That 70’s Crib
There are a few things I don’t like to blog about. One is my marriage. Another is my religious beliefs. And another is parenting. I love to write about Baby Bug but parenting, as a topic, is a whole other fish. Parenting is so subjective and everyone feels strongly if not passionate about the choices they’ve made. So I’m afraid to admit to some of the choices I’ve made because I know there is going to be somebody (or lots of people) out there shaking their head. I can just hear the voices in my head, “Brenda Brenda Brenda….you would have saved yourself so much heartache if you would have just done x y and z instead of a b and c…”
So until now I’d rather just commit my mistakes in private. But I have to come clean on one of them for the sake of a good story. At least I hope it’s a good story.
Here it is. Here is my big confession. I have separation anxiety with Baby Bug. I don’t like to let her sleep alone. She’s probably fine without me but I’m not fine without her. I get lonely for her if I’m separated from her for more than an hour.
This was all fine and good when she was sleeping in her bassinet beside my bed. But then she started growing and I’d wake up to see a leg flying over the side of the bassinet. I knew it was only a matter of time before it was an arm and a leg and then… Kerplop! there she’d go, right over the side of the bassinet and onto the floor.
I didn’t know what to do. Toby and I agonized about this for weeks. We let her stay in her bassinet until she was six months old and way way way past the time to be moving to a crib. Not size wise, because she’s a small little scrapper of a baby, but way too big intelligence wise. She could almost sit up and discuss politics and weather with us if she wanted to.
I read in all the books that at around three months, babies can sleep through the night. A lot of people say it’s a good idea to move them to their crib in another room so you don’t wake up and feed them at every little cry. The thing is, I like waking up and feeding her in the night. She’s not a really good eater during the daytime and I felt like maybe this was a time for her to catch up on her needed calories. LIke I said earlier, she’s a little scrapper. The circumference of her thighs are a quarter of the size of all the other babies her age. Plus I’m a light sleeper and I didn’t mind. She’s a good baby and goes immediately back to sleep without much fuss. I figured if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
But then she out grew the bassinet and I HAD to move her to her crib for her own safety’s sake. So what do I do? The crib is sooooo far away from my bed and we have thick walls so I can’t hear her any more. I couldn’t handle it. I slept on the floor beside her crib in her room. I KNOW!!! I’m a freak! I slept on the floor for two weeks. No futon, no air mattress, no tatami mat, just me and my not so boney butt on the floor. The funny thing is, I slept great on the floor. Sometimes I think that one sixteenth native American in me shows up in my ability to sleep anywhere. That and the tan I get five minutes after walking into the sun.
The floor was great but then we got fleas. (I know as I type this, anybody who knows me in real life is never ever going to set foot in my house again. We are so disgusting.) We have cats and our cats are allowed to go in and out during the day. What do you know they brought some buggy friends in with them to sleep with me on the floor at night. I was getting bitten to pieces. It was pathetic. Especially when I have a perfectly good bed to sleep in right down the hall. We got rid of the fleas with a swift treatment of dog sized flea repellant but still… sleeping on the floor is just strange and weird. I was starting to get embarrassed to talk to my mom on the phone and admit that I was still sleeping on the floor.
I have to put some of the blame on Toby too. He doesn’t like Baby Bug to sleep alone either. Since he works all night and sleeps in the day, it wasn’t like he was missing me.
“Why don’t you use your baby monitors?” asks my mom. “Isn’t that what they are for?” Yeah, but the baby monitors are creepy at night. We have thick walls in our old 1950’s beach bungalow and the monitors seemed to pick up all kinds of other sounds besides the baby. Like weird creaking doors and speaker feedback and warbling voices from the un-dead. I’d rather just use them in the day time when my imagination doesn’t run away with me.
I decided I’d find the perfect portacrib that I could put beside my bed in place of the bassinet. A halfway-there-crib, if you will. I searched long and hard. Portacribs are great but none of them could get past Toby’s stringent rules. Toby has this strange phobia about the baby sleeping near the floor. Something about drafts and dandruff and I don’t know… he loses me when he trys to explain it to me.
