Safety 1st Bed Rail-First in Safety
Written: Feb 13 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High quality materials, good safety features like locking positioner
Cons: Fairly wimpy mesh.
The Bottom Line: I recommend this to anyone going the route I did, in place of a crib. Not for older toddlers who could rip fabric.
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| reginahitch's Full Review: Safety 1st Portable Bed Rail |
When I had my daughter, who is now 6, we were done having kids. We had a boy and a girl, and we were done. Lo and behold, almost 6 years later, I find I am pregnant with number 3. Small problem-since we were "done" having children, we had gotten rid of EVERYTHING baby-related. Crib, walkers, swing, bottles, clothes, car seat, EVERYTHING. There was nothing in our home that resembled a baby, much less anything that could be used by one.
So when we found out I was going to have another one, we started looking for ways to cut corners without compromising safety, and looking for ways to get around the major expenses that come with babies. This included a crib.
I figured that since babies only stay in cribs until they are about two years old, I was not going to buy one. The next best option was to drag in my now 8 year old son's toddler bed, attach a very sturdy safety rail and use that in place of a crib. This was agreed upon for several reasons.
First, a toddler bed, when properly attached to a wall on one side, actually is safer than a crib. It has no slats to get arms or legs stuck, it is lower to the ground, so if for some reason the child did climb out, he wouldn't be hurt. My other children were climbing out of their cribs when they were 18 months old, even when the mattress was on the lowest setting and the rails on the highest. They often had bumps and bruises on their heads and my son almost broke his leg when his body flopped over the edge of the rails and his leg stayed behind between two rails. No, 2 3/8" is NOT safe. Heads can't get stuck between the bars, but legs and tiny hands can.
Second, the toddler bed was free. We already had it, and it was in excellent shape. Just throw on a new mattress and some nice clean sheets and it was the same as a crib.
Thirdly, we have always did the co-sleeping thing. It is what has worked for us. So having a bed right beside us that I could easily reach into to get baby out was much more convenient. Our mattress is at the same height as the top of the Safety 1st bed rail, so it works perfectly.
When installing the rail onto the toddler bed, it gave us some small problems. First, it clamps onto the mattress, rather than slides under it like many other bed rails do. This is a good thing, however, to reposition it you must use both hands-something nearly impossible to do with a baby in tow. However, once in position, all you do is lean on it and it locks in place.
Another downside to it is the mesh netting that makes up the bulk of the rail. It would be very easy for one of the older kids (or baby, as he grows) to poke things through it, hence compromising the safety of the rail.
However, the frame is sturdy and strong. There are no sharp edges (duh!) and the corners are rounded so to prevent the little hands and feet getting stuck.
It is a little shorter than the standard toddler bed, though not short enough to allow anyone to slip through and fall off the bed.
The mesh and nylon cover is not removable, though wipes clean fairly easily if there are bottle spills or anything like that.
All in all, this is a good item for the price. (We paid $29.99 at Wal-Mart. Had I known about Ebay then, I probably would have gone that route and saved about $10)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
reginahitch
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Member: Regina Hitchcock
Reviews written: 116
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Plain old country gal with a hundred complicated interests.
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