It seems like years go that Aubrin was this tiny, swaddled, non-mobile bundle of cuteness that fit in her d.i.y. bedside bassinet. Since then she has grown like a weed which has rendered her bassinet obsolete due to size so we began designing a new sleeping arrangement.
Our biggest worry was sourcing a crib mattress that would work with our intended loft layout because the standard sized crib mattress was bigger than what we wanted, would have to be placed parallel to our mattress and would leave an awkward, wasted gap space near the wall while encroaching too much into the ‘landing area’ at the top of the stairs. We were fortunate to have stumbled upon the perfect solution when Samantha was researching the top rated baby mattresses and began to look closer at the NEWTON BABY CRIB MATTRESS.
I never thought we’d be nerding out so much about a mattress but this thing is pretty amazing and when we saw that they offered a ‘mini’ size that would fit perfectly in our new loft layout we were sold. The mattress contains no foam, latex or adhesives which means the object closest to our daughter will not be slowly off-gassing harmful chemicals. And if Aubrin ever ends up face down, the mattress and cover are 100% breathable, greatly reducing the risk of suffocation.
So what IS in this mattress? 90% air, 10% food grade polymer. Seriously, that’s it! The polymer is extruded into a pool of water creating an intricate three dimensional spaghetti-nest like bundle that is 90% air by volume. Throw the quilted cover in the washer and the mattress body in the bath to clean it. We have never seen anything like it!
After it arrived we went to work building a unique ‘crib’ surround to work with its new orientation, tucked perpendicular between our mattress and the wall. We made the crib wall short enough to be able to place her into the bed from the side and we chamfered the corner to avoid smashing our elbows and shoulders on it daily as we got Aubrin and ourselves into and out of bed each day. The result is a two sided crib that uses the house wall for the third side and is open to our mattress on the remaining side. A sort of bedside bassinet/crib hybrid design. Because we decided to push the location forward, up against the adjacent window frame, there was about six inches left over against the back wall so we incorporated a flip up storage trough for her books and toys.
In conjunction with the LOFT EDGE NET AND FLIP UP DOOR installation, this concludes a pretty substantial overhaul of our loft space as it continues to evolve to suit our needs. It is probably worth noting that these additions, and all aspects of our house are not meant to be confinement spaces where we just leave Aubrin on her own. One of us is always with her, and should things need to evolve further and become taller or re-designed we will do that in the future. It’s amazing what a little creative parenting in a tiny space can do.
Also, this is last call for anyone interested in snagging our E-BOOK BEFORE THE SECOND EDITION RELEASE AND PRICE INCREASE.
The 2nd edition of ‘BUILT WITH OUR HANDS: a d.i.y. Tiny house memoir’ will be released at the end of this month. More info HERE.
How do you deal with your daughter’s naps? Just curious as so many people do “cry it out” these days and it seems like that would be impossible in a tiny house.
We don’t use a ‘cry it out’ method and when she isn’t napping while being carried (ergo baby or Osprey poco) on a local trail which is almost a daily occurrence, one of us usually hang out in the loft with her for her naps and we just read a book or do some work or write a blog post or sneak a nap ourselves.
Gotcha. Thanks for responding. Sounds like you have to have quiet time once she goes to bed for the night as well. I have an 8 month old and that would mean lights out from 6pm to 6am, hard to deal with for us adults.
There certainly are compromises to parent hood and tiny house life. We have a black out curtain that we hang at the loft edge and turn on white noise which allows me to work as late as I need/want.
This is so inspiring.