It’s okay for his wife to sleep on the floor and get eaten alive by fleas but the baby needs to be properly cared for. And that means her bed must be more than six inches off the floor. No matter where I looked for portacribs, there were only two heights for sleeping. There’s the top height for little babies who can’t sit up and roll over and the bottom height that is near the floor in “play pen” mode. None of these beds could pass the Toby test.
You think he’s crazy, don’t you? Try living with him. I even told him that I and the whole internet think he’s crazy and he told me when it comes to his baby he really doesn’t care what the whole internet thinks. I guess I can’t argue with that.
Thankfully, my mom came to the rescue. She offered me the use of the old crib she used to use for my brother back in the 70’s. It’s small like a porta-crib but it’s wooden and it has legs with peg holes in them that allow you to raise or lower the bed to all different heights. All you have to do is adjust the wing nuts on the side of each leg. It’s brilliant! Why don’t they make things like this anymore?
Probably because it’s also a death trap. The slats are more than two inches apart and when I put Baby Bug in it to test it, she rolled her head in between the slats and gave herself a nice nick on the top of her head. I felt so bad. The slats aren’t so far apart that she could stick her whole head through and strangle herself but they are far enough apart that she can partially roll her head into them. It’s hard to describe. I tried to explain it to Toby by saying she rolled the “corner” of her head in between the slats but of course he had to say something smart ass about Baby Bug’s head not being a square and it doesn’t have corners. Whatever.
I slept on the floor for a few more nights until Toby got home from his little trip up north and he finally got to see the 70’s crib. What do you know, he decided that it could be safe enough if I could make a custom bumper pad for it that was extra high so she couldn’t roll her very round head in between the slats.
A custom bumper pad.
I’m crafty but not that crafty. But I was also a little tired (and embarrased) of sleeping on the floor, no matter how well I slept. So I hauled out my trusty sewing machine, bought some foam and managed to sew a gargantuan bumper pad exactly 14 inches high and whatever many feet it takes to go all the way around the crib. Phew! It was hard work.
Trying to get a sewing project done while taking care of a baby is nearly IMPOSSIBLE. Just cutting out the fabric, using the entire length of my living room floor, was a feat of gigantic proportions. I managed to get both chocolate and nectarine juice on the fabric. Don’t all mom’s have chocolate and nectarine juice on their knees when they’re down on all fours cutting great swaths of fabric for a bumper pad? Arg. Good thing I’ve discovered the Tide pen (that I can’t find a direct link to) that works like magic. Adding laundry to the mix was not part of the deal. I can only work one miracle a day.
I sewed and I sewed and after attaching fifty-some avocado green ribbons (as ties because there was no way I was going to make my own custom ties) I had myself a pretty nifty looking bumper pad. It’s a pretty nifty looking crib too, if I don’t mind saying so myself. I like the peach, yellow and green bead decoration. The colors are so much better than what they have to sell at BabysRUs.
This half-way-there crib should last us another few months or so… until Baby Bug learns how to stand up and teeter the crib back and forth on it’s spindly legs. Maybe by THEN I’ll be ready for her to sleep by herself.
45 Comments
Kikki's Mama
Oh Brenda do you know how many other moms feel like that?? Many I’m sure. I know I have seperation anxiety as well. She slept in a bassinet until 15 lbs (limit) and then the only way she could sleep in her own crib in her own room is because we have a little tv screen monitor I can see her on. It has night vision so I can see her perfectly the entire night. And I do wake up and look at her. I like it better because even in a pack’n’play or crib, if there is a bumper, it’s hard to see the baby, at night too. Due to the infrared, I can see her on the monitor better then I could in the dark in person. It’s awesome. The hardest part was going back to work… Been back a month and a half and I’m late almost every day because leaving her e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y is so hard…
I sleep on the couch in the living room if my husband doesn’t move the monitor to the bedroom before I fall asleep. OK so I probably wouldn’t pick the floor… But I think that’s the reason why many people choose to co-sleep, because they can’t be away from the babies either. Gosh who knew it would be this hard before we had kids, huh?
Nila
Moving my baby to his own room (10 years ago) was the hardest thing. He actually ended up sleeping in our bed for a year. Then I got pregnant again and decided to break the habit. I guess it would have been easier if we would have done it when he was younger, but you do what you have to do to survive, and amazingly enough, they turn out okay, and so do you. With my second, however, it was straight to the crib, because I’m not that crazy.
