u/GoatedMJ

So I've been going back and forth on this for weeks and I'm no closer to a decision so I figured I'd just ask here.

We have a small bedroom and I want the baby close to me at night, at least for the first few months. I had some abdominal surgery before this pregnancy and I'm genuinely nervous about how much getting in and out of bed I can manage in those early weeks, so I've been leaning toward a bedside sleeper with adjustable height rather than a standalone bassinet. The Arm's Reach co-sleeper keeps coming up when I look into this but I keep reading about people struggling with the gap between it and their mattress and I can't figure out if that's a real problem or just a few unlucky people.

My husband wants the Snoo smart sleeper and honestly I looked into it and I understand why like it responds to crying automatically. But $1,700 is a lot to spend when I don't know what kind of sleeper this baby will be and I've seen enough posts from people whose babies just didn't take to it that I'm nervous to commit. The rental is more manageable but even that adds up fast.

I looked at the 4Moms Mamaroo Sleep Bassinet too but the reviews put me off a bit, seems like some babies love it and some refuse it and the actual usable period before they hit the height limit can be pretty short regardless.

Right now I'm looking most seriously at the Baby delight beside me dreamer. It's a bedside sleeper, adjustable height, mesh sides, not trying to do too much. Feels like the sensible option. But I keep sitting with this nagging feeling that I'm going to be up at 3am wishing I had something with motion features.

I also got briefly obsessed with finding something greengaurd Gold certified because we're in an older apartment and I've been anxious about off-gassing. I think I might be overthinking that one.

Has anyone used the Arm's Reach and found the gap thing was actually fine? Or gone with something simple and felt okay about it? I have 10 weeks and I need to just pick something.