The Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper - Because You Need SLEEP

The great debate: will the baby sleep in the nursery or in the master bedroom?  This always seems to be a lively topic of discussion, with everyone having a different opinion of the pros and cons of each decision.  Every first time mom has her vision of how things will play out when she comes home from the hospital.  But the fact of the matter is, all of your plans go out the window when you return from the hospital as a very tired and sore lady.  No matter how Type A you are, you end up going with "what works".

What works for us is the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper.  This genius bassinet has one side that drops down, so when you park it next to your bed, you have easy access to the baby.  This is SO much more convenient than getting your exhausted and sore self up to walk even two feet to a normal bassinet to get your baby up/soothe her/make sure she's still really in there.  If you have a baby that nurses every hour for the first 6 weeks of her life (like mine), this convenience is the only thing that keeps you from completely losing your mind.

It's also wonderful:

• when you need to just flop a hand down next to them for soothing
• for parking that pacifier that refuses to stay put right back in their mouth before a Stage 4 Melt Down occurs 
• checking to ensure the blanket is still on when it's a cold night

I love my co-sleeper so much that I not only own the Angelica from the "Little Palace Collection", I also own an Original in cream.

The Angelica is beautiful and made my Mommy Heart go pitter-pat when I first saw it and envisioned bringing my little girl home to it.  It is also solidly constructed of high quality metal framing and well-finished fabric.  The Angelica is the same size as the Mini, so it will only hold your baby up to 23lbs.  It also does not break down easily - this is a design to leave at home.

 

The Original is not as fabulously girly, but it is much larger, it can convert to a playpen, and can be folded down into its travel bag for transport.  It's a bit heavy, but the ability to take my co-sleeper with me when I travel means that I don't care how small or light a play yard option might be.  My baby doesn't wake up fewer times at night just because I'm traveling, so my need to have her next to me at bed level doesn't diminish either.  It was a bit tricky to break down the first few times, but after a few dry runs I was a champion at getting the Original up and down in no time flat.

Do yourself a favor and get an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper.  You will love it just like I do!

Welcome to The Mama Loves...

As a first time mom, I was faced with the daunting task of deciding which products my little bundle of joy would require. There was so much information out there! There were so many baby products out there! Where to start? Stores sent me "Must Have" lists, the countless websites I'd signed up for to track my pregnancy's progress sent tips, my mom had suggestions, and just about everyone had heard from someone that such-and-such was an absolute necessity. But did I really need umpteen onesies? Was a travel system stroller a big mistake? If I wasn't already overwhelmed, I also had to decide which brands of this myriad of items would best serve our needs. And I thought baking and delivering a baby would be the hard parts!

I spent just over 5 weeks on bedrest, so I had plenty of time to research everything and compile my lists from the vast reaches of the internet. Even with all of this preparation, I still made some errors in purchases and found out that I really did want other items. I've been sharing my finds with my girlfriends and, in an attempt to simplify your life as well, I'm starting this blog to showcase the products that have surpassed my expectations and earned "The Mama Loves" title.

Enjoy!