I’m glad you found a solution. This parenting stuff is all about trial and error.
nina
My own baby girl is now nearly 20, so I guess I am at the age where I could be a grandmother.
Maybe I’m being a little nebby here, but the safety issue of the crib slats and also the bumper pads worries me. Babybug is getting to the age where bumper pads are removed from the crib for safety reasons. Little ones can get trapped.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/legislation/pol/bumper-bordure_e.html
It’s the link for crib safety in Canada.
My mother in law wanted me to use an older crib from her side of the family. Wide slats that could trap a little head, corner posts where my little one could get her clothes caught, etc. I got quite an earful about earlier generations who were raised just fine in that crib and no-you-are-not-cutting-off the end posts-you-worry-too-much. Bottom line, if it doesn’t meet current safety guidelines, please, please buy a safer crib! Babies are so precious.
BeachMama
You are not alone. Phew, I hope you feel better, I know I do for sure. I feel terrible you slept on the floor. I had the foresight (thanks to a girlfriend) to put a bed in J’s room. His room at our old house was pretty small, but it fit a single bed and a crib. His bed is a cool daybed from IKEA that pulls out into a double with big drawers underneath (such a digression). Anyhow, since J was such a chunck of a baby he could not stay in the bassinet for more than three weeks. He was way too heavy and could not sleep properly. So off he went to the crib. Many nights I spent sleeping on the daybed in his room. When he got colds or I couldn’t sleep without being close to him, off I went from our room to his room.
There is nothing wrong with loving your baby so much you miss them when you are away from them. J will be three in a few weeks and I still miss him when we are apart for more than an hour. Two Saturdays ago, I went golfing for the first time since before he was born. I missed him so much I called my Mom every four holes to see how they were. She laughs at me but that’s ok, I love him to bits, that is why I wanted to be a Mom so badly. So I could be a Mom.
Enjoy sleeping in your bed again.
Matthew Miller
I dunno which “all the books” say that babies can sleep through the night at 3 months. *Some* certainly can, but a whole bunch sure don’t. (And that’s even using the somewhat-deceptive “standard” defintion of “through the night”, which is “five hours straight”.)
Anyway, I don’ think you’re weird for sleeping on the floor next to the crib. I did that for a week too, to help our daughter transition to sleeping in the crib instead of in our bed. (It worked, too.)
But, uh, also — aren’t crib bumper pads supposed to be horribly deadly? http://babyproducts.about.com/od/recallsandsafety/a/bumpersafety.htm
josephine
Oh dear… just when I thought I’d finally solved the problem. Maybe a mesh bumper pad?
Ines
I have a bumper on my 1 year old son’s mini crib…. It is much smaller than the average bumper. All I do is make sure to tuck the bottom of the bumper to the sides of the mattress (does that make sense?) that way the bumper doesn’t move around and is secure. As long as baby bug is strong enough to move herself around you shouldn’t worry too much!
Becki
That bumper scares me too! I know a lady who’s 9 month old suffocated in her crib and died. Even if they can roll over and around very well, I would still be afraid. My SIL uses a mesh one that she ordered off the internet; I think One Step Ahead is the name. That kept her daughter’s arms, legs and head out of between the slats. check it out.
jP
Bumper pads are fine until they can stand up. Then they will use anything to get over the edge and out on their own. Make sure the mattress is thick enough that you don’t have to worry about the slats on the bottom. The big hazard is if there are any gaps she could fall into and not be able to roll out of.
Do what you need to do today, because it will change tomorrow.
Mitchell didn’t sleep through the night with out getting in bed with us until he was in 1st grade.
carrien
Toby wouldn’t like this idea, but we all slept on the floor. We had hardwood floors and we put our mattresses right down on the floor. I actually like what it looks like, it has a very oldfashioned japanese zen like feel, and it makes a room look larger. The babies slept with me until it was time for their own bed and then we put a toddler size matress next to ours. My two year old is still on a matress on the floor in our room. YOu are not at all crazy or pathetic for sleeping near your baby.
