No, not new. My granddaughter used one until she was two and that was five years ago. In fact, they now sell them up to size 5, although the larger ones are a big different in style.
Sleepsacks are great, especially for infants as it is now taboo to have any type of blanket in the crib.
Re: pack and plays. If you’re going to borrow one, it’s a good idea to ask about the amount of use it has had and how old it is. There have been safety requirement changes made in recent years after several tragic incidents.
The present day cribs have no drop sides so it’s harder for babies to climb out. My D had to lower the crib mattresses all the way down to the lowest level when her boys were 10 months to keep them from trying to climb out.
The transition to a toddler bed is supposed to be one of the hardest times for parents because you can’t keep the toddler contained anymore if they don’t want to sleep.
Borrowing from others is a great idea. If you can, I would also suggest borrowing books, toys, stroller, car seat and anything else that could lighten the load for them. We used to travel across country with our kids and my sister-in-law would borrow these things from neighbors and friends and it was such a blessing for us.
One of my kids was a climber. Climbed out of a regular crib…at 18 months. It didn’t take ten minutes to remove the crib from his room.
I put the crib mattress on the floor…he was a very small kid. It worked fine.
To keep him IN the room…we put a 36 in high baby gate in the doorway. The bedroom was on the second floor and we didn’t want him falling down the stairs. His room was like one big crib! It was safe, and we never worried about him. He could NOT climb over that gate!
Our S was climbing out of his crib (at lunch west setting) at 9 months. We moved him to a futon mattress on the floor. When we moved, D was 2 and we gave back our borrowed crib and portacrib. We just moved a mattress for S and folding futon on floor for D. She walked around the new place for several days looking for her crib. She finally settled with the futon. Phew!
We had one of these folding foam mattresses for years that we used for camping and guests. It was very handy. I just googled “folding foam mattress” and found lots of them for various prices, but here’s a link for one from BB&B.
We also put a baby gate across the door–* would even if the toddler is sleeping with parents.
We baby proofed the room–and put the baby gate up with their crib mattresses on the floor when D and S were about 18 months old…
+1 on the crib mattress on the floor if you can borrow or get one second-hand. Toddlers will have accidents - don’t buy anything that can be ruined by leaky diapers or barf.
S1 never climbed out of anything. My other two kids were climbers from the get-go and still are. It turns out, when we travelled, D would climb out of the pack-n-play quietly and climb back in when she got tired. We found out one time when she had new feety pajamas and couldn’t get the traction to climb back in.
We new when she woke up in her room when we heard the thump of what we thought was her feet hitting the floor. One morning I saw her - she would grab the top rail across the end of the crib, put both feet on the railing, and jump. She would do a half twist in the air and catch the railing with her hands. The “thump” was the crib rail banging against the bottom springs during her dismount. The railing stayed down after that. We put a baby gate across her door to keep her in and she climbed that. We tried putting a second one above the first one and she climbed both. We finally got her locked in with a 5’ high plywood contraption. That one took her a few months to figure out.
So if you have kids (or grandkids) like this with an innate urge to climb, know you are in for a bunch of “how did she get up there” moments and proactively be prepared for climbing lessons. The urge never goes away.
Yes, my kids were great climbers from infancy and S is now a rock climber (started in college). D also has amazing balance and used to stand while steering canoes on the open ocean.
Yep, unbelievable for a little tyke at bars, vault and balance beam. Lost her with all the back bends for floor exercise. A 6 year-old with back issues had me questioning my parenting skills.
She is still the only girl in the history of her school to have done the full peg board a la “Vision Quest.”
I have been following with interest but finally decided to participate with a PSA. This is what you do with climbers. Don’t ask me how I know.
adding: Please be aware, you have to lock it somehow.
adding: In addition to the tent, I recommend replacing the regular door with a screen door and a latch on the outside of the screen door… much better than gates. I could give more tips if anyone needs them. Because bedrooms usually also have windows.
Wow!!! I am amazed that our kids survived toddlerhood without any child latches on kitchen cabinets, outlet covers, lockable gates, pack and plays, etc. We were dirt poor to afford that stuff and did not have much stuff to begin with, so no dangers beyond a few sharp kitchen tools that we moved higher up. The stove did have knobs on the back.
@doschicos My granddaughter wore a sleep sack until she was about 2 1/2 and outgrew them. The weird thing is now she refuses to use blankets so we always worry if she will be too cold if we put on the AC to make the rest of us comfortable.
