More Peapods For Me, Please: The Peapod Plus Travel Bed Offers Great New Features

UPDATE: 12/11/2012: The PeaPod and PeaPod Plus have been recalled after an infant's tragic entrapment and suffocation death. Recall kits with replacement mattresses are being offered by manufacturer KidCo. We haven't used the PeaPod with non-mobile infants, and we don't recommend it for that developmental stage. We also feel the PeaPod should only be used as instructed (make sure to zip the mattress in its own pocket) with any age group.

4/8/12 Update: A heartbreaking report of infant asphyxiation in a PeaPod has come to our attention. We DO NOT recommend the PeaPod as a crib substitute for an immobile or marginally mobile infant. We still like and use ours as a travel bed for toddlers and preschoolers, but only in the manufacturer recommended configuration. Our own partially-mobile baby (who until very recently only army-crawled) sleeps in a Pack N Play when we travel.

This is not the first post I've written about KidCo's PeaPod travel bed (left, blue-green). We bought our first PeaPod for traveling when Ranger outgrew the Pack N Play's bassinet. We found ourselves accidentally waking him when we tried to lower him to the Pack N Play's floor, so we had to find a better option. The PeaPod has served us well in the year+ that we have used it. We consider it essential travel gear.

When we reviewed the PeaPod last December, I noticed the new, bigger PeaPod Plus (right, red) had been released. It became apparent last month that over 3 foot tall Ranger might soon emerge permanently distorted by his beloved bed. I found a PeaPod Plus for around $70 online. The retailer removed it from its original box and sent it in a smaller box with the large folded original box enclosed. This economy of packaging really didn't impress me, so I won't recommend the retailer.

The PeaPod Plus' folded size in its travel bed isn't much larger in thickness than the original PeaPod. Its diameter is quite a bit larger than the original. Each PeaPod is easily packed in other luggage and could easily be carry-on. During air travel I wouldn't check either PeaPod in only the light nylon travel bag. They would seem too susceptible to damage.

The elastic strap (which keeps the PeaPod folded) is sewn to the PeaPod Plus. The original PeaPod's strap is separate, so it is much easier to lose.

In terms of raw space, the PeaPod Plus is a great upgrade compared to the original PeaPod. I could fit (albeit uncomfortably) in the PeaPod Plus. It stands a lot taller than the original and has a much larger floor. I photographed the inflatable mattress inserts (they zip into the PeaPod floors) to offer some perspective on the size increase.

The PeaPod Plus' windows and door have shades! This is a great improvement on the original PeaPod. When we had to share a room with toddler Ranger, we couldn't turn on the computer or television without seeing little eyes peering out the mesh windows. We finally decided that covering his PeaPod birdcage-style was our best option. The window and door shades make it a lot easier to get him to sleep.

The original PeaPod's roof opens back farther than the Plus' roof. The original's larger roof opening makes it easier to place a sleeping infant. Both PeaPod versions have large mesh windows so it is easy to observe a sleeping infant without opening the door.

The Plus has a sleeping bag style, double layer, double zipper closure blanket. The original PeaPod contains a single layer floor liner/blanket. It's far less versatile, but it was more than adequate for those first months of life. Even with the Plus, we find ourselves using only one layer of the sleeping bag liner at night.

We still recommend replacing the included hand pump with a foot bellows pump (available for under $5 anyway inflatable pool floats are sold). The hand pump's motion is ripe for adolescent boy humor and it can cause a repetitive strain that is ripe for even more adolescent boy humor.

The carry bag is big enough that we can easily fit in a favorite stuffed toy, a bedtime book, pajamas, and a couple blankets.

If you're considering buying a PeaPod and can't decide between the original or the Plus, we'd recommend getting Plus and only using one half of the sleeping bag. The only drawback to the PeaPod Plus is that it lacks the extra-large opening of the original PeaPod. The Plus' window features and extra space will serve well with a growing child.

This review is the independent opinion of babytoolkit.blogspot.com. Baby Toolkit has no relationship with and has not received any compensation from KidCo or its affiliates.