HAve you thought about installing extra bars in between the existing ones. I’m sure if you sanded some wood slats really smooth and screwed them on it would make it safe enough. The nice people at home depot should be able to help you out with how to hide the screws so they aren’t sticking out so she can’t scratch herself. Alternatively, I’ve seen cribs fitted with solid wood sides, which would be doable also, you just need to take careful measurements. Home depot does the first three cuts for free and they can cut to size for you, if you have no power tools. YOu can fit it to the indent where the bars begin and fasten from the outside. Anyway, You’re creative enough to figure out something.
Before I came up with the floor thing, I had all of the plans drawn out for my husband to custom make a sidecar bed that fitted our own, but he’s a carpenter, so I can ask for things like that.
OH wait, one more Idea. you could staple mesh all around inside the slats to make a permanent bumper, and it would be really simple if you can get your hands on one of those staple guns.
Your bumper looks really cute by the way.
jP
Oh, and cut off those colorful balls that decorate the sides. The are too small. Just move her into her own room and each night you sleep a little closer to the door until you have moved out of the room. It will prepare both of you for the separation.
Sistina
I bought one of those Arm’s Reach Co-sleepers. It attaches to your bed and the original size is big enough to be a portable crib/playpen when they outgrow it. Great product, but she hasn’t slept in it since she was 2 months old. She sleeps beside me and the co-sleeper is a landing pad in case she rolls off the bed. Now she’s seven months and is crawling/sitting up/pulling up so I guess it’s time I think about the crib thing too. Maybe I’ll move her crib into our room for a while…
lin
Oh I really thought that it was just me when my son was 6 months old I moved him to his crib (ok well i tried) he really slept so much better but I never did I was in and out of bed all night checking on him. I sleep alone because daddy works nights so I was really lonley and in a wierd way NEEDED him next to me. So for 2 months I would stay up late avoiding bed time and then try to lay down, long story short I’d end up bringing him into my bed just so I could sleep. I’d like to say I got over it but he’s 21 months old and I still go look in on him. Good luck and it’ll all come together, you and toby seem to have everything under control even when it seems ur lost.
whoorl
WHAT? Now bumpers are unsafe? Jeez, I can’t keep up with this stuff….
gretchen
My first son had allergies as an infant and was congested/coughed a lot. He slept in his bouncy seat (do you have one of those?) for a long time, on the floor next to the couch, next to the bed, sometimes right on the bed with me. Yes, the bouncy seat ON the bed- that’s probably not real safe either.
But bouncy seats sit kind of close to the floor- might not pass Toby’s test.
My sons are 6 and 2 now and I still check on them a lot. My husband wishes I would get rid of the baby monitor, but I just can’t. I might miss a cough or a whimper!
Good luck.
Polichick
I think it looks great!
Matthew Miller
Whoorl — I think there was a memo. Turns out, *everything* is deadly.
The primary concerns with bumpers appear to be 1) could get face smashed into corner and not be able to breathe, and 2) reduced airflow means rebreathing carbon dioxide instead of getting fresh oxygen, possibly leading to increased SIDS risk.
The first I don’t think is really an issue for a baby who can roll around and lift her own head. The second, I don’t really have any expertise on, but it sounds plausible. More air is good.
Kikki's Mama
I’d check out the age for which the SIDS is most likely. I thought once a child can roll over, about 6 months, the SIDS is no longer considered a serious risk. I believe, but don’t quote me, that most SIDS cases happen before 6 months. SInce BabyBUg is 6 months, I would venture to conclude that it would no longer be a risk. But again I’d research first. We had one of those complete crib sets that came with bumpers and we took it off only because she’d roll into the edge where the crib and bumber meet and her nose would be right up againts it. We hated seeing that and were worried she’d suffocate/ risk of SIDS goes up. But plenty of people use bumbers.
Jennifer
I’m so glad you shared a parenting story because that was a great one. My 4 year old hated anyone in the room with her and refused to sleep until we left the room starting at 2 months. So, we left the room and she slept 12 hours a night. When my now 7 month old turned 6 weeks she was shaking her bassinette so violently at night that we made the leap to the crib in her own room. That’s when she began sleeping 12 hours a night also. We installed a video monitor at the foot of the crib. That monitor is attached to my hip (literally). I can see what she’s doing with the click of a button any time I want.
My MIL made my baby’s bedding including bumpers and I use them. She sewed on little bows that my baby loves to play with and chew on when she wakes up in the morning. They are pretty lightweight and floppy so I haven’t worred about the use of them. If I was I would probably use those mesh bumpers so the gaps in the crib aren’t a problem.
