Is the Slumberpod Worth It? My Honest Thoughts After 2 Years

Is the Slumberpod worth it? You’ve likely seen it on social media and wondered, is this actually the godsend they say it is?

After some deliberation, I bought one and tested it so that we an answer the question once and for all: Will it help everyone get better sleep on vacation, and is it really worth $200?!

Here’s what you need to know before buying a Slumberpod (which I bought with my own money. This is not a sponsored post):

The Idea Behind the Slumberpod

I initially bought the Slumberpod for situations where we’d be sharing a room with our baby, which is often on vacation. If you’ve ever traveled with a baby and needed to share a room with them, chances are good you have sat in the dark, trying to be silent while they go to sleep an hour or three before it’s your bedtime. I like to avoid that.

We brought it on several trips with us when our little guy was 6 months old, then he did fine sleeping in the Guava Lotus with blankets over the top for a while, so it was less necessary, then he stopped sleeping well in the Lotus and would wake us all up if he saw us while we shared a room. The Slumberpod has been a great solution for this, and when he’s done with cribs, we’ll do an inflatable mattress inside.

The Slumberpod (use code bemytravelmuse for 20% off) is basically a bottomless tent made out of blackout curtains. It’s quick to assemble with soft fabric, a pocket for a baby monitor and fan, and two areas you can unzip for ventilation. It doesn’t unzip all the way to the bottom or have zippers inside like a standard tent, so it’s safe from toddler fingers.

It’s lightweight, and once assembled, you can easily lift it up and pop it over a pack and play, toddler bed, Guava Lotus, and some smaller hotel cribs. I’ve even squeezed it over our full sized crib at home.

Slumberpod Specs:

• Weighs 5lbs
• Assembled: 50 inches long, 36 inches wide, 56 inches tall. 
• Disassembled: 17 inches long, 5 inches wide, 6 inches tall bag.
• SlumberPod fits playards 39-40 inches long, 28-30 inches wide and 28-34 inches tall.
• Safe to use for ages 4 months to 5 years old.
• Approved for indoor use only.
• Can use with or without fan (which Slumberpod makes).

Does the Slumberpod Work?

Slumberpod usefulness will vary from baby to baby and I’m finding age matters, too. I’ve had some moms message me on Instagram that a Slumberpod ‘isn’t necessary’ but I’d like to invite them to share a room with my now-toddler and see if they still feel that way after one night.

This has been our progression with the Slumberpod:

• 6-8 months: Very useful while we were still using the Guava Lotus in bassinet mode.
• 9-20 months: Not as necessary since we could use a blanket to make the Guava Lotus dark enough.
• 21+ months: Essential if we share a room so that he doesn’t wake up, see us in the room, and keep us up all night.

Having a dark space for him to sleep that can hold the baby monitor, create a nice cocoon with white noise and his fan, and that gives us the ability to turn the lights on after he goes to sleep is a game changer for us. I have several friends who use it every night at home, too!

We use his usual white noise machine and have him in a sleep sack he loves. All of the other sleep cues we have at home remain the same. The Slumberpod (use code bemytravelmuse for 20% off) has proven very useful for us.

The Material

The material is stretchy, quiet (essential for zipping quietly), and soft.

Does The Slumberpod Travel Well?

I initially bought the Slumberpod only intending to use it on road trips with our baby, but we’ve flown with it many times as well. In Norway where we had the midnight sun, it was an essential companion to keep the room dark enough.

It takes up such a small amount of suitcase real estate that we bring it on every trip now where we might have to share a room. It’s also soft and doesn’t damage easily, so packing it into a suitcase is no problem.

Is The Slumberpod Safe?

Is the Slumberpod really safe to use?

According to Slumberpod’s FAQs, “SlumberPod passes all applicable juvenile product safety tests in the United States, Canada and Europe.

We submitted SlumberPod for an additional, voluntary assessment and expert opinion using advanced test methods. The evaluating doctor (selected by the independent, third-party lab – and not by the SlumberPod team) independently concluded that the product “presents a low hazard” for CO2 rebreathing.”

Personally, I would probably not use it in a hot or humid room where I couldn’t use air conditioning to cool things down, however I haven’t been in that situation with it yet. With the fan, I find the space inside the Slumberpod is quite comfortable, plus the vents are an option as well. I love that there’s an easy baby monitor pocket, so if I’m ever concerned, I can take a peek and have peace of mind.

We could still hear if there were any issues, but I like being able to look at my baby as well.

What Age is it For?

Slumberpod states that it can be used for infants four months and up, and with toddler beds all the way up to five years.

Which Cribs and Beds is it Compatible With?

We used the slumber pod with my Guava Lotus bassinet, and it fit perfectly. It is compatible with most pack and plays and mini cribs as well as toddler cots. You can check their website here for full compatibility.

If you’re unsure if it will work with a hotel crib, you can call the hotel to ask for the crib type or measurements and compare with the Slumberpod measurements, noted above in this post.

What I Don’t Like About the Slumberpod

When you’re putting the tent together, the two poles are incredibly long. Although it’s easy to put up with two people, be careful you don’t poke someone’s eye out.

On the other hand, it helps simplify things because there’s only two poles that cross like an X across the top.

The monitor pocket is also useless with the wrong monitor. We first tried it with the Owlet, which didn’t work, but it did work with our cheap analog travel monitor. Here’s a list of compatible monitors.

Is the Slumberpod Worth $200?

If you’re going to be sharing a bedroom, you might want to seriously consider how you’re going to keep it dark enough if you don’t want to go to sleep at 7:30, and how likely your kiddo is to wake you up if they can see you in the early AM. Now that my son is a toddler, he will definitely wake us up in the middle of the night if he doesn’t have his own space.

You can purchase directly from Slumberpod (use code bemytravelmuse for 20% off!) and then sell it when you’re done.

I’m glad the Slumberpod exists. I genuinely don’t know how we could share a room with my toddler without one.

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*This is not a sponsored review, but some posts in this link are affiliate links that help me out at no extra cost whatsoever to you. Thanks for keeping our site going!