One task we definitely needed to do before I gave birth was to select and build a bassinet. We selected the Graco Dream Suite Bassinet due to some great features we saw in the store while comparison shopping.
One of the features was the wheels which will allow us to move the bassinet from one room to another which will help our baby get used to napping in it in different rooms.
Matt suggested I try to put it together by myself as I was home on pregnancy disability leave, so I gave it a good try. Unfortunately, though the first few steps were easy I soon hit a snag and put one piece on wrong so that the legs would be uneven if I kept going.
I think this happened when I misinterpreted the directions a bit, which tended to be more clear in words than diagram.
This gave me the opportunity to call Graco’s customer service. The representative I spoke to was very helpful and explained that the metal piece that allowed each metal rod to attach was also the key to getting it unattached, just press it in with a pen or similar object and slide it out. It made sense, I just didn’t have the coordination to do it and of course Matt was able to undo the pieces in less than a minute.
Matt glanced through the instructions whereas I had read them twice (though perhaps not carefully enough as I had messed up one piece) and we built the rest together which was fun. I attached the last pieces, the bears to hang from the canopy.
The canopy goes down easy, yet sometimes the Velcro has to be repositioned over and over again at the attachment site to get it to stay in the up position. There is no rod to help it stay up, perhaps for safety reasons, but one would have been appreciated.
Another feature we liked was the under shelf for diapers, wipes and other products.
Although we have a separate changing table, the basinett can be flipped over to be it’s own changing table. We don’t plan on using it for this per se, and it’s actually fairly hard to do it one handed, instructions aside, even the sales representative couid not do it.
However, it will make a great two shelf storage for us after baby outgrows the bassinet. The representative had said she thought we would get six months out of it, yet the instructions say 3 months or the baby being 15 pounds whichever happens first. While I do not think knowing it was nor six months would have changed our decision, it would have been good to know this first.
Overall a few design issues including that aside, I love our bassinet and cannot wait to have our son or daughter use it.
Rating – four baby booties our of five
~ Danielle
Over 40 First Time Mom 