If sleeping on the floor being bitten by fleas isn’t the sign of a great mother, I don’t know what is! I bet Baby Bug will love hearing this story when she is older.
Christina
Being the mom of two children one who is now 19 years old and one that is 6 and 1/2 years old..
let me risk being boiled in hot oil to tell you how I raised my children.
1) they both slept on their tummys
2) they both had crib bumbers
3) they both started solid foods at 6 weeks old.. and no it wasn’t steak and eggs
4) only one had a pacifier until she was 2 &1/2 years old and started preschool
5) only one was breast fed.. yet they both had to have their tonsils and adnoids removed as well as repeated surgerys to implant tubes that never seemed to stay in very long.
6) they have both had every shot known to man kind available. I believe in vaccinateing my children against the herd. And you damn well better believe my daughter will have the vaccine for cervical cancer… if I thought she could get the shot 5 times she would have it! ( my son and I both had chicken pox the year they came out with the vaccine.. I was 25 he was 7.. yeah that sucked)
I tell you all this to let you know.. as many mothers as their are on the face of the planet their are opinions on how to best raise YOUR child. I did what was right for my children. Yes, since the time my son was born things had changed a bit by the time my daughter was born. I mean 13 years is a long time. But you know what.. neither of them have food allergies, neither of them have any long term illnesses.. they both got a slight fever and discomfort from thier shots, nothing a little loving from mom and some tylenol didn’t help. They slept on their stomaches because they liked it! Sleeping on their stomachs to this very day! I did the whole back to sleep thing with my daughter and guess what NO ONE got any sleep in my house, until I laid her down on her tummy and was patting her back, thinking I was the worlds worst mommy cause all the web sites and experts say to NEVER do that. Yeah guess what? Best 2 hours of sleep I EVER had!
I know I’m rambleing.. I just get my dander all up in a fuss when well intentioned Mommybodies try to tell other Mom’s what is BEST for children that are not their OWN. Not every thing works for every child or family. Period.
Your a good mom no matter what you do.. period end of story.
If that means that Baby Bug sleeps on your chest attached to you boob SO WHAT!! or if your more comfortable with her in a 70’s porta crib.. yeah and??
My 19 year old slept in one.. guess what.. he’s doing JUST FINE!~
gentle hugs Mom.. your doing a GREAT JOB!!
Jennifer
I’ll admit to putting my 7 month old to sleep on her tummy from day one. My oldest had severe head flattening and had to wear a helmet for 3 months for 23 hours a day starting from the age of 4 months. I didn’t want to go THERE again.
mipmup
i totally got my head stuck in my crib when i was a kid.
Carrie
You are not alone in your feelings! That’s why we co-sleep–we have no belief that is is better for the baby or anything, I just can’t stand to be seperated from the baby and he won’t sleep in his crib. I know we are bad bad bad (or so I am told by a couple of my friends all the time) but oh well. We just gotta do what we gotta do, right? It’s to the point where I won’t even mention if E is asleep or awake to a couple of people because they make such snide comments if they hear he is not in a crib. I’m not sure why they care so much.
Good job on the giant bumper! I don’t know how you managed that with a six-month-old in the house. I miss quilting so much!
Carrie
Ok, now I’ve read all the comments. Wow. I had no idea bumpers were bad. I thought I’d read everything I could read, but never came across that. We have a cute bumper in E’s crib but I guess it won’t matter since the laundry doesn’t have much of a chance of suffocating (should I even be admitting that our crib has turned into our laundry catcher?).
GenE Shockley
great sewing skills. You have to do what you have to do.
That being said, and myself living in Heat Suffocating Texas, I have to ask: Haven’t you said your house is not air conditioned? Does baby bug have enough air circulation over the bumper pad to be comfortable temperature wise?
gbs
margalit
YOur solution is great. That’s the kinda portacrib they used to use in hotels. But….you need to add some kind of attachment from the bumper to each of the slats on the bottom, so that the bumper won’t shift and Bug can’t get her head stuck there. What you made is fine. You might want to consider mesh once she starts standing. You can buy it in a fabric store.
