I received this item at no cost to facilitate my review.
I feel like we can sum up my first four years of parenting with one statement: “I should’ve used a PeapodMat.” For instance …
- when I had the stomach flu while pregnant and puking stimulated other fluids to be released.
- when baby slept through the night without nursing and my boobs didn’t get the memo.
- when baby was having bare butt time in his crib and … well, you can guess.
- when we first moved to Calgary and the dry weather gave my son nightly (massive) nose bleeds.
- when we were in corporate housing and my son had an epic diaper-fail and I had to place an embarrassed call to housekeeping.
- when my preschooler got into bed with me and said his tummy felt funny, but I thought I was dreaming.
- when my newborn spat up after nursing. Every night. Always.
PeapodMats are the brainchild of Vancouver-based momtrepreneurs Amanda and Liz, who successfully pitched their multipurpose mat to CBC’s Dragons’ Den. This waterproof mat has three layers: a breathable terry cotton topper which is grid stitched to prevent bunching, a polyester liner to absorb liquid and a waterproof backing with brushed polyester to grip surfaces.
So yes, it’s a bedwetting and incontinence mat. But it stands out from similar products we’ve tried for a several reasons: it sits on top of your bedsheets so you don’t have to change the entire bed when there’s an accident; it doesn’t get bunched up and move under a sleeping child; it’s not crinkly or plastic-like and it has an absorbent core to prevent liquids seeping through to the sheets.
PeapodMats come in two sizes: 3′ x 3′ and 3′ x 5′. We selected the larger version to use in our queen-sized bed or on Cub’s twin bed. It’s the perfect size for a preschooler’s bed, unless your child often winds up curled up at the foot of their bed. It’s also big enough for Little Miss Cub’s sleeping radius, which typically has her perpendicular to me in the middle of the night.
I wish I could tell you that our PeapodMat had saved us from myriad nighttime disasters. But you know what PeapodMats are missing? If my iPhone can predict what I’m about to type, why can’t my PeapodMat predict WHICH child should be sleeping on the mat on any given night? Because let me tell you, I keep making the wrong choice. Little Miss is fast asleep on our dry Peapod and I am startled from slumber with Cub shrieking that he’s peed in his bed. (“Because you didn’t get here fast enough!”) Stripping the bed is THE WORST at three in the morning. Or I put the Peapod on Cub’s bed since he fell asleep before doing a last pee, but I roll over to a diaper leak from my co-sleeping daughter and have to sleep on a towel. I try to learn from my mistakes, so when I put the kids to bed in our hotel at Emerald Lake Lodge, I put it under both of them. Thank goodness, because Cub totally wet the bed, and at least he was half on the Peapod! I still had to leave a sheepish note for housekeeping … and kick myself for not putting the mat vertically under my pee-schooler, or for not owning two mats.
Another potential use of the Peapod? As a cat birthing mat. I’m joking, but considering how all the blankets I laid out for her when she was in labour just ended up balled up in the corner from her labouring movements, I probably should’ve used the Peapod for that too. After all, it’s really easy to launder!
While for us the PeapodMat is being used for its primary purpose, it can also be used for tummy time, as a playpen mat, a bath mat, a change pad, a picnic blanket … for any purpose that calls for a mat that is waterproof, absorbent, soft and grippy!
Since receiving our mat for review, we’ve ordered two more: one so that I don’t have to keep guessing which of my children should use it at night, and another is on its way to my aunt in Vancouver for son!
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Natasha at The Babyfootprint carries both sizes of PeapodMats in a variety of colours! Shop Now!


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