Rest In Peas: The Peapod Travel Bed

UPDATE: 12/11/2012: The PeaPod and PeaPod Plus have been recalled after a tragic entrapment and suffocation death. Recall kits with replacement mattresses are being offered by manufacturer KidCo. We haven't used the PeaPod with non-mobile infants, and we don't recommend it for that developmental stage. We also feel the PeaPod should only be used as instructed (make sure to zip the mattress in its own pocket) with any age group.

We like to travel and started going on the road with BabyGeek in his first months of life. Initially we took along his travel Pack N' Play because he normally slept in the bassinet in our room at home. Between the stroller and the bulky Pack N' Play there wasn't much room left in our Honda Accord wagon for family luggage or passengers. We ended up borrowing a mini-van for extended trips.Once BabyGeek adjusted to a crib in a private room at home and neared the bassinet's upper weight limit, the Pack N' Play would no longer suffice. If we used the bassinet attachment, the whole playyard would sway whenever he moved, and if we tried to use it without the bassinet, he would often wake when we leaned down to set him on the floor.

One night at his Aunt Julie's house he was upset from the Pack N' Play's movement and Jim ended up staying up much of the night with him so he wouldn't wake our hostess who had to work the next day. That LONG night convinced me that better options must be available.

I first saw KidCo's PeaPod on a recommended products list in one of those help-bankrupt-mommy magazines ubiquitous to obstetrician's offices. It looked interesting despite its close proximity to overpriced infant hair care products and floofy $40 onesies. Of course, I couldn't remember the name, so after a number of google queries I found the PeaPod at a number of major online retailers. There weren't any at bricks and mortar locations in my region, so I bought one from Target.com because they had the best price with some email coupons. Target.com no longer carries the PeaPod, but I can currently find them locally at Burlington Coat Factory. It was around $50 before discounts.

The PeaPod is an ingenious little bed reminiscent of a pop-up dome tent that folds down to a miniscule size (visit the Kidco site for photos of the easy folding process- sorry their javascripts won't let me link directly to the illustrations). The air mattress keeps the baby off the floor. The internal pad for the baby is much like a sleepy bag with silky and flannel panels sandwiching thick batting. We didn't worry about suffocation or drafts. BabyGeek was allowed to play in the bed at home with the door unzipped and he really liked being inside.

When we finally zipped him in the PeaPod he was nonplussed and settled down easily for the night. Our first trip went so well that he slept quite peacefully in a separate room at Aunt Julie's. The PeaPod has been a travel essential ever since and helps us all sleep easier at hotels and the homes of friends and family.

BabyGeek is a tall boy (97th percentile for his age group) and shows no signs of crowding the pod at 15 months. There is enough room in the travel bag with the folded tent for a foot pump, so we quickly replaced the ergonomically unfriendly hand-pump with a cheapo bellows foot pump. The mattress inflates SO quickly with little effort. The foot pump is definitely worth the added expense (about $8 unless you score one on end of summer clearance).

The PeaPod fits so easily into our little station wagon that on one trip we didn't notice that it hadn't been packed and left it at home. We realized our mistake and after futilely searching Indianapolis for a PeaPod, we resorted to find a zipping pop-up anything for the baby to sleep in. We settled on a pop up sun dome with a zipper door instead. It cost $20 less than a PeaPod and lacked the mattress and sleeping pad. We folded a blanket under the tent and congratulated ourselves for thrift and inventiveness. It was awful. The floor of the dome, designed for sand or wet grass rather than interiors had a hideous "new tarp" plastic smell. It seemed that a smaller infant with less mobility might have a suffocation risk if they ended up face down in the tent. BabyGeek got cold during the night and managed to flip over the whole tent and slept on the door. The floor of the tent, because of its rigidity had not traveled well folded and was already cracking along the creases. We returned the sun dome on day two of our trip because it was such a miserable failure.

We no longer have problems remembering to pack the PeaPod. I learned today that the PeaPod is now also available in RED and that KidCo has made a second version for toddlers and little kids called PeaPod Plus. This is definitely going on our Christmas list.

UPDATE: 6/11/07 Check out our review of the PeaPod Plus.