In my last post, I explained the reasons behind the PeaPod recall, and noted that even now that we have our recall kits, they explicitly state that the PeaPod should not be used with infants under 1 year of age.
Q is nine months old. Are there any travel beds that are safe for her but less bulky than a play yard/pack-n-play?
When I first started looking into this, back in December, I came up with three possible alternatives:
- Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light 2
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- phil & ted’s traveller
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- Guava Family GoCrib
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I immediately noted that the Travel Crib Light 2 and the traveller both appear to have nylon siding at the base (i.e. where the baby’s head is when s/he is sleeping), similar to those on the PeaPod. In addition, the siding does not appear to be well-anchored to the frame of the bed (like it is on a play yard), which would increase the suffocation risk by allowing the siding to conform to the baby’s face. The traveller does explicitly state that it meets the current safety standards for play yards, but as discussed in my previous post, those safety standards don’t dictate anything about the breathability of the play yard siding. So, that doesn’t really mean anything as far as ensuring the safety of a young infant sleeping inside.
As for the GoCrib, it does have sides made entirely of mesh. But although it is hard to tell from the picture above, the brown and green “frame” is actually inflatable. If the frame were to spring a leak, the crib could deflate overnight, entangling the occupant.
Interestingly, while none of these products have been officially recalled as of this writing, they all appear to be off the market or heading that way. I can’t find the GoCrib for sale anywhere; Guava Family now makes the Lotus Travel Crib, which keeps the mesh sides but replaces the inflatable frame with a solid one:
The phil & ted’s traveller is still for sale in some places, but it’s discounted. There is a newer version that has sides made entirely of mesh, like the Lotus travel Crib.
And the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light 2 is still for sale, but at a heavy discount.
I suspect that all three manufacturers saw the writing on the wall after the PeaPod incident, and chose to redesign their products before they got all the bad press associated with an official recall. Personally, if I owned one of the original versions of those products, I would consider it fully susceptible to the same issues as the PeaPod.
What about the newer versions of the traveller and Lotus Travel Crib? Well, they do appear to address those safety issues. But as I pointed out in my previous post, “safety standards” are basically formulated by reviewing reports of injuries/deaths in baby equipment and figuring out how the equipment could have been designed differently to prevent those injuries/deaths. Essentially, that means that when a piece of equipment is created that has a new or innovative design, we won’t know of any potential design flaws until after a kid gets hurt — or worse. You just hope it’s not your kid :( The traveller and the Lotus Travel Crib both have new and innovative designs. Time will tell whether they are safe or not.
So, what product is Q sleeping in? Well, we are on a road trip right now and we brought her play yard. It’s really the only product that I feel confident about safety-wise. What if we were flying, and didn’t want to lug her play yard? I’d probably look at the new version of the traveller, because it is smaller than the Lotus Travel Crib. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to be a pain to set up, and it’s over twice the cost of the PeaPod.
In other words: There really aren’t any travel bed options out there now that are affordable, convenient, and safe for infants under 1. I wish I had a better answer for traveling parents, but that’s the best I can come up with right now.
