Ok, it's week 11 of my wife's pregancy, and we're walking around Babies "R" Us. There seems to be a zillion places our baby is supposed to be sleeping - so what all do I really need of these?

1. Bassinett - appears to be some sort of very small crib. Looks like the baby's legs would be hanging out of it after a couple months. Is a newborn not supposed to sleep in a full-sized crib or something?
2. Mini-crib thing - looks like a baby crib but smaller. The mini-me of cribs. Bigger than a bassinett, smaller than a full sized crib. Once again, is there something wrong with a full sized crib early on?
3. Crib - this is the full-size baby prison that most of us think of and slept in through toddlerhood. I was assuming this was all our baby really needs for sleeping quarters.
4. Pack N Play - a portable crib / baby prison. Looks handy. Can a newborn sleep on this thing and skip the Bassinett and Mini-crib? After reading all the "the matress must be firm to prevent death" notices, I question the baby sleeping on this thing at all. But remove the top layer so that it's a play-yard and it looks like a useful item indeed.
5. Sleep-swing thing - Supposedly knocks the baby out with gentle swinging and music. Is this thing for daytime only? Can a baby sleep in this at night?
6. In-bed baby bumper thing - placed in the center of our bed, this thing surrounds the baby with 6 inch walls so that I don't roll over on him/her. Also comes with various wedges and such to keep baby from moving and feeling snug. If I gotta get up in the middle of the night, this looks like a pretty easy way to have baby close by and ready for feeding.
7. Form-fitting baby sleeper seats - like a bucket seat on a Ferarri, but beige and softer. Reclined way back. Baby is supposed to sleep on this thing, but I have no idea if it's for naps only or can be used for night-time as well. Wife already made me buy this thing because it looked really comfy and had memory foam in the headrest area.

And now for part two: What about blankets? The ones I've seen so far are nothing more than a flannel shirt cut into a square. Is this supposed to be all the baby needs? I read one book that had a chart on how many blankets to layer on by temperature, but they recommended that we keep our house at like 62 degrees, which is crazy cold... and at 75 degrees they said to pile on like 5 blankets... so I tend to think they're nuts.

Thanks!

We did the crib, Pack&Play, and a bouncer. The P&P has the kit to make a bassinet and the crib adjusts to three levels. Also getting a mattress that flips between newborn and baby modes is a very wise move. for our first, he didn't really get into the swing thing. From what I can tell, this varies between kids. Lucky for us, we were given a swing to try and we didn't lose anything but floor space. We still don't know where to store it until #2 gets here.

We used the P&P mostly in the living room, which is on our first floor. The bedrooms are upstairs, so having a second plop spot and changing rig was hugely helpful. We now only get it out when we travel. One thing we learned the hard way is that not all P&Ps are the same size. My in-Laws have one that is 2/3 the size of ours and it makes a huge difference when trying to get the kiddo to sleep.

The bouncer is a lifesaver. So many times, the only reason they don't start snoozing is that they want to watch you do whatever you're up to. A bouncer is light and maneuverable so you can locate them near you, securely fastened in. Then as soon as they get bored, off to sleep and you can get them where you want them. Some have music and vibration which may assist the transition or may be a distraction.

As for blankets, the blanket sleepers are the way to go. SIDS is the biggest reason. Anything that can bind up around their faces or restrict airflow is a no-no. They sell different weights of the sleepers which will help. In the winter, I used a thermostatically controlled electric heater in the baby's room to assist in regulating the temp. You can set it to whatever seems right for sleeping and it won't have to work as hard as it would if it had to heat on it's own. But get one with a reliable thermostat and a fan is useful. We use a ceiling fan to keep the temperature even across his room, all year.

Didn't find a need for anything else, so I can't opine. I think for #2, we're going to be looking at bassinets to have the baby sleeping in our room, but not near our bed, until we figure a workable solution for our bedrooms. (Co-sleeping is a whole different bag of worms.)

