The night when Johannes came or sewing DIY babynest

Baby Johannes, 10 days old, sleeping in his babynest

Johannes was born in the early morning hours of February 7th. The night preceding this historical happening I was busy sewing. Of course, at the moment I didn’t know he was on his way, so I didn’t mind staying up all night. All I wanted was to finish the sewing project I had started earlier that day.

I was making a babynest. Babynest is a product originated in Sweden and is to be used when the child sleeps with the parents in their bed. Babynest makes a cozy sleeping place for the baby and protects him at night.

The Swedish original: Babynest

At the time I didn’t know if a babynest something we really were going to need (you never know these things before getting the actual baby), so I didn’t want to spend money on the original babynest, and that’s why I decided to make one myself. I used organic linen and cotton mix fabric for this.

DIY babynest, pulled together

I’m a hobby sewer, so this project took me all night to complete! Also, I’ve improved it by making it rectangular in the “head part” to leave more space for arms. I also added strings, so you can pull it together while the baby is still very small and gradually loosen it when the baby grows bigger.

Baby Johannes, 4 months old, playing in his babynest

In hindsight, this babynest is probably the greatest baby-related item we have! Johannes still sleeps in our bed a lot (and it’s the best thing ever!) and his babynest really gives him a sense of security. Also, it protects him from me rolling over him at night, although the risk of that occurring is zero, since I always sleep with one eye open now that I have him.

And yes, that special night, by the time I was done sewing (around 6 o’clock in the morning) I was falling off my feet from how tired I was. Imagine my surprise when, as my head was about to touch the pillow, I realized that Johannes was about to come out. “Is this really happening?!..” And then two hours later he was here!