But please, make some kind of attachment at the bottom, and NOT ties that she can pull off and choke on. Maybe some kind of drapery ring. Take a trip in the new fancy car to the fabric store and see what they have.
Good job! Oh, my 14 year old kids STILL crawl into my bed, and we just had fleas, too.
Texas T-bone
That’s the downside of the Internet, so many people won’t let you find out things for yourself. That includes things other people think are “mistakes.” Do your best; that’s all your daughter will need. (oops … more unsolicited advice. whatever!)
Ellen
Get theeself a Pack-N-Play, girl. We used ours all over the house everyday for the first year. Definitely not a waste of money.
Ellen
Thyself. Whatever.
ellamama
OMG, so many paranoid meanies. I just wanted to say I like that seventies crib. My son (eleven months) has never made a full night in his crib, and there is no way that five hours is “sleeping through the night. ” Bug won’t pull off the cute wooden knobs to choke on the ribbons. Sleep well.
HF
for when you get to the next stage –
ikea’s “diktat” series has a great wooden crib. The slats are closer together and it later converts to a junior bed.
jP
Not that anyone will read this so far down the line, BUT I feel I do have a dog in this discussion since I am the elder SIL. There is a reason modifications were made on cribs and you are advised not to buy them from yard sales. Heaven forbid I give advise earned in my 48 years of life experience to my sister in law.
By the way, great sewing job. I like the idea of attaching the bumper at the bottom. If ties are okay at the top, why aren’t the okay at the bottom if they are tied on the outside?
nessa
Brenda – You are not alone. Do not feel ashamed of your parenting decisions. My daughter is 15m old and spends at the bare minimum 4hrs per night in our bed. She didn’t sleep in her crib until she was 6m old (and that was because she was rolling & crawling). Some nights she won’t go down with out me (usually teething related), so I go to bed at 9p with her. You do what you have to do.
RE: 3m sleeping through. Certainly some babies can and will but many (most) will not, even if they “can”. Also, the medical definition of “sleeping through” *IS* 5hrs.
RE: nightwakings & eating. If your baby is a better night eater, there are two things you can do. 1. try to get her to eat more during the day. offer more often. go to a nice, quiet, dark, boring room to nurse. if she gets more during the day, there is a possibility that she will take less at night. or 2. just feed her at night. if it’s not bothering you then there really isn’t a problem, is there? ;) those authors of the “books” aren’t getting with her, you are.
RE: SIDS — the conventional timeframe for sids is 6wks-1yr, though the risk does lessen as the baby gets older.
RE: bumpers — you’re damned if you do; damned if you don’t. If you don’t, the babies can get there heads wedged in the bars or bang their heads; if you do, they can potentially suffocate on them, or use them as a ladder as they get older. Personally, we skipped them, but in your case (until Baby Bug is pulling up) I would keep ’em. After she can stand, she could potentially use them to help her climb.
Big hugs to you & Bug. Y’all look great and healthy and happy, so you must be doing something right. ;) Trust your mommy instincts; they’re there for a reason.
my 2 cents
You’re hilarious! That’s a cute crib and a cute bumper pad! And I agree, the Tide pen does work like magic. I love it!!
Clownfish
I loved your opening about what you prefer not writing about. And then I snickered to myself as I read further and saw you open the door, hehe. I guess that’s the fun of a blog. If you provide the right topic and open the door, they’re coming in! You chose the right word, passionate. Thirty plus posts later, you can see that folks are no doubt passionate.
Yes, there have been many improvements and knowledge gained in regards to baby products and the raising of a child. Blah, blah, blah. I slept in a crib like your seventies model and I’m still here. My childhood was not filled with overpriced, hypoallergenic, plastic, Graco products. But you should have seen the cradle, handmade by my woodworking Grandfather! This could begin a 5 page rant but instead, I’ll just give you the answer…
The answer is: a loving Mother. I had a Mother who cared about and loved me. She cared about and loved all 5 of us! And although she didn’t have the latest study on the optimum crib bar separation width, she looked out for us. Her mission in life was the safety, caring, loving and rearing of her children. I can see, sense and feel that both you and Toby love BB and would gladly step in harms way to protect her from it. You are doing just fine and your daughter is lucky to have you as her Mother. There are a lot of children out there that I wish had parents that care half as much as you do.
