bedding for cradle

[dogmom]

My father made a reproduction type cradle from standardized plans for my (hopefully) soon to be born baby. The problem I have is it is not a standard cradle size, so none of the standard matresses & bedding fit. My father got firm foam for the mattress and cut to size. It appears to pass the safety "squoosh" test between the palms of my two hands as recommended with child bedding. Now my concern is the sheets. A big pillow case covers it, which is what my father put on, but it's loose. I was going to get fabric and sort of "wrap" the mattress up with the loose ends overlapping on the bottom and safety pin the life out of it to get a tight fit with no extra fabric for the baby to smother in. The cradle is only 13 inches wide, so if I put my son on his back, I don't think it will be easy for him to roll over for a while.

I was only planning to use the cradle by my bedside until I move my son to his crib in the nursery. All the precautions about bedding/SIDs/crib safety have me so paranoid I don't think I can make rational decisions about this in my current state. Has any had experience with unusual size cradles/cribs? Any suggestions?

Dog Mom
Due 1/13, yeah sure!