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View Full Version : Peapod Portable Travel Bed and Ultimate Black Car Seat Travel Bag - sizing question



ewan's mama
01-14-2009, 07:49 AM
Anyone have experience with these two items during travel?

I hear the Ultimate Car Seat Travel Bag is more padded and comes with backpack straps. Do you think the straps are helpful or not?

For the Peapod Portable Travel Bed, I cannot find out how old or tall a child can be before it gets to be too big for the kid. It says birth and up, and I wanted to know if it can go well into the toddler years, say 3 years old or so. The pack n play will be outgrown soon (due to height limitations), and it seems like it would cost more to pay for checking it in on a round-trip flight.

Thanks!

Melaine
01-14-2009, 09:53 AM
Sounds like you may need the Pea Pod Plus, although this is not from personal experience. I asked a similar question awhile ago, and people seemed to vote for the Plus even from newborn because it would have a longer lifespan. I was thinking about upgrading to those for my LOs from the pack 'n plays....

ewan's mama
01-14-2009, 10:15 AM
Thank you. I didn't realize that they had a larger size.

Melaine
01-14-2009, 10:18 AM
There was a decent deal on Amazon last time I checked....

momtoonegirl
01-14-2009, 01:22 PM
I have both of the items you mentioned.

We have used the Ultimate Car Seat bag on several plane trips. It keeps the car seat well protected, without being too bulky. DH usually wears it backpack style through the airport, and it frees his hands to carry other luggage. The only issue that we have had is that when DH has tried to keep the bag on his back to walk through the airplane, it is too wide to pass through the narrow airplane aisles without getting stuck, so he ends up having to go through sideways or taking it off. Overall, I think it is a worthwhile purchase.

DD got the pink Peapod Plus as a replacement for her pack-and-play just shy of her second birthday. It is larger than the regular peapod. DD primarily uses it as a play tent to play with her dolls and stuffed animals. It comes with a sleeping bag, and thin padded air mattress, so napping in it is possible, but she is more comfortable napping in her bed or on the sofa. It also comes with a manual air pump for the mattress, so that the mattress can be inflated during travel. It does fold into a circular carry bag, that could easily be placed in a carry-on bag (like a small duffel or roller bag) or checked luggage. Since my DD uses it as a play tent/play space, we don't use it for travel. I think it would be a good travel bed to use in place of a pack and play, if your DC is comfortable sleeping on the air mattress.

eta: DD is 90%ile height-wise and I think she could sleep in the Peapod plus (she is almost 3 now). Depending on how much she grows over the next year, I am not sure if she could still sleep in it when she is 4.

HTH :)

ewan's mama
01-14-2009, 03:29 PM
I have both of the items you mentioned.

We have used the Ultimate Car Seat bag on several plane trips. It keeps the car seat well protected, without being too bulky. DH usually wears it backpack style through the airport, and it frees his hands to carry other luggage. The only issue that we have had is that when DH has tried to keep the bag on his back to walk through the airplane, it is too wide to pass through the narrow airplane aisles without getting stuck, so he ends up having to go through sideways or taking it off. Overall, I think it is a worthwhile purchase.

DD got the pink Peapod Plus as a replacement for her pack-and-play just shy of her second birthday. It is larger than the regular peapod. DD primarily uses it as a play tent to play with her dolls and stuffed animals. It comes with a sleeping bag, and thin padded air mattress, so napping in it is possible, but she is more comfortable napping in her bed or on the sofa. It also comes with a manual air pump for the mattress, so that the mattress can be inflated during travel. It does fold into a circular carry bag, that could easily be placed in a carry-on bag (like a small duffel or roller bag) or checked luggage. Since my DD uses it as a play tent/play space, we don't use it for travel. I think it would be a good travel bed to use in place of a pack and play, if your DC is comfortable sleeping on the air mattress.

eta: DD is 90%ile height-wise and I think she could sleep in the Peapod plus (she is almost 3 now). Depending on how much she grows over the next year, I am not sure if she could still sleep in it when she is 4.

HTH :)


Momtoonegirl,

Thanks for the rec on the car seat travel bag. I'll have to get it for sure now.

So when you travel and don't have an accessible packnplay at your friend's or family's houses, what do you use for your DD? We're planning on staying at a hotel for our trip, so would be best to get a double and have one parent sleep with our DC and then the other parent sleep on the other double bed?

Or do you think the Peadpod plus could be an option? DC is in the 85% percentile in height and is 14 mo old. DC will be about 17 mo old when we go on our trip. My kid is a mover and likes to jump around in the packnplay and crib before going to sleep.

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I'll check amazon next.

momtoonegirl
01-14-2009, 09:14 PM
Momtoonegirl,

So when you travel and don't have an accessible packnplay at your friend's or family's houses, what do you use for your DD? We're planning on staying at a hotel for our trip, so would be best to get a double and have one parent sleep with our DC and then the other parent sleep on the other double bed?

Or do you think the Peadpod plus could be an option? DC is in the 85% percentile in height and is 14 mo old. DC will be about 17 mo old when we go on our trip. My kid is a mover and likes to jump around in the packnplay and crib before going to sleep.

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I'll check amazon next.

When we travel, we usually get a hotel room with 2 double beds with DD in her own bed or with one of us, and one/two of us in the other. She has been in her own big girl bed since she was 2, so she is used to the big bed. If the bed is high off of the ground, we build a nest using the pillows from the beds to surround her so she doesn't roll off. If she feels insecure, one of us may sleep with her for a night, then she usually feels better. So far that has worked well for us.

At my MIL's, DH, DD, and I just slept together in one bed in her guest room (queen size bed). My mom has a twin trundle bed in her guest room, so DD slept there.

The Peapod isn't that tall, so your DC couldn't really stand up inside of it. I am not sure if it is sturdy enough to withstand a lot of motion, since it is foldable/collapsable. My DD mainly crawls into it and sits with her dolls and plays. If your DC really likes to jump around before going to sleep, you may want to go with something with an open top like the Phil and Teds travel bed or the Bjorn travel crib. I haven't seen or tried either of them in real life, but had them as options when I was looking for a packnplay replacement for DD. The downside is that both of them are on the pricier side. Good luck :)

Here are the links:
Phil and Teds: http://www.amazon.com/Phil-Teds-Traveller-Full-Size-Travel/dp/B0011Z13DG/ref=pd_sbs_ba_1

Bjorn: http://www.amazon.com/BabyBj%C3%B6rn-Travel-Crib-Light-Blue/dp/B000XDYLEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1231981372&sr=1-1

WatchingThemGrow
01-14-2009, 09:20 PM
We like the Ultimate travel bags. VERY well -padded.

We moved to the toddler aerobed when DD outgrew the pnp. We liked knowing she was securely trapped in a box in hotel rooms.

Swimfreak78
01-17-2009, 05:15 PM
For the Peapod Portable Travel Bed, I cannot find out how old or tall a child can be before it gets to be too big for the kid. It says birth and up, and I wanted to know if it can go well into the toddler years, say 3 years old or so. The pack n play will be outgrown soon (due to height limitations), and it seems like it would cost more to pay for checking it in on a round-trip flight.

Thanks![/QUOTE]


We have the Pea Pod Plus and have used it many times for travel. It's great since it comes in its own travel bag. . . We got ours for a deal at Safe Beginnings. DS loves it.