We did a full-size crib, Pack & Play, and bouncy seat. Our daughter really didn't care for the swing, unfortunately.

First, the bouncy seat is an absolutely, positively essential item (in my opinion). I don't understand how parents from previous generations were able to keep their sanity without bouncy seats. Do not skip this one.

Other parents setup their pack-n-play in the living room, etc... We never really did that. We only used it for travel (overnights at grandparents, etc..) But it was (and still is) an essential item for travel. I think the one we got was probably too over the top with features, music, various attachments, etc.. If I had to do it again, I would just get something basic with solid construction. Also, I would tend to prefer the larger units because we have been using ours for MUCH longer than we expected. We still use it for travling in hotel rooms, etc, even at the age of 2. Everyone (including our daughter) is just happier with this sleeping arrangement.

We did not do the bassinet, and we do not regret it. Actually, in retrospect, we are REALLY glad that we did not have a bassinet. When the kid is waking up several times every night, it's better to use a "team approach". Let one parent sleep soundly in the parents' bedroom, while the baby is soothed in the nursery. Several hours later, when the kid wakes up again, tag team your spouse and tell her it is her turn to soothe the baby.

There is absolutely no reason for BOTH parents to suffer through every babying crying/waking event. The bassinet just insures that both parents will suffer. Instead, invest in a high quality baby monitor that is sensitive enough to pick up faint sounds. When the baby wakes, the "on duty" parent puts the baby monitor on mute, and then heads over to the nursery...

I have to agree with most of the folks here.

We bought a full-sized standard crib which was the place we put the little ones most of the time.

Bought a swing seat. To answer your question about "should they sleep in it?" My question is who's going to know by your and your wife?" If it works, and you all get rest? It's a viable solution in my mind. We let our littlest one sleep in the swing seat if she has congestion and can't sleep restfully completely prone.

We also bought not one, but three pack n' plays. We found them so convenient that we made sure that each of the grandparents homes had one that we liked.

We never did co-sleeping so I can't offer any thoughts/advice on that. It was just never an option for our family.

Like most of the others here, we got the P&P and the crib, and a hand-me-down swing. As you noticed, the bassinet thing won't last for long. The P&P we got sounds to be VERY similar to the one that Ben has. Ours is one of the Graco models with the "newborn napper" attachment. This is awesome...it's like a bassinet that attaches to the P&P (there's also the changing table attachment...both came with it). It has the sounds, a little nightlight, and a vibrating thingy to help soothe your baby. We got this setup based on the recommendations of a friend who has a five-month-old, and it worked great for them.

Remember, baby furniture and other gear is a LUCRATIVE industry!

I feel your pain lParker; my wife and I did the same thing when we were 11 weeks (we are now 24 weeks)...

We are going with a crib and a pack-n-play that we can travel with and take to the grandparents...It looks like we are going to borrow a co-sleeper from a friend for a little bit...

About the blankets and stuff...well, 62 degrees is crazy! I think I am going to go buy some stock in my local electric company!

We only let our daughter sleep in her Bassinet, tho she sleeps with us in our bed every morning for about an hour or so, but we're trying to get her to know where her bed is, and that if she's in it, then she should be asleep, we follow a strict schedule, but however, we do have a bouncer and swing that we put her in to play, or we'll put a blanket down and give her tummy time which is important to help them learn to crawl.

We have a crib, play yard, swing and a bouncer. I would say the key to good sleep training is to make sure you let them know early on which is a night sleeping area and which is a day. I normally put the baby to sleep in the crib at night and make sure the room is dark and temperature and humidity well controlled.

During the day time early on I used the top level of the play yard for sleep. And to put her to sleep the swing was a very useful. I make sure that the room is not too dark so she transitions to day sleeping.

Babies come out jet lagged by about 12hrs they are used to sleeping during day and being up at night in the womb. So you have make sure you get rid of that with the training techniques. As for blankets if you have the room at right temperature Swaddling helps in the early stages to make sure they sleep well at night. In the end the baby will learn to adapt to your temperature.