The Complete Guide to Next-to-Me Cribs and Mattresses

Decisions, decisions - where do I sleep my baby? Moses basket, crib, next-to-me crib, cot, or cot bed?

There's lots for new parents to think about. You'll be offered advice from all sorts of friends and family, midwives, and even more from the internet and AI!

All of these options have more positives than negatives, and the biggest factor is that your decision may be affected by your lifestyle and your purse. Let's investigate next-to-me cribs.

The Invention of the Next-to-Me Crib

These were invented in 2014 by the very well-known and respected Italian baby products company Chicco, founded in 1958 by Pietro Catelli. A few years later, the idea was copied by many other manufacturers.

The next-to-me crib revolutionised the way a newborn baby slept. The benefits include:

• The reassurance parents get as baby sleeps close by
• Assisting mothers with breastfeeding
• Strengthening the bond between parent and child

Yes, there are negatives, but these don't in any way outweigh the massive reassurance of having your new magical arrival next to you.

However, I will mention a few disadvantages: they're more costly, there's a potential gap between crib and bed, securing the crib to the bed can be fiddly, and OK - you build up a very close bond, and maybe some babies find it difficult to break that bond. "Tough love!"

The Next-to-Me Crib Mattress

In a way similar to a Moses basket, when you buy a next-to-me crib, the same quality and design that goes into the crib doesn't appear in the mattress. In fact, if you read all the marketing blurb, the poor mattress hardly gets a mention!

What's the main purpose of this product? It's to give your precious new arrival a safe, comfortable, supportive sleeping surface for its first 2,200 hours. As with Moses baskets, a top-quality mattress would add about £60 to the price and would make it look uncompetitively priced.

Choosing Your Mattress

The Gap

Let's look at one of the most important considerations: the gap between the side of the crib and the mattress. If you push the mattress to three of the sides, you should not leave a gap larger than the width of your two fingers. The other side should be level with your bed, leaving no gaps.

Avoid Marketing Fluff

When you search for a next-to-me crib mattress, you'll get a lot of marketing blurb trying to sell you a mattress using flowery, meaningless phrases - like the overuse of "hypoallergenic".

Here's an example: "Constructed with high-quality, nursery-grade hypoallergenic foam. Reduces allergies, provides excellent support and pressure relief for your little one."

Just meaningless twaddle! The word "hypoallergenic" is not regulated - anyone can use it!

Mattress Core Options

Your choice of crib mattress is about two components: the base or core, and the cover. Think about waterproof protection to the core and breathability.

Fibre

Fibre is cheap. Its plus points are that it's made from recycled plastic bottles and is slightly cooler than foam. Fibre gives little support, has very poor recovery, and dips easily. It attracts cheap covers to maintain a cheap price point. You won't find any investment in waterproof protection in cheap fibre mattresses. Some companies embellish the name and call it "ECO fibre".

If fibre is what your purse suggests, please turn the mattress every few days - it will extend its life considerably.

Foam

There are lots of different qualities of foam that affect the price. A good-quality foam mattress should state the weight of foam offered - something in the region of around 30kg. This will give firm support, comfort, and durability.

Don't be fooled by the generic term "Nursery Foam" - it means nothing. The foam could have poor quality of 20kg hidden by the term "Nursery Foam". Look for a company that's proud to tell you the quality of foam used.

A good-quality base will generally attract a quality cover - perhaps a well-quilted microfibre, CoolMax, or bamboo cover - and hopefully a waterproof barrier. The cover will have a zip, be machine washable, and be 5cm deep.

Coir and Wool

If a company is manufacturing this product, price is not at the forefront of their mind. Their focus is on quality, comfort, safety, and durability. This natural mattress will have a firm, quality base - either solid coir or coir with springs.

The mattress will last you more than one baby.

It will have quality wool either side, held in with stockinette, then waterproof protection and a quality machine-washable cover. Perhaps an opportunity to buy a spare cover for when the nappy fails at the normal inconvenient time.

Look out for Outlux or Moulton fabric for a natural mattress. This fabric is natural and waterproof, though not very breathable. However, you can use a CoolMax and MaxiSpace cover offering temperature control and ultra-breathability - it's not natural or waterproof, but you have a waterproof liner underneath to protect the base.