We use the pack-n-play (and usually end up cosleeping part of the night) but he took a nap in the Peapod at a friend's house once and it seemed great!

We traveled with the Peapod for a while. We used it from the time our son was about 16-18 months until he was about 2-1/2. It's very small, which is awesome. Much more travel-friendly than the Pack & Play. What's not so awesome -- once your kid can open zippers, he's going to escape from the Peapod, and having a kid on the loose in the nighttime in a strange place is probably not high on your list of Vacation Fun Times.

For those of you with pack and plays, did you find the bottom too firm to be a comfortable bed? I'm interested in buying one but am concerned about the longer term usability of it for sleeping once the baby outgrows the bassinet attachment.

Daffodil, you're so funny! I had not thought of an escapee with that. Good point.

What's the upper age range for the Peapod?

We struggled with what to do with our toddler once he grew out of the Pack-n-Play (about age 2). We didn't want to buy anything expensive, or bulky... so we bought a piece of foam (from our local fabric store, about 2" thick x 36"W x 48"L). When it's rolled up it is very light and easy to travel with. A standard crib-sheet fits on it perfectly, and it should work fine until our son is big enough for a regular bed.

We have been using the Peapod since our 2.5 year old was about a year old, and I can't say enough about it. Super light, easy to set up, and it's fun for him too. It's much, much easier than a Pack & Play to haul around.

We got the scare Daffodil is talking about when, at about 15 months old, he unzipped himself and got topside on my parents' boat while my mom and I were napping below. Luckily my husband and stepfather returned to the boat only a few minutes later and he was fine. However, one large safety pin later through the zippers, and we've never had that problem again.

I really want a pea pod thingy! We dont travel enough to use one though. We have a pack and play. When visiting family they all have one at there house for little ones too.

ElleBee my son slept comfy for naps in the pack n play. no problems. I think there chub and not weighing a ton is ok for the little amount of foam that covers the bottom. Our son was and is 90% in weight.

Could you use zip ties or locks for the zippers at night. even break off the inner zipper handle?

I don't comment often, but we have a pea pod and love it. Not sure where the rest of you are located, but we use the pea pod not so much for travel, when our son just sleeps with us, but for camping and for our backyard and the beach when we wanted him to be able to nap without the sun, mosquitos and sand getting to him. The mesh is UV treated and fine enough to keep out nasty insects. We used it more when he was an infant through about 2 years old.

Does anyone own one of those inflatable mattresses? I have an 18 month old and I'm sure we'll be traveling again this summer to see family. He barely fit into the pack 'n play last time so I know we need to upgrade. Wasn't sure if either of those options were worth it.

We love love LOVE the Peapod (the larger one w/self inflating mattress) because we could successfully zip my toddler in, say, while we were in a non-childproof hotel room and he wouldn't be able to get out and destroy the room in the morning. Plus, it was much smaller than the space-sucking Pack N'Play we had for travel before he started climbing out of it.

Now that he's a little older (2.5) we still use the Peapod (unzipped) and have borrowed my sister's Aero Kid bed - which takes up some floorspace because it creates a sort of "wall" around the perimeter while the sleeping area is a bit lower in the center (to prevent rolling out). Both are great solutions, although I love the Peapod because you don't need a pump or electricity to inflate the mattress.

Sorry for the repeat post - I should add that the Peapod has paid for itself 1,000 times over because my son uses it as a play tent, too.

Hah! Speaking of sleep! We have the Peapod by Kidco, and it's not working out so great. Our friends with twins have the same model and are finding the same thing. The problem is hard to pin down - the roof seems too low so they hit their heads/faces on it easily in the night, so that could be it (my guess), or perhaps it's the rustling sound of the nylon whenever they move (our friends guess). Anyway, not a whole lot of sleeping happens. After a good trial period we're coming down on the 'not worth it' side of the line.

The concept is great, though. I'm reluctant to buy another option, but I'll be watching this post to see if someone has a sure thing. We travel to France every year and a familiar sleep setup would be such a godsend. The search continues...

Funny, I just purchased the peapod on amazon for an upcoming trip to the beach with my 6 month-old and I can't wait to try it out both at night and during the day on the beach. I've used the aero for my 3 year-old for the past couple summers. It's really easy to inflate and he loves jumping into it. He moves around a lot and doesn't fall out. My only complaint is the noise. We often have to lay down with him to get him to sleep and there is no way that you can quietly get off this thing. My favorite travel bed in the kanoe baby hamac. (www.kanoe.us) We actually use this at home since the birth of our second. I can't say enough about how great it is. We even were able to rent one last summer, however, rentals are no longer available. I would use this for our next vacation if there were hooks or ceiling beams to hang it from. For now it is just really practical in our bedroom. It folds up and away in a sinch, it's transportable and is easily washable.

