Is there too much in his crib?

[Fairy]

I have a baby question! I've been worried for months, now, that I have way too much in 2-year-old DS's crib. DS is not just off but way the hell off the charts in height, about 70%-ile in weight. When we first brought him home I was terrified that he'd suffocate on the very air surrounding him, Baby Bargains and Baby 411 were my bibles, and the only thing in his crib was him and a sheet (elastic ALL around). No bumpers, no woobies, no nothing.

Then he started wanting the burpee rag that I had over my shoulder 24/7, and DH convinced me that he needed it while he was sleeping for soothing during teething. Ok, fine ONE burpee at 5 or 6 months old or whatever it was.

Then came the one bunny bear the size of my hand. And the small gund hippo. And the pooh blankie. Now, suddenly, we're a year old, and we're dropping burpees over the side of the crib, look how fun, OH CRAP, I WANT MY BURPEE, WAAAAH! So, we had a backup burpee in there. Cutting to the chase, we now have the following in his crib:

2 small stuffed animals
1 toddler-sized soft, light, fuzzy-in-places sutffed wizard
1-4 burpee rags at any given time
1 light blanket
1 heavier blanket
1 firm toddler-sized pillow
Um, a book or two
7 Sesame Street finger puppets. Stop laughing.

Now, I'm not dumb. I tried removing most of this stuff every night for three months, but every time I get down to just one burpee, 1 blanket, and the finger puppets, he has a cow. Big, honkin', mooing cow. That needs milking. Yesterday.

So, I caved.

I'm losing sleep and checking on him every couple hours to be sure he's not suffocating. I am one of those mothers that will keep doing what I'm told to do until he's 16 unless someone tells me it's time to stop now. I did the vaseline thing on his circ about a month past necessary. Can I stop worrying about the suffocation with respect to what's in his crib, or do I need to deal with the meltdown and hope the cow eventually returns to the barn?

-- Fairy

[shilo]

ok, no help here, we're not there yet (although if you see the nursery post from earlier today, you'll see that my DS _still_ has bumpers in his crib at 16mos. old - honestly, when we try to take them out he has a wigging fit and wakes up about 12 times a night, so we caved. i'll probably be looking up this post 9mos from now for reference :)). but anyway, mostly just replying to say you post was so funny that i had to read it outloud to my DH. thanks for the comic relief and i hope you get your answers from some mama's in the know.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[fauve01]

I am laughing with you, Fairy! my DD has a TON of stuff in her bed too. honestly i don't know how she fits. we started small like you did and just grew. we just switched to a big girl bed last week, but most of the stuff made the transition with her (thank goodness since there's more room for DD now, LOL). she has a couple fleece baby blankets (they were on the sides of the crib; now shoved against the wall), a fleece blanket to cover her (it's a down throw in cold weather), a whole bunch of soft stuffed animal guys, a whole stack of books (they change every night), a sippy cup of water, her baby's plastic bottle next to her cup, a soft Dora backpack with all this inside: a couple matchbox cars, a thomas train, a dora bath foam puzzle(!) a couple fingerpuppets and 3 small plastic pegasus, 2 my little pony play dough toppers, and a tiny purse with the ocean toob guys inside (14 plastic ocean animals). on top of all that, she now has a big girl pillow!

IMHO, if your DS is 2, he is able to roll on top or shove stuff out of his way or even toss it out of his bed. sometimes when i'd check on DD she'd be fast asleep on top of all that stuff, but mostly it was just around her. i think you can stop worrying.

hope that helps ease your mind--at least to know there's another mama out there sharing your pain. LOL

Anne + DD 10-03

[ribbit1019]

LOL, H!
I wouldn't worry. At 12 months DD insisted on no less than 3 blankets (which I rotated) and 5 to 6 of her stuffed animals. She would freak if her whole mattress wasn't covered by blankets. Now she sleeps with one blanket, but has to sleep up against something, (current fave is DH). I need to find something else for her to sleep up against or I am just going to chuck the bed and put her back in the crib, sorry ranting.

Anyway, if you are worried then I would see if you can cut the amount of stuff slowly (like take out one thing every week) in half or a little more. Also another reason to think about halving his collection, you don't want there to be so much in there that he makes a pile and climbs out. A fave of my lovely DD. :)

Christy
My Waterbabies
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[JBaxter]

OK Nathan is almost 3 and still is in a toddler bed converted from his crib.
CURRENTLY in is crib because is chages
Elmo crib comforter
2 crib size lovey blankets -I thought I was smart getting a second... now he has to have both "free-tee's"
1 mummy doll ( rescued from a yard sale box) thats "baby"
regular pillow ( bob the build pillow case)
small wheeled back pack ( contains bob the builder cars ALL of them)
and new to the pile the leap frog learning table without legs.
It takes 2 of us to carry his stuff but like you Im not dealing with the melt down at bed time.

[jennifer_r]

Lately, I've been asking myself that same question about DD1's crib. She is two and has 1 blanket, 1 small throw pillow (which I tried to take away from her but she, too, had a cow), about 3 board books that we rotate and at least 7 stuffed animals at a given time (about 5 or 6 never leave the crib and she always brings at least one of her teddies (she has 5 duplicates plus the same version but bigger and she loves them all!). I am not at all worrying about her suffocating (I figure once they can easily sit up/stand, move around, etc., they're O.K.) and having all the stuffed animals and everything in there "entertains her" - she LOVES her crib and will play in there for hours if I let her. My big concern is that she'll use them to start climbing out. She hasn't tried yet but I want her in there as long as possible. My husband says I'm mean that I'd want to take the pillow and "pooh bear" (big and lavender no less - it was a gift) out.

So don't worry. But, I love this thread - it's really made me laugh (I didn't start laughing until you told me to "Stop Laughing"!). And it looks like there's alot of kids out there with "crowded" cribs.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[mom_hanna]

Ummm, in addition to all your ds has in his crib (including the 4 burpees), my dd, who is also 2, also has 6-8 books and HAS to sleep with her fake crocs too. Sometimes we will check on her at night and find her wearing them - sleeping!

So you are not alone.

[lizajane]

my ped told me the risk of SIDS continues to age 2. so you are at age 2. whoo hoo! you are done! you can stop checking on him and return bossy to her barn.

dylan is 20 months and tends to have a few lovey blankies, an afgan type blanket, a few binkers, 2-3 stuffed animals, a book, sometimes a cup of water... i am not worried at all.

[lilycat88]

I wouldn't worry about the suffocating thing. We've found that DD doesn't sleep well with a lot of stuff in her crib. I think she rolls over onto things and it wakes her up. So, on a usual basis, she only has 1-2 blankets (depending on what she asks for) and her lovey (one of those bunny head things with a "blanket" body). We've always been of the "beds are for sleeping, not playing" mindset so we've kept it minimal so she doesn't know any different. She's 27 months old and is still in her crib. We never allowed toys in the highchair or at the table either so our poor kid is growing up deprived all around :-)

[megv]

well, my DS is 22mos and his crib is chock-full of stuff. He wont go to sleep without his baby, grover, lovey, blankie, and 3 binkies (1 for his mouth as well as 1 for each hand). we even still have bumpers in his crib...we tried taking them out multiple times and he rolls around banging his head into the slats and wont go back to sleep. We are just waiting for the day when he climbs out of the crib. He is really into doing things his "self" and I know the day is coming when he tries to get out of the crib. So I think you are probably okay...