So you want to replace your Kidco Peapod…
If you were one of the people who liked their Peapods and was shocked that they were recalled, read on. If you’re just interested, you can read on, too.
The Kidco Peapods, for those of you who weren’t trying to house their children in little tents in 2005- 2012 (for brief periods, not like… their actual house), are small zippered individual pod-like tents that were to be used as “travel beds” for infants or young children. The Peapods were 43″ long and the Peapods Plus were 50″ long, so that gives you an idea of how big a child would be to fit. They weren’t intended to actually replace a crib, for example, and were supposed to be used with suitable supervision. Let’s not argue how one is supposed to supervise a child in their bed, okay? Or why it was recalled. I can only say that when I used it, as a place for my children to nap during the day, I treated the Peapods with the same level of paranoia I did the bouncers: the kids liked to nap in both of them, but I either stayed in the same room with them while they did so or made someone else do it. Also, I followed the instructions when I put them together.
- 13 months
I agree that these little tents required supervision when the kids were younger. I did not use them when they were infants, for example. The kids were 13 months or so when we used them for naps. My kids used to fall asleep for their nap while being held and would insist on being held as long as they were conscious. We used to ease them into these tents carefully, and hope no one woke up screaming in anger. Ha ha. Those were the days.
Eventually, the kids used them for play and liked to lie down in the same tent (each twin had their own) and try to nap together. The idea of a tent made it fun and getting someone to zip it closed for them made it that much better. After we moved them upstairs to nap in their bedrooms (more free time for us!!!!) the Peapods went into the closet for a while.
Jump ahead until the kids were just turning 3 years old. We wanted to take them on a vacation and wasn’t sure what the best sleeping arrangement was. They were sort of big for the PackNPlays we had used on the one trip we took when they were infants. Too, the kids were a lot more mobile and would seriously dislike not being able to get out of their “beds” on their own (if we stuck them in PackNPlays again). An article I read about traveling with kids mentioned taking along a tent for the kids to use in the hotel room. It gave them a semi-enclosed space to help them deal with the strange surroundings and made it fun. The Peapods worked for this perfectly! The trip was a success. We used them again on another trip that same year. However, by then the twins were 40″ tall (vital measurement if you’re at Disneyland). As I mentioned earlier, the Peapods are 43″ long. The kids barely fit.
- Same kid, 42 months
It was then I tried to buy them a Kidco Peapod Plus and then I found out about the recall. What was I supposed to get them now?
Some of you are saying, “Let them sleep in a bed, already”. Yeah, I thought of that. The kids have nice twin beds at home. Sometimes, rarely, almost never, they use them. Most of the time I find them sleeping on the floor of their room. They don’t like beds and I don’t like hotel carpets, okay? Yuck. Also, when visiting relatives we often sleep on couches or the floor. Anyway, I liked the tent idea. It’s a little cleaner, contains their bedding, is a slight bug deterrent, keeps them happy and I don’t have to convince them to stay inside. If you have kids you know how much avoiding that battle is worth. I wanted tents. Specifically, I wanted simple, easy to put up and take down, lightweight tents, preferably individually sized, that were packable for traveling. Additional points for mattress pads, lots of visibility (In a dark room I still need to see inside), and flaps you can secure open.
Here’s what I found:
1. Kidco Peapod Plus on Ebay – they are still being sold, usually used, and sometimes paired with the free recall retrofit Kidco shipped out to current Peapod owners. The retrofit, caused by the recall, includes new supports for the edges and a thinner self inflating mattress. They seem to run about $40 for a standard one used.
2. A wealth of copycat products for the UK or Australia – There’s the Goldbug Pop-UP PEA POD Baby Toddler Tent Camping Bed, the LittleLife Arc 2 Baby Travel Cot, the Hut4Bubs Travel Cot, the KangaKids Go Cot Pop Up Portable Portacot, and Sun Essentials Baby Travel Centre, just to name a few. These beds seem just about impossible to find for sale on US websites. I wonder if the Peapod recall made them all run for the hills or something. I only found these because they were on Ebay when you searched for Peapods. I have not seen any of these items myself and just wanted to mention that they are around.
3. Travel Cribs – These weren’t actually in my search range, since they were for younger children, but I thought I’d mention some of the one’s I’d consider buying if I had younger kids. The BabyBjorn Travel Crib was always mentioned as being top rated in the reviews I looked at before. It’s just pretty expensive. The Guava Family GoCrib was something I had the opportunity to buy when it first came out, but my kids were already past the point of needing it. Otherwise, I would have been severely tempted to buy it. It’s just cool enough for me to want to try it out.
4. Actual Travel Beds – The Shrunks Tuckaire Toddler Inflatable Travel Bed looks pretty cool and has good reviews on Amazon. There’s also a bigger version for older kids. Both of them are inflatable, have raised edges, and are otherwise like air mattresses. The AeroBed mattress for kids or the Kids’ Aero Explorer Sport Bed has also received a lot of good reviews. The pluses are that they seem particularly durable and have that Aerobed build. I am ashamed to admit that I have both of these products but have not yet used them.
