A Robust Side Bed for Our Incoming Daughter

Our daughter will be born soon and we need a crib for at least next six months, before moving her into a bigger cot.

We were looking for a low cost and custom solution so we evaluated multiple options.

Personally I don't want the baby to sleep in the bed with us because I move a lot during the night and I am scared to harm her. In the meantime I think the best for my wife is to have the baby really close to easily let her drink the night, without standing up.

I was inspired by this https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Sidecar-Co...

This variant to the original design was suggested by Angelo, a dear colleague of mine. I also received a lot of hints and suggestions by local vendors where I bought material.

This is the design phase...

Use the sketch above and choose your sizes according to your needs.

Material I used is 2.5cm thick multilayer poplar. It is quite robust and should not warp with aging.

I asked the shop to cut the planks with the required sizing. I also asked for the round cut because I haven't any adequate tool to do it.

It is worth to notice that the horizontal plank is sligthly larger than 35cm to avoid any empty space between the crib and the mattress. It's not mandatory but you have to evaluate if it is your case.

Rounding the borders is a must! I am not a carpenter and the easiest solution I have found is to use a half pipe together with the sandpaper.

Find a pipe with a diameter slightly greater than the thickness of the planks, let's say 4-5cm should be ok.

Cut it with a saw. Put a rough sandpaper inside and good luck...

I spent about 1 hour for each plank.

If you don't want to add chemicals to your project, skip this step.

Else...

1) Use a fine sandpaper to finish the plank and make it smooth

2) Make one or two pass of mordant

3) Make one or two pass of wax

It is extremely important that the horizontal plank, where the baby sleeps, is perfectly in level.

Even if you make precise measurements you will always risk to make a mistake because of imperfections of the floor of the room or due to the lateral planks or what else.

I suggest to put small slats on the lateral planks that can be used later to level the horizontal one. These are not a support but are helpful as reference for the next step.

Be sure they are aligned on both lateral planks.

Now you have to assemble the planks numbered 1, 2, 3 as in the first picture.

The easiest way I have found to do the job is using screws. Screws here are 5cm long and 4mm diameter.

Find a way to hold the planks 1 and 3 at 90 degree.

Drill a 2mm hole.

Use the countersink to enlarge a slot for the head of the screw.

Make the same with plank number 2.

Put the horizontal plank on top of the slats and use small spacers until it is in perfect level.

As optional steps I suggest to drill holes for air intakes and to perform a stress test.

The former is needed to avoid mold formation due to humidity, while the latter is to be sure the crib can stand few Kg of your son/daughter.

Also this step is optional and is suggested if you fear the crib can move away from your mattress during the night.

My wife added nice decorations simply gluing them.

My mother is doing buffers to put on the borders. I will update the instructable when I have new pictures.