When we were expecting our first kid in 2013, we had put the Snuggle Nest on our registry, thinking “this will be perfect when we go spend the day with friends or relatives!” We had no idea how essential it would be to our daily lives; when we unexpectedly decided to cosleep, we were in the dark (no pun intended). The Snuggle Nest was our peace of mind.
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I’d had no intention of bedsharing with my baby (no really – looking back now it’s just unbelievable, but there it is). I don’t even know that I consciously was aware it was an option! But after a scare our first night home, I knew I wanted my son with me. A crib next to my side of the bed (our original plan) wasn’t good enough – I couldn’t see him breathing. That’s it, I thought. I’ll just prop myself up on my elbow and watch him, and just not sleep for 18 years. I was panicky and desperate to find a solution.
Then my husband said “hey what about that folding thing?” And a lightbulb went off. From that first night home, the Snuggle Nest was an essential part of our home. We’d swaddle our son and I’d nurse him; Daddy would rock him to sleep and lay him in the Snuggle Nest.
Now, with our daughter, the Snuggle Nest has become useful yet again. During the day, I actually keep it at the foot of the bed; when I go to our room to use the bathroom, with my toddler in tow, I know I can put baby safely down in the Snuggle Nest for a few minutes. (I always keep her where I can see her too). My son loves to turn on the light and the music for her, and he leans over the side to talk to her. She has her own little barrier and will not roll out of it.
It fits perfectly up at the head of the bed, with room on either side for Mama and Daddy’s pillows. The mattress cover is cotton and easy to slip off for washing; the all-around bumper wall is soft and has great air circulation. Your kid probably won’t grow too big for it for months. By then, the risk of SIDS is greatly reduced; you can then move kiddo into your bed or into their own crib or sidecar sleeper. (You could also lay this in a pack and play, or on a crib mattress, when your baby is younger. We’ve done that too).
Oh and did I mention how lightweight this thing is? Even with the little mattress, I can easily pick it up with one hand while carrying my baby in the other. This is great when I am home alone with the kids, and want to haul it into another room.
Here’s the deal: when it comes to baby sleep, there is the crowd who is super co-sleeping, the crowd who’s super against it, and the crowd who could go either way. The Snuggle Nest is what allows a lot of bedsharing naysayers to feel more comfortable with the idea, and it can help sway the people who are undecided (like my husband was!). Baby is close by, easy to nurse, and easy to monitor, but they still have their boundary. It worked for us beautifully.
The bottom line is, you need to do what’s best for you and baby. We all are a lot nicer to each other when we have a great night’s sleep!
(The exact model we have is not on Baby Delight’s website anymore, but is called the Surround and is the beige one pictured above. It is almost exactly like the Surround XL, which is what Baby Delight currently is advertising. There’s also a smaller, even simpler one called the Comfort.)
I hope that this article has helped you see if the Snuggle Nest is right for you! I also want to help parents see that cosleeping or bedsharing can be safe and can work beautifully in your family. For all of my cosleeping/bedsharing articles, click here.
Did you use anything when you coslept/bedshared with your littles? What are your thoughts on the Snuggle Nest?
Can you put this on your lap on a plane?! Please let me know ASAP as my brother and my dear sis in law are coming and i would love to gift them something useful and appropriate for airlines travel!!
Hi! I would check with the airline but just by thinking about it, the answer would probably be no. It might fit length-wise so the baby is laying facing you on the tray table; or if the couple is sitting together it could go across both their laps? It wouldn’t be a problem to get onto the plane as it folds up and is the size of a purse (and it’s really lightweight) but it would depend on what the seats look like and how much space they have on the plane!