In our tireless effort to get Jack sleeping solo, we decided a second attempt at a co-sleeper would be a good idea. For those without kids or unfamiliar with sleep training lingo, a co-sleeper (or "sidecar crib") is a baby bed that sits adjacent to your own bed. In this way, you're "co-sleeping" with your baby without the inconvenience of having the little guy rolling around and prodding you in the middle of the night (in theory.)
I knew this was something the hospital workshop could handle and it would give me the opportunity to exercise the creative side of my brain while getting to know some of the guys in the shop. (It would also afford a much appreciated break from my Nepali studies.)
In my mind, the trick to a good design was dictating critical features only and letting the boys putting it together fill in the remaining details. I needed it to be a certain height so that the top of the baby mattress would closely align with the top of our mattress. The interior dimensions were important because we wanted to utilize a baby mattress we had specially shipped from the U.S. after abandoning it last minute due to luggage limitations.
The only unique feature was that I wanted one side to be removable while still allowing the use of the same baby mattress whether the side was on or off. To do this, and not incur a gap between the baby mattress and our bed, I specified a 3/4" gap (the thickness of the mattress) below the removable side so the mattress could always extend to the edge of the board.
Well, it is a nice looking crib that we should be able to make work (so long as we can coax baby Jack to sleep inside of it.) Though I carefully explained the design to the shop supervisor with a translator at my side, my odd 3/4" gap was dismissed. My interior dimensions were also "corrected" to fit the baby mattress entirely within the crib when all sides are in place.
I'll now look into the possibility of having a larger mattress cut in town if I can't figure out another way to fill in the gap between mattresses. This is added frustration to my inability to communicate here so far.
Fortunately, Jack doesn't seem too concerned about the design flaw yet.
I knew this was something the hospital workshop could handle and it would give me the opportunity to exercise the creative side of my brain while getting to know some of the guys in the shop. (It would also afford a much appreciated break from my Nepali studies.)
In my mind, the trick to a good design was dictating critical features only and letting the boys putting it together fill in the remaining details. I needed it to be a certain height so that the top of the baby mattress would closely align with the top of our mattress. The interior dimensions were important because we wanted to utilize a baby mattress we had specially shipped from the U.S. after abandoning it last minute due to luggage limitations.
The only unique feature was that I wanted one side to be removable while still allowing the use of the same baby mattress whether the side was on or off. To do this, and not incur a gap between the baby mattress and our bed, I specified a 3/4" gap (the thickness of the mattress) below the removable side so the mattress could always extend to the edge of the board.
Well, it is a nice looking crib that we should be able to make work (so long as we can coax baby Jack to sleep inside of it.) Though I carefully explained the design to the shop supervisor with a translator at my side, my odd 3/4" gap was dismissed. My interior dimensions were also "corrected" to fit the baby mattress entirely within the crib when all sides are in place.
I'll now look into the possibility of having a larger mattress cut in town if I can't figure out another way to fill in the gap between mattresses. This is added frustration to my inability to communicate here so far.
Fortunately, Jack doesn't seem too concerned about the design flaw yet.
Ahh, sorry about the mis-communication. Looks quite spiffy though!
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