Dockatot Grand Pod Review
The Dockatot Grand pod is the bigger sibling to the popular Dockatot Deluxe+ pod. The Grand pod is often used as a “stage 2” pod, aimed at children aged 8-36 months, for when your child has outgrown their Deluxe+ pod and needs a little more space. A popular use for these bigger pods are to help transition your little one from crib to cot or bed to help make keep them feeling surrounded, secure and snug. They are also great as a safe place for your little one to play in and relax.
Well we wanted to find out what all the fuss was about and put the Dockatot Grand pod through its paces with 2 of our parent testers. Keep reading to see if it passed the parent approved test.
Parent Tester 1 - Vicky Gooden
Earlier in the year I entered a competition on the Natural Baby Shower Instagram to win a Dockatot Grand Pod. The reason I entered this comp was because my baby was almost 9 months old and had completely outgrown her first Sleepyhead which was now a place where I would put her coats and stuff before dressing her for a venture outdoors. She was also about to make the big leap from sleeping next to me in our room, to her big girl cot in her own room.
She had always loved her first Dockatot, we opted to use it when she was newborn as a place for daytime naps downstairs. She would happily snooze away as only a newborn does and the older she got she would start to play with the toy bar overhead.
We had never used the smaller Dockatot as an overnight sleep solution for our baby so entering a competition to win a Grand was mainly for another option for a place she can play in safely and have a day time nap, whilst I get things done around her.
When the item arrived, baby was just turning 9 months and starting to crawl.
The Grand is comparatively huge when looking at the Deluxe. It arrived quickly and packaged well and baby was intrigued. The packaging was complete with usage details for example what to do with the buckle that holds the two ends together.
Initially I thought it a great place to lay her just before going out, in the sometimes frantic last few mins before putting her coat on and getting her in her car seat. But turns out she started to see it as a sort of soft play place. She would sit up in it and I would throw a few toys in and there she would sit on a nice comfy surface having a contented play. This meant I knew she wan't crawling all over the place and getting up to mischief when my back was turned.
Now I know this isn't necessarily the proposed number one use of the Grand but the description of them does state ‘perfect for lounging, playing & great for bed transitioning’ and by the time the item arrived we had just transitioned baby to her big girl cot in her own room so it felt silly to now introduce this as a transition aid when she seemed to be doing alright already.
So it has remained downstairs and has started to become helpful when getting her changed too as she can’t as easily escape mid fastening!
We are shortly going to be doing up a playroom downstairs for her and the Grand is sure to feature as a soft play/chill out corner item as she learns to tumble around, generally having a whale of a time.
I think that if you relied on the Deluxe as an overnight sleep aid then you will love the Grand. The sides are much higher given the overall size is bigger, making it secure for an older baby within a cot. I love the print I won too, marble. It looks gorgeous.
Parent Tester 2 - Mollie Fawcett
We have been using the Dockatot Grand Pod from Natural Baby Shower for 3 weeks now and it has been a lifesaver. When the Dockatot Grand Pod arrived it was packaged really well, the instructions are nice and clear – it comes with a piece of cardboard in it to keep the shape which you remove before you use it for the first time. The Dockatot comes in so many beautiful designs and we were lucky to be sent the La Vie en Rose, it is gorgeous and looks even better in person than it does on the website. It is much larger than I expected which is good because it means it will last longer therefore making it really valuable for the price.
We have co-slept with our daughter since she was a newborn and she is now 19 months old, I am currently 32 weeks pregnant so wanted to start transitioning her over to her own bed. I was so worried that this would be really difficult however with the Dockatot Grand Pod it has been really easy. To begin with we were letting Bea fall asleep in our bed and then putting her in the Dockatot once she was asleep and she didn’t wake at all.
After a few nights of this we decided to start putting her in her sleepyhead to fall asleep in, once she had her bath and got her bottle she would run and climb into her Dockatot. I never thought it would be this easy and I think without the sleepyhead we would have had problems as I think Bea feels safe and snug in it, like she is cuddled up next to me almost. Even after using it every night for 3 weeks it still looks brand new, I was quite worried with the mattress bit being pristine white that it would mark easily however this has not been the case.
We absolutely love the Dockatot Grand Pod and couldn’t recommend it enough to parents looking to transition from co-sleeping or a cot to a toddler bed.
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