Crib Tents: Cruel or Practical?

Posted on 08 03, 2006 under Doodads by Noodad | Comments

cribtentChild
development, especially in the first 3 years, is made up of a series of
transition periods. One such transition will occur typically between
the ages of 2 and 3. That is the transition between crib and toddler
bed.

Here's how it may go down: Your kid will be comfortable in their crib
one night—probably in the same exact position in the morning as how you
left them the night before. Then one morning you will find your kid and
they will be in  a different position. After that, you'll go in
one morning and they will be standing in their crib waiting for you to
come and get them. This marks the last time your kid will be innocent
in your eyes. Because the next step can be a scary one or a very scary
one. I'm talking about when you go into your kid's room and you either
find them trying to climb out of the crib or even worse, already on the
floor below.

 

With my daughter, we experienced the "very scary"
version. This played out by my wife putting her in the crib for a nap
and less than 10 minutes later a loud crash was followed by a scream.
My daughter had climbed out of the crib and fell down onto the ground.
Now crib walls are pretty darn high, even for an adult. Unless you are
the Fall Guy, you would think twice about jumping off the side. Now
imagine a 2 foot tall love of your life doing it.

So what do you
do? What my wife and I did, despite us swearing we would never do it,
is buy a crib tent. A crib tent is a mesh tent that straps onto your
crib with a zippered flap for easy in and easy out. It seemed to us,
upon first glance, to be one of the cruelest things you could do to
your kid. We thought that our precious kid would turn from a baby, to a
caged animal.

But our daughter was still way too young to be in a
bed and considering the alternative (broken bones, concussions, worse)
we felt we should give it a try. That trial was met with overwhelming
favor. My daughter thought it was the coolest thing to be sealed into
this pediatric mosquito net. And my wife and I loved the comfort in
knowing she was safe in there.

Many critics consider this a cruel way to teach your kid to stay in
their crib. I consider this a means of further peace of mind. What do
you think noodads?

 

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Viewing 4 Comments

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    I totally agree that at first glance the thing appears quite cruel and a tad cage like, but it\'s simply brilliant! Our daughter loved it thankfully. We were about a month away from moving to a new house when she catapulted herself out of the crib. We knew the crib tent was a great way of prolonging the inevitable transition to a big kid bed, which seemed overwhelming to deal with during a big move as well. We\'ve since passed it on to our 17 month old son who was showing obvious signs of successful propulsion from his crib. He was able to walk his legs halfway up the inside of the crib and have a large portion of his torso over the top edge---not a pleasant site to witness......okay, so maybe I WAS a tad proud of his physical accomplisnment, but the fear of him cracking his head open quickly squashed that little moment. The crib tent was installed that evening.
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    it\'s good to hear that crib tents work for some parents, but I think that, as with so many other things, you have to consider the kid.

    At about 21 months, Baby A started telling me there was an elevator in her crib (as well as kangaroos, but that\'s a different post). She\'d swing a leg over the side, shout to me in the next room, \"I in deee elevator, Mommy!,\" and jump down. Her landing was usually followed by many tears, hers and mine.

    We considered the tent option, but besides the publicized safety concerns, we knew Baby A was a little Houdini. She\'d get so busy figuring out the velcro and the zipper that she\'d (a) never go to sleep and (b) possibly get into even more danger than she did jumping out.

    So several weeks ago, at the urging of her pediatrician, we finally converted her crib into the daybed function. That has brought a whole other slew of problems...but it\'s getting better.

    We\'re fortunate in that we live in a small bungalow with no stairs. And because she still nurses a little first thing in the morning, she runs to get in bed with me.

    All of these questions and worries are just part of the bigger picutre--our kids are going to keep stretching their abilities, doing stuff that scares us...and we just have to do our best to anticipate and mitigate the consequences.

    None of which is very reassuring. :)

    - L
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    Worked like a charm for the first time last night. It is only buying time - but we need it.
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    thanks
 

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