmful. I'm going to carve a pure wool blanket up into basinette-sized blankies for this. It'll mean a lot of washing wool (I never bother buying wool because I can't be arsed washing it! But for baby, I've caved in). So - thanks for the hints and advice, good peoples... sorted! Now to wait for the pinga's with which to go mattress-hunting
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mum2paris
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Posted: 14 July 2006 at 11:01am |
you'll find andie that you could probably convert the covers that is over the portacot matress down to fit whatever size you cut the foam down to.. so might be cheaper in the long run to get a portacot matress which already has a cover on it...
However.. matresses made to fit the porta cot are very very thin.. cos they are made to be folded and stored etc and not used long term. .. so that might be a prob... unless you did a double layer and still just covered it and sewed the cover closed to keep the layers in. since we used the portacot long term - we got a cot sized foam matress (which are a little more pricey $50 at least!!) and just cut the end off. to fit our portacot then sewed the cover closed again. complicated anyone?? lol
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Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja
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Andie
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Posted: 14 July 2006 at 1:27pm |
Cheers, Janine - I'd been thinking of doubling up the portacot mattress, and I like the idea of using foam sold for babies to sleep on (since not all foams are the same!).
But then into Babycity I went this morning (Stroller browsing... and it's the Phil and Ted's or the Bertini Jet - decisions, decisions - I know what you'll advise!)... and when I discussed returning the lovely soft 'baby first' mattress that won't fit our basinette, they told me that the people who make those also make them to order in different sizes, for around the same price ($25ish) - HALLELUJAH!!! How easy is that?! It's the soft kind (which is what I like for bubs), and it arrives already covered - niiice. So if anyone else has a funny-sized basinette that they can't get a mattress for - Baby City seems the way to go.
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mum2paris
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Posted: 14 July 2006 at 1:41pm |
woooo good stuff - and yes - i do advise the phil and teds. lol.. bertini is pretty good though - haven't used it but was seriously considering getting one for paris to replace her crappy one before we found out i was having Ayja - lucky we never actually went and got it.
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Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja
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mum2paris
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Posted: 14 July 2006 at 1:44pm |
plus, phil and teds is pretty pricey really. only reason we got one was cos mike's mum bought it for us otherwise i would have had to settle for a much cheaper double buggy. Does save money in the long run though if you want more kids but yeah, very $$$$
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Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja
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