Hanging boat baby cradle plans?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

We're not expecting...yet, but if the stars align, we will be next year.  The missus has ordained that I shall build a hanging boat cradle.

Great!

But, uh...I can't find any plans.  Lots of pics.  Lots of blogs.  But no plans to purchase.

Can anybody help me out?  I don't need a free set of plans; I am happy to pay for them.

[stav]

Are you looking for something like this?



http://jordanwoodboats.com/wood-boat-pla...-tender-ii


Congrats on the future little one.

[DaveR1]

I made my own plans for a pram but used the stand from plans from Jordanwoodboats.

Picture removed

Obviously I rigged it a bit differently.



Maybe you could be a cradle LST


Congrats on the impending cherub.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Yeah, Stav, that's the one. Thanks a bunch!

She's 34, I'm 42. She *really* wants one more, hopefully a boy this time, and I'm, well, just dumb enough to go along with it.

[stav]

Good luck to you. I'm just a little bit more than 42 and I don't think I would agree to another at this point.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Dave--

The cradles I've built before had taller sides, and I *think* were recommended until around 5 months or so, when the kid starts working on sitting up and being able to grab the tops of the sides.

What about this design, with its shorter sides?

[Cooler]

Personally I have always declined to make cribs, beds, or any other infant equipment.  I fear that a design issue would lead to injury and I would be to blame.  

If you insist on going forward consider the design very, very carefully.

You must consider if the boat could be tipped over easily and spill the baby to the floor.

Also if the gunwales are high enough so the baby cannot climb out.

The deeper the hull, the more stable it would become. 

I would also watch for snag points on the interior of the hull.

Personally I would add a short section of rope or chain to the bottom of the boat to limit the side to side movement within safe levels.

Even professionally designed products can be risky:  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shot...tudy-finds

Baby injuries associated with nursery products like carriers, strollers and cribs are on the rise, a study shows.

The study, published Monday, found a 23.7 percent increase in injuries to young children related to nursery products between 2003 and 2011. In all, the authors analyzed 21 years of emergency department data.
The vast majority of these injuries were to the head, neck or face, and 80 percent of infants were injured because they fell — almost always at home. This could include situations like a child wiggling and causing his or her carrier to fall off a countertop, or a baby careening down the stairs in his or her walker.

[DaveR1]

What about this design, with its shorter sides?

Until the baby gets to the point where they are rolling over and moving around on their own, the height of the sides really makes little difference. Due to the shape of the bottom, the mattress has a bit of a hollow to it when the baby is in it so that tends to keep the little cherub in the middle anyway. He was sleeping in a crib by the time it was important to keep him actively contained.

When I first showed the finished cradle on a woodworking forum a lot of people insisted it would capsize and spill him on the floor. Due to the shape and the way it is suspended, it is impossible for a baby to capsize it. I loaded the cradle with about 40 pounds of weight on the gunwale at the beam and it didn't tip.

After he moved to the crib, the cradle became an ark for the stuffed critters and stayed in his bedroom for a few years. He did still fit in it when he was 2-1/2.
When he was about 5, he got the idea that he should take it down to the local creek and see if it floats. I told him it was only designed to be waterproof from the inside out. 

Picture removed.

One thing I would suggest if you use the stand from the Jordan Wood Boats plan is to modify them so that the stand can be knocked down I didn't do that and the stand takes up a lot of space. Actually I've recently cut the cross rail out and will remake it with wedged through tenons. I'm considering making that rail look like a pair of oars.

FWIW, I used pennies from his birth year to capture the brass axles for the sheaves in the top of the uprights.

[CLETUS]

What about this design, with its shorter sides?

The cradle is beautiful, but completely impractical. I'd start getting nervous when they start moving a bit, 3 months maybe?

I just turned 41... no freaking way.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Personally I have always declined to make cribs, beds, or any other infant equipment.  I fear that a design issue would lead to injury and I would be to blame.  

If you insist on going forward consider the design very, very carefully.

You must consider if the boat could be tipped over easily and spill the baby to the floor.

Also if the gunwales are high enough so the baby cannot climb out.

The deeper the hull, the more stable it would become. 

I would also watch for snag points on the interior of the hull.

Personally I would add a short section of rope or chain to the bottom of the boat to limit the side to side movement within safe levels.

Even professionally designed products can be risky:  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shot...tudy-finds

Baby injuries associated with nursery products like carriers, strollers and cribs are on the rise, a study shows.

The study, published Monday, found a 23.7 percent increase in injuries to young children related to nursery products between 2003 and 2011. In all, the authors analyzed 21 years of emergency department data.
The vast majority of these injuries were to the head, neck or face, and 80 percent of infants were injured because they fell — almost always at home. This could include situations like a child wiggling and causing his or her carrier to fall off a countertop, or a baby careening down the stairs in his or her walker.

I insist.

This will be the sixth cradle I'll build. Dozens of kids in them (one was for a church nursery), no dead ones.

Every concern you've mentioned has been addressed ad nauseum.