Now, if you really want to get some replies to a blog entry, try this one, “Spanking, Pros and Consâ€. hahahahaha
Marissa
Only one thing to say: I HATE FLEAS!!!
Sara
Oh, I can totally relate. My daughter is 26 months old and we still sleep with the monitor on. Take care is knowing that as Baby Bug gets bigger, there’s less chance of problems. It probably doesn’t help to have me say that, but I’m giving it a shot. Maybe you need do say a little prayer/mantra something at night to help you relax about it. But I understand — she’s so wonderful, your baby, and even the idea of separation is difficult. My Lucy had shots yesterday and I think it was worse for us than it was for her. Take care!
andrea from the fishbowl
Oh man. There are lots of worried people on the WWW, aren’t there?
I won’t comment on the Bumper Safety Issue (but they are adorable!) but I just wanted to pipe in and tell you that when I brought my youngest bambina home we both slept in the living room. Me on the couch, her in her car seat.
I just couldn’t see it happening any other way. Soon enough she graduated to a bassinet. Then the crib. And I’m happy with the sleeping-related decisions we made.
BeckaJo
Hi – you probably won’t read your comments this far, as I’m a day late on the crib thing. What I’m about to say about the bumper pad and crib rails might sound like the “I was spanked and turned out okay!” arguement, but here goes anyway.
All of my siblings, myself, and several of my sibling’s children slept in a 1970’s era crib, complete with too-wide rails and hinges that pinched fingers. We all came out okay. When the worries about crib safety came out, my mom’s solution was yours: a very, very tall bumper pad.
In order to make sure it couldn’t be pulled in over a kid’s face, she made a ‘bottom’ for it – basically she sewed the pad to a sheet, thich went under the mattress. So the bumper pad was tucked between the mattress and the crib slats. Then, along the top, she stiched the ties together.
I thought it was a little overkill, but safety first, right? Getting the thing off for washing was annoying, as the ties had to be se-sewn, but parental paranoia was assuaged.
It worked fine until the shellac on the crib rails began to chip, and then it had to go. It got replaced with a Graco Pack n’ Play, which promptly collapsed. (That model was later recalled.)
josephine
I do read this far down and this topic is by far the most debatable and interesting I’ve ever had up on this blog I think. The jury is still out on this one.
Audrey
We’re expecting our first in March and I am sure all of our good intentions will go out the window, but we’re planning to use the Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper as well as have a crib. I’ve been scouring CraigsList for a crib that is a few years old (ie still up to safety standards) but won’t break the bank. I know that CraigsList is available in your area, too — might be worth a shot!! And, I’ve been able to find the Arm’s Reach on EBay for less than buying one brand new… Good luck — I think the crib is darling, but understand all the safety concerns as well!!
ang
Our 5 month old sleeps in her crib… just 2 feet away from my side of the bed. I cried the day we moved her from the middle of our bed to the crib.. haha. She’s a big baby weighing over 16 pounds at her 4 month appointment, and I still feed her 2-3 times at night because she’ll toss and turn for over an hour without the sleepy boob trick! I empathize.
Oh, and she has a bumper in her crib too.
Rachel
I just have to say that your photo gave me the biggest blast of nostalgia. When I was little, my grandma had a playpen for the kids/grandkids that was that exact style. The little balls, same colors and everything. I think the floor of the playpen was wooden and folded up in two parts. And yeah, I think the hinges could pinch your fingers. It was fun. Seven kids and 18 grandkids later, we’re all fine. Just want to say, there’s probably a playpen out there that matches your crib (and would no doubt be even deadlier :)
Dana
What a nice shade of green on those ribbons!
I am obviously a bit biased towards AP, but what about just plunking her down between the two of you in a bed 6 inches off the floor and commence with co-sleeping?
We tried a crib when our oldest daughter was a baby, we really did….it was the crib my husband slept in as a baby. It took just one half-awake stumble to pick up a crying baby where I gashed open my ear on the darn thing to give up on cribs forever.
To date, we have co-slept with five kids….well 4 and 5 are still in our bed. We eventually had to buy a king size, and we just use the mattress, but we sleep better w/o the whole crib thing.
josephine
Rachel, it is the very same play pen that folds into two pieces in the middle. We just have it raised to “crib height”.