Oh, that reminds me…when my son was small and napping at my grandmothers, I’d push a couple of dining room chairs (they were heavy suckers) up to the loveseat so that they made a barricade. I’d totally forgotten about that!
The Finnish maternity box thing is fascinating! A practical, helpful support for mothers. And the box even has condoms in it. 
Can you imagine how that would go over in the US? “The gummint can’t tell me how to dress my baby! Next thing you know they’ll be issuing uniforms for all of us to wear! I don’t want my tax dollars buying stuff for those welfare/crack moms who’d rather have babies than work! Where’s my gun?”
There is a hospital in Texas that is implementing them. OK, it’s Austin which isn’t really Texas, but still.
I would just buy some cheap used baby stuff at Goodwill or garage sales. I can’t imagine $50 wouldn’t be enough for the basics, and the baby will probably need new stuff by the time the living situation becomes permanent (or not).
Partly that’s because I don’t sleep well with people in my bed. The baby might do fine in my bed, but I wouldn’t.
I remember when my son was a baby, I set him on the bed, (he was asleep at the time) while I went into the kitchen to grab something. While there, I heard this big “thud” emanating from the bedroom. My heart sank, and I became even more petrified when I did not immediately hear any crying afterwords.
So I ran into the bedroom as fast as I could. Only to find baby crawling his way towards me with I big ol’ smile on his face.
Not that I’m advocating leaving babies unattended on a bed, as that was phenomenally stupid of me.
I think you’ve hit upon the solution for making this happen in America! Baby’s First Glock would be a big hit, I think.
San Antonio != Austin. It’s no Dallas or Houston, sure, but it’s not Austin.
What about a sturdy appliance shipping box or packing crate?
Blanket on floor and chained to radiator?