P-Capuchine, thanks for that info. I see there are several size options for the Peapod and some are only 18-19" high while others are 25" high. I hadn't noticed that before. If I were to purchase, I would choose the bigger one based on your feedback. Maybe it's a matter also of acclimating kids to the rustling... trial runs at home for a while, maybe at naptime?

Love, love, love our Peapod (the "Plus" one - largest size). It fit in our suitcase when we flew for vacation; no checking our pack n play or worrying about potentially unsafe hotel cribs. Our son would get pretty sweaty in it so I'd either dress him less warmly or use a crib sheet in there. It's also great to toss in the car to use at a friend's house at naptime. We even had him nap in it in the back of an SUV at a tailgate party (windows open, of course). The bonus of this thing is that it makes it pretty dark and he can't see out. So far, he can't unzip it. Planning to use it on the beach this summer. There is a ton of space to grow; I imagine that it'll make a good place to play when he's older, too.

We have the Chicco version of the pack n play, which is a bit more cushy. We like that a lot, too. It's our preference for travel when we will be gone for several days, because it seems like it's more comfortable. It actually has a lot more padding than some travel beds.

We have one very much like the very top one (Travel -in-1 by Delta Baby), I found at a garage sale for $5. I saw a similar one at Target under the Eddie Bauer brand for about $27. It's nearly identical. I also have a pack and play, but frankly it is huge and so we mainly use it at home when other friends with kids visit. This was great for traveling because it was a bag on the plane, a bed in the hotel. My daughter slept in it many times, and it worked very well. At a hotel, I'd put it in the very center of the second double bed and it didn't go anywhere. Plus, having diapers and wipes handy on the side made it very convenient. I plan on using it again when our second is born--very practical.

We bought a Peapod this summer before travelling to Belize. It was the ideal solution for our dilemma (several moves during our trip, not a lot of luggage). We actually packed it inside our rolling suitcase! It does get warm in there (especially in a tropical climate), but it was totally bugproof, and my 15 month old loved having his own little tent. Completely worth the cost, and we're looking forward to using it this summer at the beach & for backyard camping. We also have a traditional Pack-n-Play, and it's fine for car trips, but is heavy & bulky so it doesn't get used often.

I bought the phil and ted's for my husband as a Christmas gift (Costco has a GREAT price right now) as the travel solution for our baby (expected in June). Mostly, the aesthetics of Graco are somewhat hard to swallow, as is the incredibly large size. That being said, the P and T was definitely not a cinch to set up (even by two people who have set up a tent probably 200 times). We may get better at it in the future after many uses. It does pack very compactly, would be easy to fit in a suitcase, and is lightweight. Also works outside and comes with a "slim shadee" sunroof. Some parents may be bothered by the fact that it does not accommodate a sheet, but that doesn't bother us that much. Also, you could likely retrofit with stick-on velcro and a piece of fabric, if you wanted. Would be interested to hear from others who have actually used this piece of equipment.

I tried the Peapod, but my daughter hated it and I ended up selling it. I don't regret giving it a try though, since the price was the most reasonable and I got most of my money back in the resell.

I bought the Babybjorn travel crib shortly after and it has been wonderful. By far one of the best baby purchases I've made. Super light, easy to put up and take down. I really love this crib. I justified the higher sticker price by thinking it will last through my two children and I will be able to resell it.

It's so funny to see this posted! Just this weekend we tried out the aerobed for kids (which was around $60 on Amazon BTW). We were a bit concerned it would be a total bust considering our 2 year old still sleeps in a crib but the pack n play/porta cribs are just not spacious enough anymore. Well, total success. He even slept in it for an extra 45 minutes than he usually sleeps. Didn't try to get out of it because I think he saw the "lip" that is around the bed as his boundary. FANTASTIC!

We just got back from a weeklong trip in CA and we LOVED the baby bjorn crib!Not only it is superlight yet super sturdy, it's very quick to set up and take down. And super comfy with that cooshy padding. I wish they had come out with it before we bought our Graco pack-n-play. ;) We still like the PnP but with its heavy weight and odd size, it's really not very travel-friendly. But we do use the PnP at home for naps and the bassinet and changing table makes it a great investment! So, we like the Baby Bjorn one for travel and the Graco at home! :)

We've used a PeaPod and later a PeaPod plus with our son since he hit 15 lbs. and aged out of the PnP bassinet.

