Holly is at a funny age for travelling. Too big for a travel cot, too small really to be trusted in a full sized single bed, especially a bed away from home where the likelihood of falling out is much greater. The Shrunks make an innovative inflatable travel bed for toddlers (and one for older kids) which inflates in minutes and is sturdy enough to spend the night on.
I will admit that we have tried toddler travel beds in the past and, while they've seemed fine for a fun sleepover event at home, when we've had to actually use them in anger when travelling abroad, or in the UK, we've slowly stopped using them because of the stress of having to spend 20 minutes manually pumping them up! The Shrunks Tuckaire toddler bed comes with a really compact electric pump which you can use to inflate and deflate the bed.
It takes about 3 minutes to pump the toddler bed up. The bed is in two parts, the central part on which your child sleeps, this area is coated with a soft, thick fabric which helps to keep them warm during the night. The outer part creates the height and the protective sides which prevent your toddler from rolling out during the night. You inflate both parts separately. Both myself and my husband have struggled a bit with inflating The Shrunks Tuckaire bed due to the valve which should flip back the second you pull out the pump (to stop the air from rushing out)... there must be a knack to it which we haven't yet discovered.
Despite this, I really like the bed. When deflated, it is as compact as a child's sleeping bag (including the pump) and when inflated, it offers a really good bed size suitable for even the most fidgety of toddlers. The bed is suitable from about 2 years to 6 years old. It packs away in its own drawstring bag and can squeeze into small spaces in among your suitcases in the car boot.
The feature we like most about the bed (as opposed to the pump... which rocks) is the ability to tuck in the sheets or blanket around your child into the gap between the two parts of the bed. This really helps when you have a child like Holly who just needs to be tucked in tightly to help her settle off to sleep, otherwise she is up and about within seconds!
For children over 6 The Shrunks make a similar children's inflatable travel bed. They also make an inflatable bed rail which tucks in under the sheets but can be deflated and popped away under the bed at other times.
I will admit that we have tried toddler travel beds in the past and, while they've seemed fine for a fun sleepover event at home, when we've had to actually use them in anger when travelling abroad, or in the UK, we've slowly stopped using them because of the stress of having to spend 20 minutes manually pumping them up! The Shrunks Tuckaire toddler bed comes with a really compact electric pump which you can use to inflate and deflate the bed.
It takes about 3 minutes to pump the toddler bed up. The bed is in two parts, the central part on which your child sleeps, this area is coated with a soft, thick fabric which helps to keep them warm during the night. The outer part creates the height and the protective sides which prevent your toddler from rolling out during the night. You inflate both parts separately. Both myself and my husband have struggled a bit with inflating The Shrunks Tuckaire bed due to the valve which should flip back the second you pull out the pump (to stop the air from rushing out)... there must be a knack to it which we haven't yet discovered.
Despite this, I really like the bed. When deflated, it is as compact as a child's sleeping bag (including the pump) and when inflated, it offers a really good bed size suitable for even the most fidgety of toddlers. The bed is suitable from about 2 years to 6 years old. It packs away in its own drawstring bag and can squeeze into small spaces in among your suitcases in the car boot.The feature we like most about the bed (as opposed to the pump... which rocks) is the ability to tuck in the sheets or blanket around your child into the gap between the two parts of the bed. This really helps when you have a child like Holly who just needs to be tucked in tightly to help her settle off to sleep, otherwise she is up and about within seconds!
For children over 6 The Shrunks make a similar children's inflatable travel bed. They also make an inflatable bed rail which tucks in under the sheets but can be deflated and popped away under the bed at other times.
