Wonderful for keeping baby near and safe!

My colicky baby refused to sleep in our borrowed bassinet at about 3 weeks of age. She would only sleep in my arms -- while I was sitting up. Needless to say, sleeping while sitting up and nursing a newborn around the clock was sheer hell. But at about 6 weeks of age, I began to transition her into sleeping horizontally on a bed. But the only way we managed to do this was to keep her on the bed next to me and pat her to sleep for hours on end. This was fine so long as I was staying with my parents on a very firm king-sized mattress. We had plenty of room for the entire family. But when I returned to my own home, we have a queen sized, cushy pillow-top mattress and I was terrified of the SIDS risk. Enter: The Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper.

I loved this co-sleeper; it was one of the better purchases we made. Our daughter made the transition from our bed to the bed right next to us very easily. The SIDS risk factors were instantly removed from baby and I could still sleep with my favorite down pillows and blankets. Also, I didn't have to tiptoe into and out of my bed for fear that the movement would wake the baby. But she was right there and I could reach into the co-sleeper and pat her to sleep even though I was laying right next to her and getting some rest myself. Now that my baby has developed an attachment to her pacifier, it's much easier to replace it throughout the night when she's right there -- rather than running down the hall to her crib. My baby is nearly 5 months now and she still fits in it. I'm sure she'll fit in it for several months more -- though you're not supposed to put baby in the co-sleeper once they can climb out of it.

Since it's a special size, you probably would have to buy sheets specific for the co-sleeper, but we eliminated this issue by buying a large waterproof pad and placing it on top of the sheet which comes with the co-sleeper. We've only had to replace and wash the pad once in two months -- since if the baby spits ups or urinates out of the diaper, she's more likely to do it on her swaddle than on the pad. Also, if your bed is very high, you'll need to buy separate legs to elevate the co-sleeper higher. This wasn't the situation with us, as our mattress & box-spring sits on the floor.

The collapsing mechanism is very tricky. You have to do it several times before it gets easy. That said, the co-sleeper folds up very easily and transports in its own carrying case like a dream! It's much easier to take this co-sleeper than a pack n play. The same problem presents itself when collapsing the side which faces the adult bed. One side of the co-sleeper can be put in the down position when attached to an adult bed or can be put up to function as a stand-alone bassinet. In order to move the side bar up and down, you have to know how to collapse the whole thing. It's not a simple operation.

I might also add that this co-sleeper is not designed to have all mobiles attached to it. I recently bought a mobile (the Symphony in Motion) and discovered that it required slats through which the mobile can be attached. A girlfriend was able to attach the same type of mobile by keeping her co-sleeper in the up (bassinet) position and pushing the mobile through a little opening provided thereby. But this sort of defeats the main benefit of the co-sleeper in the first place. So, if you want to get a mobile, buy one that you can just clip onto the side.

Attaching the co-sleeper to the adult bed may also be a two-person operation. The straps have to go between your mattress and boxspring and have to be adjusted for the width of your bed. My husband had to hold up our heavy mattress for the entire time I was adjusting the straps (which required several tries) to the right length for our queen sized mattress. Because the straps are so long, it would be a simple job for a king-sized mattress, but for anything small, it's complicated because the adjusting part goes under the mattress when you try to shorten the straps that much.

Another con is that the fabric is not removable and therefore not washable. Ours has stayed clean, but a friend has complained that her co-sleeper appears dirty from the accumulation of handprints and there's no way to easily clean the fabric.