Cannot reach inside bottom of cot

littlerock

I was babysitting my grandchildren recently and was asked to put them to bed. My granddaughter, who is approaching 4, was no problem as she can more or less put herself to bed but my grandson, a strapping 18 months, was another thing.

He fell asleep while on my lap as I was reading him a bedtime story and I picked him up and went over to his cot to lay him in it..... and I could not reach the bottom. It was just too far away. In the end I had to turn him round to try to lower him in feet first, and he woke up.

When my daughter in law came home I said I had struggled to reach in to lay him down and asked if there was some secret to lowering the side of the cot. She laughed and said no they were all fixed nowadays. I am short - 5 foot 1 inch - but not outside the normal range. How on earth do short mothers manage? Do you have to stand on a stool?

onlyroz

My kids had a cot-bed where the side could be lowered down. I suppose if this cot doesn't have a lowerable side then you could get a small step to stand on.

Stevie_Palimo

Or even one of these :-

peachyprice

littlerock wrote: »

When my daughter in law came home I said I had struggled to reach in to lay him down and asked if there was some secret to lowering the side of the cot. She laughed and said no they were all fixed nowadays.

No, she chose a fixed side. Dropped sides are still sold.

Does she have a toddler step in the bathroom you could use in future? If she doesn't you could treat her to one, they're always handy for toothbrushing and when boys learn to pee in the toilet!

http://www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-White-Step-Stool/486973,default,pd.html#q=stool

littlerock

They have been living in the USA and when my son was transferred to the UK all their furniture got shipped over. Apparently dropped side cots were banned in the USA in 2010. I am not entirely sure that balancing on a step with a hefty toddler is entirely safe either.

iammumtoone

The one I had had a movable base which you could lower as the child got older (to stop them climbing over the top). It also had a dropped side as I was bit paranoid about the situation you describe.

Why were dropped sides banned?

littlerock

From Which

US drop-side cot ban

22 December 2010

Drop-side cots
The sale or manufacture of drop-side cots and cribs will be banned in the US from June 2011, following the deaths of at least 32 babies since 2000.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously to bring in the new rules, which will stop the selling of 'dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs' and make mattress supports stronger.

More rigorous safety testing will also be introduced for cots in the US, making them, according to Consumer Reports - the US counterpart of Which? - among the most stringent in the world.

Drop-side cots have a mechanism at one or both sides of the cot that allow you to lower the rails, making it easier for you to lift your baby in and out. Drop-side cot models are widely available in the UK.

According to the CPSC, the ban has been prompted by reports of 'at least 32' baby deaths since 2000 from suffocation or strangulation, due to detaching drop-side rails on faulty cots, or in some cases, when a cot wasn't assembled properly. The space created between the side and cot mattress if it partially drops down can trap a baby's body.

The US has issued voluntary recall notices on around 11 million cots since 2007.

British cots come under European safety standards, which are different to those in the US. So far, there has been no indication that a similar ban on drop-side cots will be applied in Europe.

littlerock

Of course no one seems to have thought about smaller women in all this. I know I am short at 5ft 1" but that did not stop me from being a mother. Or many others : Chinese women, Japanese women and a lot of southern Mediterranean women for a start. There are lots of complaints in the US about the lack of cots which can be properly utilised by shorter mothers. You would think they would have thoughts this through a bit better.

peachyprice

littlerock wrote: »

According to the CPSC, the ban has been prompted by reports of 'at least 32' baby deaths since 2000 from suffocation or strangulation, due to detaching drop-side rails on faulty cots, or in some cases, when a cot wasn't assembled properly. The space created between the side and cot mattress if it partially drops down can trap a baby's body.

Ah, so it wasn't a problem with the cots, it was a problem with the parents assembling them. Typical American over-reaction in their sue, sue, sue culture

If you don't want to use a step you'll just have to refuse to babysit in the evenings until he is in a bed. I doubt your DIL will buy a 'dangerous' drop sided cot just so you can put him to bed

Birdie85

TBH, I don't remember seeing any drop side cots when I was looking (2 years ago) so I think they've fallen out of fashion here following the ban in the US.

It never really occurred to me that shorter women would struggle once the cot has been lowered to the bottom level, I can just about put my 18m old down in his cot but I'm 5'6. My SIL is 5'0 and expecting her first in a few weeks, I wonder how she'll manage when her baby is older?

I just did a quick Google and one of the recommendations was using an aerobic step stool as they're height adjustable, non slip and sturdy. Good idea!

peachyprice

Birdie85 wrote: »

TBH, I don't remember seeing any drop side cots when I was looking (2 years ago) so I think they've fallen out of fashion here following the ban in the US.

There are plenty on Mothercare and John Lewis.