apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Putting your child in what is effectively a cardboard box? Wow! I'm not a parent, but I can't imagine ever doing that.

That's worse than the Herdman's putting their baby to sleep in a dresser drawer -- someone would actually *buy* a cardboard box to cradle their infant? You have got to be kidding.

I'm still working on the "don't have to sacrifice style" part of the description, as style seems to lie dead and bleeding.

Surely cardboard is "carbohydrate" furniture rather than "protein" furniture. You're paying $107 for something that will be easily damaged and isn't the slightest bit sturdy (get a corner of that cardboard wet, and you're in trouble; stumble against it while carrying baby, and you're in trouble; I've used enough banker's boxes to know this well) -- and all you can do in a couple years is throw it out because it'll be in such crappy shape that you won't use it for the grandkids.

A Gulliver crib at IKEA costs a little less (just $99) and has a reasonable chance of surviving more than one baby.

A lot of people keep the bassinet to use for the next child, or if they don't plan on any more children, pass it on to a friend or family member. The bassinet my parents bought when I was born got 4 uses in our family, then it went to my aunt and uncle who used it for both of their children, and passed it on to a friend, and you get the idea. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there was still a newborn sleeping in it somewhere, 26 years later. It may not have even been new when my parents got it.

There's also co-sleeping, and I know a few New York families who used a moses basket or portacrib (either of which have a much longer life in the same family than a bassinet would).

well, i think this is great! completely biodegradable. sure, a firmer bassinet would last longer and oh, boy would it last longer... say.. hundreds of years longer in a landfill. think of all the aboriginal cultures all over the world (past and present) which use items such as baskets, papooses, and cloth slings or hammocks to nestle their babies. it's the same concept. would you disparage them? sure, when a basket gets wet it gets tossed. and since it's likely made of lightweight bark or palm leaves, it'll degrade in no time and is easily replaced. same deal with this featured bassinet. spending $200 on this easily-recycled bassinet is nothing considering the exorbitant amounts spent on baby clothes and toys (how many lattes did an average new yorker buy this month alone? $100 worth?). anecdotally, my mom used a large thickly-woven basket for my bassinet. she showed it to me when i was much older. she said she eventually used it as a laundry basket. now THAT'S a recycling attitude i can get on board with.

my mistake, this bassinet is $107, not $200. even better!

heather, I think the disapproval is that it's ugly, impractical, disposable, expensive, and far less energy efficient than a piece of real furniture. That's 0 for 5 in my book.

Since most bassinets get handed down to the next friend or family member to have a new baby, and then eventually to a thrift store (or sold on craigslist or freecycled), a traditional wooden bassinet gets a lot more use for the energy output than this cardboard one does (not to mention that if anything happens to the cardboard one, you have to replace it, which means 2 pieces of disposable crap instead of one).

Yeah, I'm sure some people buy a brand new bassinet for their one kid, then throw it away after a couple of months. But those are not the kinds of people who are going to want a "green" cardboard bassinet, anyway.

As far as the longevity of wooden bassinets/cribs....

The one my daughter slept in: So did my mother, as an infant; also me, my nieces, nephew, aunts, uncle, and assorted cousins. It's running about 50 years old and still in use. It has been taken care of, and had no safety issues. My grandmother keeps it, and is called when someone needs it.

Wow, people are really defensive about their childhood bassinets.