Wednesday, September 18, 2013

The Ikea Crib Eight Months Later: A Bit of Babyproofing



Abe's crib is the Sundvik crib from Ikea. As I've mentioned before, this selection was motivated primarily by price. The crib is $119, and I like the way it looks just fine. It has clean simple lines that fit in well with the nursery. It's not flashy or exciting, but it does its job without drawing attention to itself.

I wasn't interested in spending more on a crib for a few reasons:

1. Cribs rarely excite me, no matter how much they cost. I just....don't care that much about cribs. They aren't like chairs. I love chairs.

2. I had no idea whether Abe would actually USE his crib much at all. Ari loved the crib. Milo hated sleeping, but didn't much care where he was doing it. Gus HATED the crib with a fiery passion and slept in bed with us until he was three. So, you know, I'm pretty open minded about baby sleeping arrangements. I just want everyone to sleep; I don't care where it happens.

3. Even if babies sleep in cribs, they don't do it for very long, relatively speaking. Abe's my last baby; he and some kid from Craigslist are the only ones who are going to use this thing. I'd rather save my money for something that will stick around longer.

So those are all my reasons for buying the crib to start with.

When we put the crib together, my only concern, looking forward, was that the directions made it look like we'd pretty much need to take the whole damn thing apart again to lower the mattress down once Abe started pulling up on things. But, of course, at the time, that seemed too impossibly far off to even worry about.

But then, somehow, he got bigger. Big enough to start trying to pull up on things. So, a few weeks ago, we had to undertake the daunting task of lowering the mattress. I thought I would report back on this process to make my Ikea crib analysis complete.

Turns out it was pretty easy.

We didn't have to take the whole crib apart; we just had to take one end off and then slide the bottom that the mattress rests on out and put it back in the lower position. Like this:


When we went to this, we learned that we had brilliantly thought to store the instruction manual AND the allen wrench under the mattress so that we'd be able to find them when the time came to lower the mattress:


Our minds were so sharp back before we had a fourth kid!

We opted not to put them back under there once we lowered the mattress, by the way, lest Abe somehow figure out a way to pry up the mattress while sitting on it and pull the choking hazard tools out from under there. Better safe than sorry. (note to future self: they're in the top drawer of Abe's changing table/dresser)


We turned it on its side like so.


Unscrewed all these little things.


And put the bottom back in at the lower position (there are only two positions). This part--fitting the little things into the little thing places--was the hardest part. But not bad. I would say the whole process took the two of us 20 minutes? With a baby crawling around distracting us.

The sad part is that we had to retire the crib skirt I made to match the curtains. I was going to just use heavy duty double sided tape and tape it farther back on the mattress board...but once the board was lowered the gap between it and the side of the crib was too tight to wiggle the fabric through. I might have been able to do it had I been willing to spend more time and get more frustrated. Instead, I'm thinking of making a couple of pillows or something.

I took this picture of it all folded up to commemorate it:


So my take on the crib after eight months of use and after the arduous mattress lowering? Yep, still good with it. And I can even still reach to put Abe down when he's asleep. I was worried I'd have to just drop him the last half a foot or so. And that might wake him up. But no! My arms are just long enough!

Just in time!


(okay, I stood him up there. But this was maybe a month ago. He's pulling up on everything now)

23 comments:

  1. your baby steals the show- too cute peeking over the crib! although the ikea sketch baby is a close second.

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    1. Isn't it great how when babies are older they grow distinct feet?! I think hands might be next!

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  2. I really like this crib. Mentally storing for future use. Cute kid too. :)

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    1. ha--thanks! The other big Ikea crib...the Gulliver, I think?--I like that one, too.

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  3. Aww Abe is so cute! I used to put mine in baby sleeping bags so they couldn't try to climb out of the crib. Thank God they didn't know how to open a zipper ;)

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    1. We had sleeping bags for my oldest! It wasn't so much to stop climbing, though, as I recall, as because he kept getting his fat little legs stuck between the bars. Poor, pathetic baby.

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  4. Haha, I was totally worried about just having to drop Henry, too. It's a reach, but it's doable.

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    1. Yes, I'm short, so if I can do it (almost) anyone can!

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  5. This post was really helpful to me, seeing as how we bought the same crib! We haven't put it together yet. But it's good to know it's not toooooo difficult to lower the mattress.

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  6. " I just want everyone to sleep; I don't care where it happens. "

    Amen, Gretchen, that is my philosophy too.

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    1. It may be the most important parenting philosophy I've come up with over the course of four babies ;)

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  7. Does he chew on the sides? if so, how has the paint held up? we really debated the Ikea crib, but opted for a more expensive one...but I am curious how the finish held up. Our daughter is 2 and is 35 lbs and still using her crib...it just about breaks my back!

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    1. He doesn't really chew on the sides yet (he looks like he is in that picture, but I haven't seen him do it any other times)...so so far the finish is holding up fine, but I might have to report back later.

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  8. Cute kid! Clever idea to put the tools and manual beneath the mattress!! Our 5 month old is still on the high setting for her crib. Pretty soon though, we'll be lowering it too!

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    1. it happens so suddenly! One day I put him down not all the way asleep but happy, and then I realized I was scared to leave him in there awake, because he might go over the edge in a split second.

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  9. We started off our new crib at the lowest level since we figured our guy would be pulling himself up soon anyway. I find it's not too bad to get him lowered in there, but now he just stands up right after I put him to lay down. :) Love the pic of Abe peeking over the crib. :)

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    1. You know, I almost linked to your crib as an exception to my "I don't care about cribs" rule...I love your crib! :)

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  10. Confession: I bought a crib for my now 16yr old in the crash & burn corner at sears before she was born.

    We continued to use it despite recalls and safety warnings to do with the crib bottom-attachment clips for all 3 of our munchkins. None of them died in a fiery crash.

    The crib is now in permanent storage in the basement since I can't get rid of those things. Too much feelings.

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    1. our last crib was a $30 garage sale find, and all of ours survived nicely, too ;)

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  11. Don't say Abe's the last baby!! I refused. You need to stop at 5 or 6 - I mean a half dozen sounds pretty cool. I have no idea what we are going to do for a crib. Cribs do excite me but I really don't want to spend a ton on something that will only be used for little more than a year.

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    1. Well, if you take your own advice to have a half dozen, you can totally justify buying whatever crib you want since five babies will use it ;)

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  12. You have not one, but two IKEA portraits of Abe. You are so lucky :) Also, I loved that crib skirt. How can "we" re-use it? :)

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