Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

[Sarah Jane Edwards]

Dear Gentlefolk,

In a few weeks we will be attending this seasons first event and will be having our six month old son with us. I am unsure as to what to do for his sleeping arrangements at night and was hoping someone with their own experience or those who have read of period examples could advise me in the safest way our baby can sleep at night. Also, we will be having our second son in September and most likely will be taking him to one or two events in late September/early October and I was wondering what to do about a newborns sleeping arrangements as well. Thank you in advance for any help!

Sarah Meister

[pambryda]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

Congratulations!

I first took my daughter to an event when she was about 6-7 weeks old... but we daytripped it, and it was an indoor (mostly) event. Daddy made her a wooden cradle, which I tucked her into for napping, with light blankets all around.

For nighttime sleeping, depending on how cold it gets in Illinois, you may want to consider co-sleeping, for warmth.

Pam Kingsley-Bryda

[NoahBriggs]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

May I also direct your attention to Elizabeth Stewart Clark's excellent website which has all sorts of great articles on how to camp authentically with children around. She takes the time to address all kinds of concerns. They are listed under "Liz's Stumps" on the site.

I believe the site can be found under her profile.

[Sarah Jane Edwards]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

Thank you for your suggestions. I have found Mrs. Clarks articles to be wonderful sources of inspiration and advice, but am still "stuck" on what to do with Little David, as he is at that curious age where I am afraid he'd decide to slither beneath the tent early in the morning to go exploring and would probably knock over a cradle in an ecstatic gymnastic routine, and his papa is horrifically afraid of smothering the baby if we co-slept. I suppose what we need is a period-appropriate crib of some kind that can break down for travel yet be safe at the same time. Does anyone know of anything like that, pictures or description? Thank you very much!

Sarah

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

The closest to our time period that I can find are the diagrams given in The Workwoman's Guide--there are "break down travel crib" arrangements in there.

We tend to co-sleep year-round, because I don't like being awake during night feeding. :) To combat Daddy's fear of smothering (which is a very real one), I put Baby on the outside, snugged up to me with one arm, then myself, then Daddy. This keeps Baby from getting stuck in the middle, particularly if we're on a rope bed. In a ground pallet situation, it's even less difficult.

Keeping a crawler in the tent requires a few preparations. Co-sleeping helps, as you'll tend to sleep with one arm around him, and be wakened by his wiggling if he's trying to get away.

Use a tent with ground-cloth thingies--those flap bits that fold to the inside all the way around. Then, add a canvas "floor" the the tent, so it overlaps the flaps all the way to the edges. This reduces his escape options. Add more ties to the front flap, further reducing his ability to escape. We also set a small trunk or box directly in front of the door flap, and put toy on top of it. This foils Little Houdini, as he heads for the door, pulls up on the box in his way, sees the toy, and happily stands there banging blocks on the box and crowing.

With a not-quite-1 boy and an infant, I'd seriously suggest doing day-trips for a bit. Not-quite-1s don't yet possess much discernment regarding dangers, and you'll want to control his environment at night very closely, because you'll have more work watching the baby. Though, the baby won't leave under his own power. :) With some little ones, they do fine sleeping on a tiny pallet together, right next to Mamma and Daddy--this will work particularly well as they hit 2 and 3 years, and older. For now, consider moving to a pallet arrangement right in the middle of the tent, with Small Boy cuddled to Dad's outside, and Tiny Boy cuddled to your outside, if small break-down cots aren't an option due to room or expense.

Hope that helps a bit! (And congrats on two sweet boys!)

[Sarah Jane Edwards]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

Thank you very much for the suggestions, Mrs. Clark! I don't mind a bit to sleep with the baby, except waking up with a stiff arm in the morning. :) However, it wil be a bit trickier when the new one arrives since David is really terrified of rolling on top of a baby and smothering it. I suppose I could sleep with one baby in each arm until we think of something different. I'm hoping David will make a bed frame for us with a pull-out-at-night sort of shallow trundle bed for the babies but he probably won't get around to it until next year. Oh well - thank you for the suggestions concerning the ground cloth and tent floor, that is a good idea. I appreciate all the help,

Sarah

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

For a wee tiny one, you might try a solution I know was around in the early twentieth century because Dad (b. 1916) remembered his parents talking about it. If there's a dresser around, you can pull out a drawer and bed down your little one in that. If you're in a tent, you can use a peach crate or any other good clean wooden box of sufficient size. Doctors have been advising parents not to use soft bedding for babies anyhow, so a little padding on the bottom and you're good to go. I don't know how many generations back the dresser-drawer-as-crib, crate-as-bassinet go, but it's a natural way to handle the problem and I suspect it's quite old.

[Sarah Jane Edwards]

Re: Period Sleeping Solutions for Babies?

The shallow box idea could work very well for us when little Judah comes along! I remember reading in a Laura Ingalls book (On the Shores of Silver Lake, I think) about her little sister Grace sleeping in a shallow packing box that was slid under her parents big bed during the day and taken out at night. That is just a little post-war so for me seems like a plausible option. Thanks for the suggestion! Actually, a bigger box could work well for little David, too, provided my ears are fine-tuned to his wake-up sounds so I can tend to him before he decides to crawl off on an adventure.

Thank you all again!

Sarah