There's a family bassinet that's been passed down in my hub's family for years. DH and his siblings used it, his aunts and uncles and all their children had used it and now their children's children. I've never heard of anything like this before and was really excited to have our baby be a part of it.
Now that we've seen it, I'm a little concerned, mainly about the paint. It's wooden and white, which doesn't look like the original paint (but I don't know when it was last painted). It's not peeling or anything but given how old it is, I'm worried about lead. MIL claims they never used lead in white paint, but after Googling it, that doesn't seem to be the case. I've thought about bringing a part of it to a paint dealer to check, but DH thinks it'll be too much of a hassle and might as well just buy a new bassinet.
I can message DH's cousin, the last person that's used it (her baby just grew out of it) and ask if she knows ... but I'm hesitant to ask. I don't want to offend anyone. Everyone's used it ... everyone's healthy and here I am (a foreigner) asking all sorts of questions. I don't want to rock the boat.
While I'm at it, I should also add that the mattress needs to be replaced - it's clean, from what I can see, but it's just a cut-out of some foam (homemade cut-out with pen marks) no cover. I'm also concerned about what type of material it's made out of and replacing it is the first thing I've looked into. But only larger mattress are available, so I'll have to cut and sew it to fit the size of the bassinet (it isn't standard size).
How would you go about this? Should I go through the hassle of getting the paint checked, buying a new mattress, cutting it and sewing it to fit and doing the same for sheets. -OR- should we just go by my husband's suggestion and not use it? It'll only last 3 months anyway. We can just put the crib in our room and use that.