The hunt for the right cradle

When the pediatrician advised us to use a flat bed for the baby and avoid the traditional cloth cradle (aka thottil in Tamil), the hunt began. Since I wasn't allowed to go shopping right after giving birth, my DH went on the hunt after having his head filled with cradle ideas by his wife who was hooked to the computer browsing for models.

Source: http://www.wudplay.com

I so very much wanted to buy a 3-in-1 crib cot which can be used as crib for baby, then as a toddler bed and later as a sofa. After seeing many such models in US websites and drooling over them, I found some on Indian sites. Wudplay has wonderful models and I love them. 
But such cribs don't come cheap and I had to satisfy myself with just seeing them on my laptop screen. Sigh.

Source:babyoye.com

Then there are lots of economic cradles that one can choose either online or a nearby baby shop. We kept looking at these models (after reluctantly accepting the fact that my dream crib would just be a dream) and a month had gone by.

Meanwhile, I put the baby to sleep on a foldable adult-size cot, covered with a mosquito net  and kept it near my bed. It was easy for me at night, as I had to nurse every two hours and picking him up was easy. But I could see that he never slept so deeply.

At last when a whole month had passed without me making any decision(mainly bcos I couldn't get over the crib, sob sob), my  mom made a stern decision that the baby would sleep on a traditional cloth cradle just like all her ancestors, herself and her kids did. That night for the first time my son slept in the thottil made with my mom's cotton saree and he slept such an undisturbed sleep that convinced me and my DH (forgive us doctor).

Thus the great cradle hunt ended bringing peace to all parties concerned.

Now, this cradle setup serves two purposes really well.
1. My son understands that the cradle is for sleeping only and he will cry to be taken out once he wakes up. So, if we put him in his cradle, he knows he has to sleep and he sleeps without a lot of fuss.

2. He gets a lot of free bum time during his day naps and I get to do less laundry. The trick lies in the way the cradle is setup.

This is the wooden bar that is used to keep the two sides of the cradle cloth apart, giving the baby more space to move around and also good ventilation. If this bar is not used, then the cloth will enclose the baby which may be preferred if the weather is cold. 
The cloth runs inside the notches on both sides of the bar and the bar itself is secured by a  string. 
I usually put him to his day nap without a nappy in the cradle. When he pees, I take him out, pull one side of the cradle cloth to rotate it so that the wet side goes up a little and place him back on the cradle. Even if my son doesn't call me after wetting (which is rare), the only wet cloth being the cradle cloth under his bum, it will dry soon.

Though we are currently using my mom's old cotton sarees for this, I'm planning to buy white muslin cloth for this setup, as I prefer white color. I find mosquitoes in my home prefer darker clothes and settle on them, perhaps their camouflaging technique. Also its easier to spot dirt, stains and other insects on a white cloth.

However there is a steep learning curve for using this. Placing the baby in without anyone's help is still an elusive skill for me.I need someone to pull both ends of the cradle so I can place the baby. But I did find a solution to this. I sit on a chair close to the cradle, with one hand pull one side of cloth, place it between my knee ends holding them tight with knees, then place the baby in. Whew, its not easy and is a circus feat.
The other issue is with the cradle movement. This cradle needs a wide berth to be rocked. So its better to ensure that there are no furniture close by. Since you may find yourself rocking the cradle in a sleepy trance often, its better to ensure that.