Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper Bassinet - Natural
by Arm's Reach Concepts, Inc.
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Our Price: $149.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper Bassinet - Natural
Customer Review: Good, but needed adjustments
Summary: 3 Stars
Our baby is due in a few weeks, so I can only speak on initial set up right now.
We got this product because we are committed to co-sleeping, but only have a full bed, which is too small for us to have baby in bed comfortably. This was easy to set up, HOWEVER:
1) We have a normal height bed and this does not sit flush with our mattress.
2) We bought bed risers from Bed Bath and Beyond, removed the wheels from the sleeper, and placed the co-sleeper on the risers. Seems to have solved problem. (Arms Reach extenders were pricey and I read that they were pretty unstable.) Bed risers were 10 dollars.
3) Mattress is extremely hard and seemed of poor quality. We coughed up $130 for the organic mattress, which is better.
4) Had to place towels and cardboard underneath mattress to get it to sit flush with the lip that connects to bed. In my opinion, if it's not totally flush and "one" with your bed, why even have this product? I would have bought a pack n play or bassinet.
Customer Review: Love it! [Idea for a sheet alternative, too!]
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm expecting my second child and I knew that I wanted a co-sleeper this time around. My first slept in bed with us, but I always wished I had a place to put him where I could still touch him, but feel more comfortable streching out. This is going to be our answer!
I decided to go with the mini because I didn't want to have to climb around the full size co-sleeper to get in and out of bed. Plus, it will travel well. I have found it to be much easier to set up and take down than our pack and play and it feels sturdier to me. The matress seems softer than our pack and play, too.
One of the complaints I've heard is that the sheets for this are expensive ($14/ea) and hard to find. I completely agree, so we're going to use pillow cases! You can use either standard or king cases...they fit right over the matress. The only downside to using pillow cases is that you cannot velcro the matress to the frame like you're supposed to, but to me, the matress fits so snugly in the bed, I don't see it as a problem.
Customer Review: No better than a regular bassinet
Summary: 2 Stars
We bought this for our second child so he could sleep near me in the early months. I tired it attached to the bed for the "co-sleeping" position, but it didn't leave any room for me to get out of bed, which is difficult enough in the early weeks. I also found that I needed to get up myself as often as the baby needed to eat, so it didn't help at all to have the co sleeper attached to my bed. Since this feature is the only thing that really differentiates the arm's reach co-sleeper from any other bassinet, I really don't think it's any better. In fact, I'm getting it ready for my third child and found it extremely difficult to assemble and adjust. Also, the excessive amount of velcro on the sheets and cover make them very annoying to wash. The velcro sticks to everything. Bottom line, you're no better off with this than any other kind of safe bassinet. In fact, I wish we had bought a cradle. When baby stirs in the night, you could just reach out and rock him back to sleep for a little longer before he can fully wake up.Customer Review: Not much luck with the co-sleeper
Summary: 3 Stars
While the quality of the item is fantastic, the concept did not work for us. Our baby makes lots of adorable noises in her sleep, but with her attached directly to the side of the bed, she was keeping us awake all night. I will say that for the first few days home from the hospital, having our baby right there next to us and hearing her noises was reassuring as we knew she was still breathing!! But after about a week, we were just too exhausted so we moved her to her crib in the nursery across the hall and plugged in the monitors. My one and only complaint about the product itself is that I found it awkward to get out of bed with the co-sleeper attached. When I had to get up in the middle of the night, having to manuever my way out of bed became a nuisance (it also didn't help my hemorrhoids or my episiotomy). The Co-sleeper is easy to assemble and very durable. The color we chose was a perfect match to our bedroom. We had no issues with the sheets not fitting. I really wish we had better luck with it.Customer Review: (((( SHEET PROBLEMS )))))
Summary: 4 Stars
FOR SHEET PROBLEMS:
I have found great sheets for this co-sleeper at Shopko. They were 'bassinet' sheets called "PEEK A BABE" which were about 4 dollars and are very comfortable (cotton that feels more like jersey material). I did buy the original sheets that come with the co-sleeper, but they were VERY expensive and they had really rough material...really a poor choice by the designer/manufactuer of the sheets! I would NOT buy extra sheets for the price of the co- sleeper sheets and for the harsh fabric.
Actaully, I have found other 'bassinet' sheets that fit just fine for the co- sleeper too, but I really liked the Shopko "PEEK A BABE" brand - they also have Crib and Play yard sheets that are great and CHEAP too by the same brand. Sad to say, but I never use the sheets that came with the co-sleeper and I am thinking about selling them on Ebay (reason for the 4 stars otherwise a great product).
hope this helps~
Sandra~