Wriggle Monsters Love Tuck n’ Snug Bedding

Master BB is a wriggle monster. You would not believe how much he can move in the night! He moves up and down the bed. He sleeps sat upright. He has even ended up on the floor. He moves so much, that at the start of this year, we were fed up of hearing him bumping his way around his cot bed (very low to the ground), and we decided the time had come to invest in a grown up single bed for him. However, this new bed is much higher than his old bed, and whilst his Slumbersacs keep Master BB warm, falling out is a constant concern.

In February, Master BB got pneumonia. This left him needing oxygen at night time. However, he was such a wriggle monster that he kept getting tangled in the oxygen tubing. After three weeks, he had wrapped the tubing around his neck so many times that we were ordered back into hospital for his own safety. However, we stayed at home for one more night, and a nurse came to our house and watched over Master BB to keep him safe. I thought she would have a quiet night, however in the morning she remarked how she had been kept on her toes, because Master BB moved so much in the night that she couldn’t keep up!
After overnight monitoring at the hospital, we thankfully were allowed to come home from hospital oxygen free. Just days later, we went to the Harrogate International Nursery Fair. After the fair, Little Miss BB brought me two envelopes and asked if she could open them. Out of the envelopes came one of the best marketing ideas we have every seen – a bedroom backdrop with tiny beds and bedding (although it is missing some people!).  I helped Little Miss BB set everything up and she played for hours with the sets. They are still played with in her bedroom over a month later. The bedroom sets were advertising Tuck n’ Snug bedding. Whilst Little Miss BB played happily, I sat and read the information about this genius idea to keep children safer and warmer in bed. We knew that having a Tuck n’ Snug duvet cover could well prevent Master BB from moving as much as he does, and give us all a better night’s sleep!

What is Tuck n’ Snug bedding?
Tuck n’ Snug bedding is a duvet cover and pillowcase that have additional long flaps on them. These flaps are placed underneath the mattress so that the duvet and pillow are held securely in position in the bed. The child has plenty of room to wriggle and move, but they hopefully won’t fall out.

We tried to order some Tuck n’ Snug bedding, but we had a few issues with checking out via the website. So we wrote and told the owners that we were having problems and had been unable to check out (all sorted now). As a result, they thoughtfully offered us a set of bedding to try, which we appreciated.

Master BB was VERY happy. We have two cats, so he loved the kitten motif. We really liked the bedding because it was simple, classic crisp white bed linen which was beautifully embroidered with a subtle splash of colour in the ears, nose and on the tail. It sat very well with us, because all Master BB’s bedding is similar – white with embroidery.
So, we headed upstairs and made up Master BB’s bed with the new Tuck n’ Snug bedding. We first put the pillow into the pillowcase; and the duvet into the duvet cover. Then we put the two flaps on the pillow (see photo above) underneath the mattress. This held the pillow into position. Then we tucked the foot end flap underneath the mattress, followed by tucking in the flaps at each side. We made sure that the flaps were well underneath the bed. At the end, the bed looked exactly like any other bed with a duvet and pillow on. Master BB tucked his ‘baby’ into bed, and then got his pyjamas on.  You can tell from the look on his face that he was happy. He signed ‘sleep’ and I said ‘Goodnight’.

When I went to bed, I was impressed to find Master BB asleep still underneath the duvet, however by morning he had wriggled his way out. He had not gone far from the opening of the duvet though, so the Tuck n’ Snug bedding had limited wriggling for most of the night. Generally speaking, this has been our experience over all – the bedding is lessening movement. We never expected the Tuck n’ Snug bedding to be a cure, and indeed Annabel from Tuck ‘n Snug warned us of this, but for us, simply reducing the amount of movement that Master BB does on a night, has given greater peace of mind that he is unlikely to reach the end of the bed (where the end of the bed guard is) and fall out. It would have helped us considerably if Master BB has remained on oxygen, and this would be useful for parents with children on oxygen or CPAP, to maybe consider.

I know from years of experience as a nanny, that one of the most likely reasons why a small child wakes up in the wee small hours of the morning ie 4/5/6am is because they are cold. This Tuck n’ Snug bedding hopefully will be a great way to stop early morning wakening by keeping the child warm and cosy all night long. It is great that Tuck n’ Snug comes in cot bed size as well as single duvet size. I think that the Tuck ‘n Snug is definitely worth a try if you have a wriggler, or an early morning waker.

Just as a final comment, we have a big issue of how to keep Master BB safe on holidays. We already had inflatable beds, but we want Master BB to be able to sleep in a normal single bed, plus an inflatable bed is heavy to fly with. A parent kindly sign posted me to these brilliant Deryan  Besdtents. They are like mini outdoor tents and are very lightweight – simply fabric, mesh and some flexible rods. The bed tent has a flap around the base, which goes underneath the mattress, with the tent part above. There is a zip opening on one side which may be a flaw! We have yet to try this out on holiday, however, we thought this post would be a good place to mention it, as it may help someone else who is struggling to find a way to keep an older child safe in bed.