Immediately after I opened my Dockatot, I noticed the beautiful cloud and balloon design on the soft Mrs. Mighetto style cotton cover. I couldn’t wait to take this on a test run. I had “hmmed” and “haaaed” about getting one for a long time because I couldn’t quite decide if it was worth it. So, when the opportunity presented itself for me to test one out, I jumped with no hesitation.
Let me back up just a little bit. I am a breastfeeding mother. I keep my baby in a bassinet by my bed. I swore that I would not be a co-sleeper because I wanted my son to be independent but I didn’t want him to be so far away from me in his bedroom crib. The bassinet seemed like a nice compromise, but reality caught up with me fast. Waking up 4 times in the middle of the night to breastfeed was so exhausting that half the time, I was doing it in my sleep without even realizing it. There were so many times that I would wake up 2 hours later to see Amari asleep nestled under me and it frightened the bejeezus out of me. I’m not a roller nor am I a heavy sleeper but still,…80% of infant deaths are caused by suffocation and goodness those numbers are high. So that evening, I decided would break my Dockatot in with the first test on my bed in a co-sleeping situation. The next morning JustABxMom asked me “so what did you think about your first day with Dockatot?” My response was, “I don’t think I slept this well in a long time”. After consulting with the manual to ensure my set up was correct, this was the first time that I felt satisfied that Amari was safe in the bed with me. I loved that the sides of the Dockatot were so thick and enhanced. It created this comfortable fort like enclosure that gave Amari his own personal space that I could not penetrate. Yet at the same time he was here…with me, in my bed. I guess I felt so at ease with it that I fell asleep immediately.
I must not be the only person who was content with Amari’s new digs because he also slept for hours! It was the longest he had stayed out…like ever. The Dockatot was so snug around Amari’s body and it created this atmosphere so soothing that he slept through almost the entire night (his 1 time waking up was a huge victory compared to the 4 times I had been previously experiencing).
The peace of mind was enough for me, but in the interest of thoroughness, I decided to run a few more trials. I needed to test my Dockatot in a few different environments. So I docked my Dockatot, Amari and myself on the living room floor while I did some work on my laptop. Okay, so this was surprisingly convenient. I loved that the rounded sides that were previously his fortress now served as his facilitator to tummy time. Boom! Now we have a newborn lounger and there’s no need for a separate pillow when he is up and playing. Amari could get that exercise that he needs to make his neck muscles strong(er) (have I told ya’ll that I am raising baby Hercules?). When he gets tired it’s no problem. Flip him back over and he is back in his chill out position so that he can rest. Meanwhile, I get lots of work done because I never had to move around to place him from one contraption to another.
Sure moving around the house was easy but I wanted more rigorous testing. So I decided to take my Dockatot for a stroll… right to a friend’s house where they were having a birthday party for their 1-year-old. I think it’s ironic that you have to carry a million things around for a human that takes up so little space. So it was nice when I realized that for all that comfort padding in the Dockatot, it weighed virtually nothing. I actually tried to weigh it but nothing registered (I wish the scale would do that when I stepped on it LOL). It made it easy to carry along with some of the other heavier items that I had to lug…like the baby himself! Let’s face it, no matter what is going on, your child will fall asleep where he wants to when he wants to. So being able to give him a safe comfortable place to do this when we are outside of the home was a major key. I received so many “oohhhs and aahhss” from the other mothers who had no place to lay their babies sleepy heads and the compliments on what a prepared mom I was.
Now we dock on the couch, by the door, in the kitchen, and on the floor. Yes, friends, I dock my kid here. I dock him there. I dock my Dockatot everywhere! The final verdict??? Absolutely worth it. Since its multi-functional use allows you to nix several other household AND travel baby items it becomes both a money and space saver. Since I can now sleep in peace it also becomes a stress saver!