5. Actual Tents – Most tents aren’t made for single users so they aren’t quite in the travel category I’ve been discussing. Most of them are too large and take too long to setup. Play tents may not be sized correctly for sleepers and aren’t as durable. That being said, they may still work for you. The Wenzel Children’s Sprout Two Person Dome Tent has great reviews and is amazingly affordable. The Bazoongi Special Edition Bug Tent is a play tent, but I thought I’d give it a special mention. It’s big enough for two kids to sleep in and has great visibility. However, you have to do the whole tent setup and it is indoors only. I’d say that these tents are for older children, definitely. Again, we have both these items but have only used the Bug Tent indoors.
Tiny Tent - up and stored
6. Best bet – Here’s my final replacement choice: the Lightspeed Tiny Tent. It’s more of a tent than the Kidco Peapod. It has a pole structure instead of a pop-up frame. However, you do not have to spend the time of putting the poles into sleeves like you do with traditional tents. It is an “instant” or “one-touch” tent. Think of a folding umbrella and how the spokes open up to provide structure. It’s a bit like that. After you unfold the tent you push-pull two center pieces together to open the tent. Take down is a tiny bit fussier to get all the folds lying nicely before you wrap it back up. Here’s a good video. My experience was similar to the model’s but I had to put a little muscle into the second tent’s setup since the two center pieces wanted to slip to the side instead of smoothly coming together. Windows and doors have solid covers that can be secured up or down with velcro. Similar to the Kidco Peapods it has self-inflating mattress pad that slip into a zippered pocket below. The fit was tight so this was the only part of the setup that was a little annoying. The mattresses were necessary, however, because there are no tent poles on the bottom of the tent to provide rigidity. Without the mattress the bottom of the tent does not hold the upper tent poles apart. (Think of the poles as a clawed hand coming down from the sky and encaging the space below: the fingers move around if there’s nothing to hold them apart).
The Lightspeed Tiny tents measure 25″ x 53″ x 36″H. A standard pillow fits into the width perfectly. In comparison, the Kidco Peapods in the smaller version measure 30″ x 48″ x 18″H (mattress size 24″x 43″). The Peapod Plus measured 34″ x 52.5″ x 25″H (mattress size 28″x 50″). I was mostly surprised by the height difference between the two brands. I’m not sure why it’s quite that tall. Also, the Lightspeed Tiny Tent is proportioned much narrower. I find this acceptable, however, as a standard pillow still fits into the Tiny Tent just fine. Restless sleepers might not have as much room to rotate, though. When broken down into storage mode the Lightspeed Tiny Tent is surprisingly… tiny. It fits to a rectangular sort of duffle, made to contain the tent and the rolled up mattress separately. It measures about 6″ x 6″ x 28″L. The Peapod folds into a circle and fits into a flat round travel bag (along with its mattress) that measures around 14″ x 5″ and the Peapod Plus storage bag measures 19″ x 6″. I actually prefer the rectangular shape of the stored Lightspeed Tiny Tent as it’s still quite light and packs a bit easier than the big flat Peapod storage bag.
Finally, the Lightspeed Tiny Tents are listed on the manufacturer’s website as $89.99 including shipping. That’s really not that bad for what you get. I’ve seen other websites trying to sell it for more, so be careful. Oh, and yes, the kids liked the Tiny Tents. We use them for our once a week “sleepover” where we stay up late and read scary stories and play games together in the spare guestroom. Later, we’ll probably “camp out” with them in the living room. Lightspeed shows them used outside, so they’re probably fine for that too. Note that they do not market it as a “travel crib” or something to use for infants. UPDATE (7/13): IT IS NOW AVAILABLE AT THE MANUFACTUER’S WEBSITE FOR $59.99 INCLUDING SHIPPING.
Instructions in storage bag
Opened but un-umbrella'd tent
**************News (5/13): KidCo is making new Peapods!!! They were projected to be released to consumers in June 2013. I found a few sites offering them for pre-order and was super excited!! I’ve found mention of the KidCo P001 Peapod Lite, P3010 Peapod (cranberry), P3011 Peapod (sunshine), P4010 Peapod Plus (kiwi), and P4011 Peapod Plus (twilight). I called the manufacturer to get more information. A customer representative confirmed that they were set to release it but she couldn’t confirm the dates. She said as soon as retailers heard they were coming out they had orders and it is currently backordered (to retailers, I assume). She couldn’t confirm who those retailers were, however. (I saw them for preorder on ToysRUs.ca which is Canadian, but not at the US site!) She did say that they were list priced as $80 for the smaller versions and $120 for the larger ones. I think I read that the new versions were for one years and up, rather than their previous “infants” age range.
** No one is paying me for mentioning their product or for saying nice things. Everything I have I bought myself.**