So…Uhhh. My 1 1/2 year old falls out of his bed.
Wait, wait…stop gasping in disbelief at my poor parenting and continue reading.
Felix was getting dangerously close to being able to climb out of his crib. So in an attempt to save his life (which I do daily) we took one of the walls off of the convertible crib. We put a bunch of pillows down since he’s as clumsy as the rest of us…He fell out. A few times. It was mostly only scary to him, no real injuries (like that time he pulled the bread making machine on to his head….there were actually no injuries then either…it was just super scary) so I decided to come up with an intervention. Here is a step by step on making a super easy bumper for a crib sized mattress.
1) Start by putting a twin fitted sheet the long way on the side of the crib mattress that is by the wall. It doesnt fit perfect so don’t kill your self over it. The corners will flip off as you go. Just slide the elastic down.
2) Some of the pictures may be a little blurry. See picture from step one to see why….SO!! Next grab a few lap/throw blankets. This will take some trial and error to get the right thickness, which is all preference. I have a thick double fleece blanket I use for the outside and two small blankets laid down in the middle of the “outside” blanket
3) Next you will roll the blankets up together. The brown blanket you see below is the other side of the blue puppy blanket.
4) Now place the rolled up blankets under the fitted sheet. With the excess fitted sheet roll under the blanket roll and wrap over the top of the blanket roll but under the fitted sheet. Confused? Just wrap the sheet around…you’ll see what I mean. I guess this is a good point to mention fabric choice. I like to use jersey cotton because my boys sweat. That means that its more stretchy. Try different fabrics to see what works for your family.
5) Now you will want to put your crib mattress fitted sheet on over the twin fitted sheet and blanket. As mentioned in the last step, I use jersey cotton so its stretchy. This may be the only step you may find you have a difficult time. I would suggest putting the corners closest to the wall on first. Be sure to leave the mattress showing like pictured for re-adjustments.
6) Make the bed how ever you make it and enjoy not waking up in the middle of the night to screams of bloody murder….
He can still safely dismount!
And his clumsy ass doesnt fall out of bed any more!
Isn’t he sweet? Hope you find this tutorial helpful. Its basically a free safety measure. And its so easy. Each night I “fluff” the blanket roll from that access spot in the front just to make sure its good and thick.
Do you know a clumsy toddler (aren’t they all clumsy?) Share this with their parents!
Flaws and All 