Heirloom Woods

A question I am frequently asked is "Why get a gliding cradle rather then the more conventional swinging cradle?".

Other then the obvious twins reasons my answer to the question is that it is a better design for the baby and the mother

. The gliding cradles motion is self limiting. No curious little ones are going to be able to push it hard enough so they can see if it will do a barrel roll. Push it to it's limit and the lower connectors contact the center post halting the motion.  

It is a stable design. This is the reason I don't include a "stop" between the cradle body and center post. Try to change a diaper in a swinging cradle without engaging a stop and the cradle wants to move away from you. With the gliding design the cradle wants to stay at rest and it takes a deliberate push to get it to move. Much easier when taking care of some of the messier chores. 

Another benefit of this design is that, when the cradle moves, it doesn't want to walk across the floor or tilt the cradle over. The weigh of the cradle and contents rests on the four points of the cross arms with it's center of gravity well below the top of the cradle. This, regardless of the cradles motion, keeps the forces centered on the uprights, not pulling to first one side then the other at a point well above the center of gravity . A situation that exists in a swinging cradle.

 Work hard enough at it and nothing is proof against tipping over but I believe this design takes far more force to tip over then the conventional swinging cradle design.

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