If posted a side by side comparison of the standard versus the plus versions on my blog: http://babytoolkit.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-peapods-for-me-please-peapod-plus.html

The Plus is much larger, and, if I had one, it would be my choice. Right now we're using them both: one for our tall 4 year old and one for our 1 year old. When we take them on trips with the extended family ALL the kids under 9 want to play inside the Plus.

I'm 5'9, and I can fit inside the Plus uncomfortably but entirely.

If I had it to do over again I would invest in the Baby Bjorn and not have to get anything else. We traveled for a while with the Pack-n-Play but didn't consider bringing it on international travel. Our son sits up to turn over and kept waking in the PeaPod. We needed mosquito/malaria protection, so I ended up getting this pop-up tent marketed for dogs, which ended up working well: https://abogear.com/pet/instent-dog-haus-2.html
He is 2.5 and hasn't tried to unzip it yet. I never came across the Little Life products.

My sister-in-law used the Tuckair bed while visiting us last fall for her 1.5 year old. I would NOT recommend this product at all. What you can't tell from the picture is that the outer "railing" inflates separately from the inner mattress part. The inner mattress kept deflating slightly from her son's weight (he's only around 15th percentile) and he kept rolling into the side railing which seemed to pose a potential suffocation hazard. She tried it for a couple nights and ended up returning it.

You can buy after-market mattresses for the pack n play that are much softer. However, they're not really airplane cargo-hold friendly. Fine for toting along on a car trip or for a pack n play that's staying set up at grandmas.

I needed this post! Thank you! We had to stay in a hotel for 8 days and learned the hard way that our 17-month-old is too big for the pack and play. Does anyone have concerns with kids hurting their fingers with the zippers in the Pea Pod? The Tuckair looks like a good investment, too.

I have a bag/bed similar to the Delta Baby. It is the Lilly Gold Nap-Sac. My daughter came to work with me from the age of 6 weeks and we used this every day for my daughter's first year. Once she grew out of it as a sleep solution, we used it as a changing station in my office. I also used it as a changing station for trips where we'd be set up for a few days (grandparents house). It worked very well for us and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a compact traveling solution. I will say that it probably isn't much use as a bed after 6 months, so it is only a sleep solution for small babies. It is easy to set up, and I like the storage pockets (especially when used as a changing station - everything is there).

I ordered mine from Costco online, but I don't see them selling it anymore. My package was missing the extra sheets, but I called and customer service was very friendly and got the missing pieces to me ASAP, so the company was a pleasure to deal with.

Find the bag here:
http://www.lillygold.com/products/nap-sac.html

We have the Peapod Pluses (got them for Christmas) and I love them in theory, but the boys DO NOT. Yet, anyway. I am hopeful they will get used to them like they did with their crib tents.

I (maybe) solved the zipper issue by putting the zipper pull on the outside of the tent so they couldn't access it. We'll see. Fortunately, they're not really into escaping much.

We have the Phil & Ted and can't say enough good things about it. It's very compact and light weight. We've used it camping and in hotels/homes. It has a relatively small footprint so it doesn't take up too much room. Our 2 year old has been using it since she was less than a year. She fits great and loves it. She likes being able to crawl in and out. And with the zipper on the outside, we don't have a problem with her unzipping the door. We put her nap mat in and that takes care of the fact there is no sheet. As far as putting it together, it does take time to figure out. The key is putting the frame together before putting the legs in the frame.

We tried everything we could to keep our son in the Peapod. We arranged the zipper pulls to be on the outside. No dice. We tied the zipper pulls together. No dice. We never went with a safety pin or zip ties because (a) we're not huge fans of giving the kiddo new ways to injure himself, a la safety pins, which he totally would have and (b) we wanted to maintain access to the kiddo in case he threw up/had a bad dream/caught fire/what have you in the night. And because it was night and we were sleeping, too, having to work complicated zipper ties would have been too difficult for us. YMMV.

Someone else mentioned it and it bears repeating -- it gets HOT in those things. Sweaty hot. Even if you don't use the little sleeping bag that comes with the Peapod and you just do some blankets here and there -- it gets HOT.

Still, though, the Peapod was totally worth it for the 8-12 months it bought us.

