Designers: Creature, LLC and Dovetail Essentials, LLC., Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Manufacturer: Dovetail Essentials, LLC., Decatur, Georgia, USA
Slumberpod is a portable canopy to provide parents with a good night’s sleep when traveling with young children. It is made of a light-blocking, breathable fabric, and can easily be set over a child’s crib or play-yard, allowing parents to read, socialize, or work in the hotel room without disturbing the child.
What was the challenge?
Most parents have experienced the difficulty of sharing a hotel room (or guest room at friends and family homes) with their baby or toddler while traveling. Children can’t go to sleep with the light on in the room, or wake up in the middle of the night and won’t go back to sleep when they see their parents!
In order to get some sleep, parents often set up a travel crib in the bathroom, rent a suite, or even hang up a sheet or blanket to try to block the child’s view of the parents.
How is the solution innovative?
Slumberpod is a patent-pending solution to make family travel. It easily fits into a carry-on suitcase. The structure is made of 2 rods that cross over to support a canopy made of an extremely effective light-blocking, breathable fabric. A door “hatch” allows the baby to then be put inside, and extra ventilation panels at top and bottom allow warm air to exit out the top, and cool air to come in the bottom. A vinyl pocket in the tent allows a baby monitor, camera, or phone to be placed inside to monitor the child.
To assemble, the parent simply assembles the rods and crosses them though the fabric loops/hooks on the canopy structure. A critical aspect of the design is that the canopy does not have a bottom “floor” – this enables the parent sets the assembled unit down on top of the crib or play-yard, even in the tight confines of a typical hotel room.
Slumberpod keeps the baby in a soothing, darkened environment, and blocks the child’s view of the parents to encourage the child to go to sleep. Meanwhile, parents can read, talk, or work in the same room without disturbing the child.
