This is along the lines of my Seat Sling contraption, although I'm not looking to sell this (I guess I ended up not really looking to sell that one either). I just thought I'd share a little solution I came up with to help with a common mom problem.
Abram slept in a Peapod from August of last year until the end of January of this year. That's 6 months of a two year old sleeping in a tent. This may sound horrible to some people, but he loved it. He got so used to it and it was a little like a security blanket for him. We didn't let him have anything in there with him while he was sleeping, but just being in it made him so comfortable. We slept in eight houses over the course of those six months (and he took naps in a few others) but, by the grace of God, his naps and nighttime sleep were pretty amazingly consistent. Even the transition over here went really well. I thank God for the Peapod and I would recommend it to anyone with a child over six or seven months (or whenever they start being able to intentionally roll over). It's been recalled because there have been a few instances where it was found to be potentially unsafe for young babies. I will readily admit that we moved Selah out of her Peapod and into a pack n play for the month that she started rolling, but couldn't really control it yet. But we still love ours for our kids, now that they are older. She loved hers as much as he loved his and they even allowed them the ability to sleep for a good 10 hours in JFK airport during our 21 hour layover on the way here (God answered some serious prayer there).
One of the reasons I love the Peapod is that it forces the child to lay down. When they are forced to lay down when they are tired, they will inevitably fall asleep. Kids who can stand up and cry or stand up and jump around or can and do get out of bed at will, will obviously have a harder time falling asleep. Selah is just now starting to pull up on things and I am anticipating some issues with her sleeping when she is able to do that in her bed. We moved her to a crib pretty quickly when we moved here, but we weren't able to find/afford a bed for Abram until a few weeks ago.
We decided to get him a crib that can have one of the sides removed when he is ready, instead of just going straight to a toddler bed. In the house we are living in right now, his "room" is a curtained off area in a very large room where we all sleep.
There is a toddler open-able door leading to the kitchen and a door that doesn't even close going to the bathroom. When he takes naps, we do a lot of stuff in our living room, which is, in essence, "next door". So I was worried that if he were able to wake up and get out of his bed whenever he wanted, we would possibly not even be over in that part of the house and he would be free to do whatever his little heart desired, if he did it quietly (we obviously have a monitor - but not a video one). So, that's why he's in a crib.
We got the Gulliver one from Ikea and he really liked being in it from the start. He wanted to play in it and when he went to bed the first night, there were no problems. And there have never been any night time problems with it. The problems arose during the day. When I put him down for his nap, his new found standing freedom would win out over his desire to sleep and he would end up jumping in his bed and just standing up because he could, making lots of noise and never going to sleep.
After a few days of no naps, I started to really miss the Peapod. So we moved him back for a few days while I got inventive and fashioned this out of the only large piece of fabric I brought with me, some bias tape, and a few little snaps:
It's lightweight cotton, so it breathes well and the sides are open, so he definitely gets air. It attaches around each leg with snaps and around the sides of the top for extra tautness.
We put him in/get him out by unsnapping just the front ones and folding it back. The first day we had it on, he messed with it a little, but was asleep within 20 minutes. So much better than being left in his bed for an hour and a half only to never fall asleep. I think we've had it on for at least a week and his naps have been consistent and long - usually around his normal 2-3 hours. It also makes it a tad darker in there, since our bedroom has some very high uncovered windows and his room is never dark during the day.
It wasn't difficult to sew. Just attaching two pieces together to make the right width, hemming all the way around, and attaching the bias tape as the "ties" at six points. Then I marked where the snaps should go to pull it tight, hammered those in and it was ready to go! Super easy!
Well, speaking of naps, my sweet baby girl is on the verge of waking her brother up because she is refusing to sleep and I am letting her cry it out a little. She took a 2.5 hour one this morning, but she seems tired again, but something must be bothering her. Better go.
Happy napping!
Abram slept in a Peapod from August of last year until the end of January of this year. That's 6 months of a two year old sleeping in a tent. This may sound horrible to some people, but he loved it. He got so used to it and it was a little like a security blanket for him. We didn't let him have anything in there with him while he was sleeping, but just being in it made him so comfortable. We slept in eight houses over the course of those six months (and he took naps in a few others) but, by the grace of God, his naps and nighttime sleep were pretty amazingly consistent. Even the transition over here went really well. I thank God for the Peapod and I would recommend it to anyone with a child over six or seven months (or whenever they start being able to intentionally roll over). It's been recalled because there have been a few instances where it was found to be potentially unsafe for young babies. I will readily admit that we moved Selah out of her Peapod and into a pack n play for the month that she started rolling, but couldn't really control it yet. But we still love ours for our kids, now that they are older. She loved hers as much as he loved his and they even allowed them the ability to sleep for a good 10 hours in JFK airport during our 21 hour layover on the way here (God answered some serious prayer there).
One of the reasons I love the Peapod is that it forces the child to lay down. When they are forced to lay down when they are tired, they will inevitably fall asleep. Kids who can stand up and cry or stand up and jump around or can and do get out of bed at will, will obviously have a harder time falling asleep. Selah is just now starting to pull up on things and I am anticipating some issues with her sleeping when she is able to do that in her bed. We moved her to a crib pretty quickly when we moved here, but we weren't able to find/afford a bed for Abram until a few weeks ago.
We decided to get him a crib that can have one of the sides removed when he is ready, instead of just going straight to a toddler bed. In the house we are living in right now, his "room" is a curtained off area in a very large room where we all sleep.
We got the Gulliver one from Ikea and he really liked being in it from the start. He wanted to play in it and when he went to bed the first night, there were no problems. And there have never been any night time problems with it. The problems arose during the day. When I put him down for his nap, his new found standing freedom would win out over his desire to sleep and he would end up jumping in his bed and just standing up because he could, making lots of noise and never going to sleep.
After a few days of no naps, I started to really miss the Peapod. So we moved him back for a few days while I got inventive and fashioned this out of the only large piece of fabric I brought with me, some bias tape, and a few little snaps:
The risky shot.
It wasn't difficult to sew. Just attaching two pieces together to make the right width, hemming all the way around, and attaching the bias tape as the "ties" at six points. Then I marked where the snaps should go to pull it tight, hammered those in and it was ready to go! Super easy!
Well, speaking of naps, my sweet baby girl is on the verge of waking her brother up because she is refusing to sleep and I am letting her cry it out a little. She took a 2.5 hour one this morning, but she seems tired again, but something must be bothering her. Better go.
Happy napping!
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