I have a PeaPod and I love the idea but my son doesn't like it. That being said.....I Love Love Love my Lalapanzi bed. My son outgrew it fairly quickly because he is big for his size but we used it all the time. First as a bassinet to carry around the house at night so the other parent could sleep. Then, as a safe play area when he was learning to sit up. If he fell over, it would only be on a nice soft squisky side. Later, it was a great rough-and-tumble play area. We use it all the time!

We bought a Pea Pod for our first overnight outing at a hotel when our daughter was 8 months old. She didn't want to go in it at all. So she co-slept with us. Since she co-sleeps occaisionally with us I think she probably wouldn't accept anything else if "her" bed wasn't around. We kept the Pea Pod open in our livingroom at home for a few weeks hoping that she would play in it and get used to it but it never happened. I thought it was ingenious, my baby did not!

This post was really helpful. A good follow-up would be a post on travel high chairs. I'd like to know if anyone has tried Phil and Ted's or the Totseat or My Little Seat?

How practical! A great solution when traveling.

I have a peapod and it is the best investment I've made in a long time. I hate pack-n-plays. They are so heavy and bulky, and as far as I can see, the only advantage they have over a peapod is that they can also be used as a playpen. We only used it for sleeping, so the peapod is so much better. We got rid of our pack-n-play completely. It took up so much space (even folded up!), was so heavy, was more difficult to keep clean, took much longer to set up and take down, and was generally a pain in the butt. We sold our Eddie Bauer pack-n-play on craigslist, got $50 for it, and bought the peapod with the same amount of money. Now, I recommend it to every parent I know. I got the smaller one because once my kids are 2, they don't need to sleep in an enclosed space anymore. And my 1-year-old has not figured out how to open the zipper yet, so I don't foresee that being a problem.

I'm doing a follow-up to my earlier comment on the Peapod, for people searching Ohdeedoh for travel beds. We have a larger size but not the Plus, which was too cumbersome for our luggage situation. Anyway! Not having a better option, we're spending a month acclimating our 2 year old to sleeping in it before our two month trip so I've got three weeks of daily experience to share now. There are walls and ceiling around her face, basically, and she can't be snuggled very well when she's in there if she wakes up in the night needing to be resettled. So the only route we have is to get her so used to it she's just, well, used to it. (Cue many nights of wake-ups.) I made a cotton sheet for the thermarest mattress inside, and that cut down on the sweatiness significantly. She uses no blanket in there, just cotton pajamas - we skip the fleece, with the nylon thermarest it's not the most breathable thing in the world.

During the day, however, every kid in the house (including her) loves to pile in there, giggling away. It's got a nice fort feeling to it.

It's the biggest problem at nap time, she tosses around trying to find a spot for her feet where they don't touch the walls, and scooting down so her head isn't touching the walls above her. She's OK with it now and not waking up a lot extra anymore so it's going to work for us. But it ain't perfect, as many the commenters above have said.

The zippers are on the outside and she hasn't succeeded or tried much to open it in the dark. We leave the side flap open since about a week, by the way - made a huge difference in her sleep, I think because it's one less wall to whack in her sleep.

I should add that she's had a 'big girl' bed her whole life, wasn't a crib baby - so, you know, walls on all sides isn't a familiar thing. Maybe that is part of the story.

Good luck to all of us getting some sleep on our trips! Fingers crossed!

We have the Tuck-Me-In travel bed from Leaps & Bounds (#9), and love it. We've had it for over 2 years now, and my 4 year old still gets a ton of use out of it. Especially this past week when we've been hit with this blasted heat wave, and she's camping out in our room to take advantage of the window A/C we have. It's been a compete life saver!

It inflates as 1 unit, so there's no worries about part of it deflating, etc. I don't think it's the easiest to travel with, but it's doable, and I've travelled with it many times. For my older child, this bed has been excellent.

We have the Aerobed for kids, and can't say enough good about it. We've traveled a lot, including moving 3 times in 4 years (around the world and across the country thanks to the military). Our son is now 4- we started with a PacknPlay to use for traveling- we had one of the simpler ones, and it worked very well. But as he got bigger, the PacknPlay was just too small. Because the Aerobed for kids not only inflates like an air mattress, but has a "well" in the center with the rim around, he is very comfortable. The rim keeps him from rolling out (has never rolled out once) and he's very comfortable and snuggly in it. We have a set of cute sheets (twin size) for him to use on it, and he's been very comfortable. We taken it on vacations, to grandma's house, when moving, etc. and it's been fantastic. After about 3-4 days of use, we hook the pump back up for a minute to fully pump it back up- as the air temperature changes and he sleeps on it, over the course of a few days it slowly deflates just a bit. Not to be uncomfortable, but the rim gets squishy and he might roll out. But that process takes about 15 seconds, so no big deal.

