Todd and I are expecting our first child and shopping for baby gear has been overwhelming. There are so many options for every piece of equipment you might need (and many that you probably don’t need). Child safety features take priority, of course, but it’s important to look at some of this equipment with an eye on ergonomics, to make sure you’re taking care of yourself, too.
When we started shopping for a crib, I was struck by how many have fixed side rails. It doesn’t make sense! How are you supposed to put down or pick up a child from the bottom of that crib?!
Little did I know the crib industry has been going through some turmoil (and many recalls) because drop-down sides have been blamed for the deaths of 32 infants in the last ten years. Many manufacturers now only produce cribs with stationary sides. Child safety goes first but a crib with fixed sides is asking for back trouble. They might work well with a newborn because you can keep the mattress at its highest position, limiting the need to bend forward to pick her up. But what happens when your baby gets bigger and somewhat more mobile? As you move the mattress down to the lower level and have to bend and reach to pick up or lay down your sleeping baby — ouch!
But just a month ago, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned cribs with drop-down sides. Federal crib standards will take effect in June 2011, stopping the sale, manufacture, resale and distribution of drop-side cribs. Cribs with drop gates, where the top portion of one side folds down, are the only option to give you better access to your child in the crib without killing your back, but there are not too many on the market yet. If you’re shopping for a full size crib, you’ll have considerably more choices. But good luck if you’re like us, where space limitations require a mini or compact crib, because those with a drop gate are a rare species.
I’m hoping to see more ergonomic crib options from manufacturers soon, but in the mean time, we’ll opt for safety and get a fixed-side mini crib that will work while our baby is little and hope for better ergonomic choices by the time we’re ready to drop her mattress down to the bottom of that crib.
Whatever you buy, make sure it has been certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
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When your baby gets big enough for you to lower the mattress, she will stand up when you place her in the crib, as well as when you take her out. So then picking her up from the crib will be no different than picking her up from the floor. To prepare your infant for this stage, be sure to follow today’s recommendations to place your infant in the crib when she is tired, but not yet asleep, so she becomes accustomed to falling asleep on her own in the crib. The disadvantage of the drop gate crib is that it provides a toe hold for the toddler to climb out. This is why most child care centers do not use drop gate cribs.
Yes, I agree with you Beth that most of the time she’ll probably be sitting or standing when we pick her up or put her down from that lowered mattress position. But there will be those times when we will transfer a sleeping baby from a car seat to her crib or when she’s sick that we will have to bend down and reach in to the bottom of that crib. As an ergonomist, that is of concern especially with a husband with a bad back. As you said, the drop gate is not ideal. It’s a design flaw that replaces one risk for another. Hence, my hope for designers and manufacturers to take this opportunity and come up with a crib design that will be safe for both baby and caregiver. In the mean time, the child’s safety the winning ticket and unfortunately the crib with stationary sides.