LOVE the peapod plus! My daughter is 3 and has used it since she was 9 months old. We travel a lot and it's a very familiar space for her which I like. She never wakes up and feels like she's in a strange place, because it's always her tent.

I also like it because it's dark red and so it blocks out light which makes for good sleeping.

It definitely takes a few days for kids to get used to it - they're pretty excited in the beginning!

We've never used the sleeping bag.

It would be pretty hard to get a finger caught in the zipper - I don't even think it's possible because of the nature of the zipper, the curve and the give of the tent.

Our new rule is that we only stay in hotels that have actual cribs. The worst portable crib is a thousand times better than a pack n play. I've never had a kid sleep well in one of those.

We also have an aero bed for kids, noisy but comfortable.

Can not say enough good things about the Aerobed. I also found it much cheaper than $80 (around $60 on Amazon but I've also heard you can find it at Costco for around that much). We used it for a week recently when we moved and my son (who's almost 2) was perfect with it. He slept so soundly and honestly the night process started to get easier because he could just hop into it himself rather than needing us to help him in like with a crib. I love it. The only slight downside if I had to pick one is that the cover is fleece so it's a little warm (he'd wake up sweaty) but that's a minor minor issue.

I posted a long time ago, and have a couple other comments:

One, our almost-two-year-old can now climb out of my sister's pack-n-play, but not ours (Chicco). So, some are taller than others, or have mesh that's easier to climb (?).

Two, no matter what travel bed you have, it's always a good idea to "practice" sleeping in it at home in their room a few times (at least a nap and a night). Something unfamiliar can disturb sleep, no matter what it is.

One follow-up to my post on the Aerobed for kids- it does come with the fleece cover. We do use that, but as a bottom layer (prevents the kinda-sqeaky sound from the vinyl) and put a set of regular sheets on top. He sleeps sounder without getting sweaty from the fleece, and is sleeping on sheets just like at home (albeit we have "special" sheets for the "fun travel bed"). It also takes up very little room overall- obviously easier to carry in the car, but we just took a larger suitcase when we flew to grandma's and put the whole shebang in the suitcase along with his clothes.

I recommend the Baby Zabu from Wagamama Baby (I think ours cost about $85). It is lightweight, attractive, and rolls up to be carried like a yoga mat. Our 3-month-old (who is big for his age) sleeps very comfortably in it when we travel. He likes to sleep with his arms stretched out on either side of him, and so the narrower travel beds didn't work for him -- the large version of the Zabu was perfect. The Zabu also works as a nice play yard.

hi
I have the Phil & Ted's Traveller.
I love that its raised off the ground, so you can actually take it camping.
The top can zip closed, which is great if you are staying with friends that have pets and you are nervous about them crawling into babys bed.
Also its really really small when folded up, as it has an inflatable matress, and the poles split down into pieces.
The first time I put it together it took ages but now I can do it in 20 mins. Only fault I would say is the nylon bag it comes in isnt very heavy duty for Airport travel.
I also have a metoo chair which is great for travelling, my favourite piece of baby kit. Screws on to most tables and benches, Ive also used it on low heavy coffee tables and sat on a cushion to feed baby. Plus its lightweight and washable. Love it.

sorry just to add with the Phil & Ted's Traveller its very solid, I chose this over the wire frame pop type cots as I have a very active baby, and I felt he might knock those over easily.

we just ordered this to try out. we will be doing a lot of traveling with our 6 month old, both car trips and over seas so we like the light weight and fitting into a back pack. i have my fingers crossed that this will work out.

http://www.dailygrommet.com/products/435-GoCrib--Inflatable-Portable-Crib-or-Playpen

Peapod plus!! Loooooooooove ours - and my son is just turning 3 and still loves it. We've used it for years - way better than a PnP. Scary when they start climbing out!

It's compact, self-inflating & you can zip it up to keep little fingers out of hotel outlets, etc. Once they're bigger, we just keep it open - it's like camping indoors for them.

PeaPod forever! I'll never go back.

Just returned from Maui, where we rented baby gear and had it delivered to our condo. It worked out great and I'm never going to haul baby gear!