I was wondering when I should lower my daughter's crib mattress. She is 7 months old and can sit unassisted for a very brief time, but does not sit up on her own. She can roll very easily though. Her crib mattress is at the highest setting and I think her crib has 4 different settings.
Do people actually use all 4 settings at various stages of development? Is there any danger with her being on the highest setting at this point? I love the convenience of not having to put the side down in order to place her in the crib or change her diaper during the night.
This is my first baby and I am just loving every minute (with a few exceptions ;)), but I am amazed at all the little nuances that come into play. Thank you in advance for any advice you may have.....
Thank you to all of you who wrote in with advice. The overwhelming majority agreed that my daughter's mattress should be lowered, if for no other reason, to be safe rather than sorry. So, after some quality time with a few allen keys, her crib is now positioned at the lowest setting. I was happy to see I could still put her to bed without putting the side down if I lean quite a bit. The first night she gave the new look a momentary glance and then rolled over and went to sleep. Everything worked out very well. Thank you again for all the support and opinions. They really helped me out!
We just moved my daughters down this past weekend. She is starting to be able to pull herself up so it was time. I never used the other settings, just the lowest. It;s a pain in the butt to have to move it so once is enough. Jusst move it to the lowest, the others are a waste of time.
You definately should lower the mattress to the lowest position, I used to work in a store that sold cribs and we'd advise the person to lower it at 6 months. I personally remember my youngest standing himself up at 6 months and would have fell out had it not have been lowered and by the way he had never tried that or even crawled or got on his knees before that.
I would lower it now. You never know when she will try to sit up and you want to be prepared for that day when it happens. Since she is able to sit, in the next few weeks she will be getting stronger and be able to pull herself up soon.
If she is sitting up, I would lower it. Rather be safe than sorry. It will not be long and she will be pulling up, and you do not want to take the chance that she topples out of the crib. We had ours at the lowest setting once my son was your age, and we started adjusting it once he could roll over.
I always lowered the mattress when my children could hold chest up, and roll over from that position. When I put it down I put it to the lowest setting. Never saw the point in lowering it gradually. Your daughter is going to start hitting some major milestones pretty quickly at her age now. I would put the mattress down as soon as possible if it were me.
Maybe you can put it on a middle setting...but beware once she starts pulling herself up on things, even attempting to, I'd lower it all the way...better safe than sorry.
I think I lowered our daughters a month ago...she turned 1 on the 15th, but was just fat and happy...now all of a sudden she is all over the place.
I wanted to wait until the last possible minute (bad back) and I just had to do this with mine - I decided it was time to lower it when she was able to pull herself up on her knees and I found her hanging her arms over the rail.
You don't have to lower the mattress until she's able to at least sit up on her own, but definitley when she starts trying to pull herself up.
i can't remember exactly, but yes you should probably think about moving the mattress down. once they start pulling themselves up you should move it down again. you are trying to prevent them from falling (or climbing) out of the crib.
I've used every setting on our crib. It was on the highest till dd could roll over then i lowered it one setting. One day I put her in her crib and came back and she was standing up (she was only 6 months and just learning to crawl.) every time her armpits were over the rail I lowered it. My daugher is 19 months and we are getting a toddler bed soon. I lowered it gradualy because I'm short (5'0) and when my daugher would fall asleep when I was nursing her or fall asleep in our bed so it was easier to lay her down when the mattress was higher. You get used to it being lower though, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
We lowered our daughter's when she could pull up. Basically when it looked like she could get herself into position to hoist herself over the side, or accidentally topple. Hope that helps!
as long as she isn't standing, she should be perfectly safe. As soon as she can stand and lean against the side of the crib you should lower the mattress setting according to safety guidelines. I saw my daughter leaning a little one day and made a mental note to lower the mattress that evening, but before I could she flipped out onto the floor. Miraculously, she wasn't hurt, but it scared the *&%$ out of both of us and I will not make that mistake again!
hi amy, at 7 months i would definitely lower it. they always surprise you, all of a sudden she will just be standing there, no warning. after my first child, i just left it on the lowest setting for my next 2 kids. its not as convenient, but better safe than sorry, that's a big fall. she will start changing so fast now, enjoy it!
My son is 8 months and we lowered his crib as soon as he started to crawl, because we knew that pulling to stand would be his next step. And one week later he was pulling to stand in his crib, so thank god we did! Now we need to lower it one more level becuase he is trying to climb over everything! My advice is so lower it one level now, just to be safe!!
W.,
i would recommend lowering the matress at leat one level for the simple fact that without you even realizing your daughter has learned how she will be sitting up on her own and starting to pull herself up, as a monther of 5 i have always felt that it is better to be safe than sorry. hope this helps.
I agree with all the other moms. It's time to lower the mattress. One of my children was able to throw his leg over the side of the crib when he rolled over at a very early age so I lowered the mattress just in case. The next day he was standing when I went in to get him in the morning! I was so glad his mattress was down.
Sorry to say - but you need to lower your crib mattress. If she can sit up at all, it is a danger to have it that high. I did adjust my crib down in stages because the lowest level is the hardest to deal with so I did not go that low until I absolutely had to which was basically when he was pulling himself up.
As soon as my daughter started sitting up I put the mattress down 1 level. The highest level really is only for new babies that don't really move around yet. The 4 levels come in handy so as your baby gets bigger and develops new skills the mattress gets lower. I think of the 4 levels like this....
level:
1. newborn
2. sitting up
3. crawling
4. standing
after that it stays on the bottom until they crawl out and go in a big bed. A.
I aways lowered my children's mattresses early because you never know when they are going to start pulling themselves up. They can easily fall out if they stand up with the crib at the highest setting.
I stopped middle of the night changings/feedings as my kids were all sleeping through the night by 4 months so I didn't have to worry about lowering the side. It is hard though to put a baby in the crib when the mattress is so low. Ours made a little squeak when you lowered the side so I wouldn't drop the side if I was putting a sleeping baby in.
Remember babies all develop differently and it is better to be safe than sorry. My 2nd child climbed out of his crib at 16 months whereas my 1st & 3rd never did.
Keep enjoying your baby! It only gets better!
A.
i would definitely lower your mattress...we had lowered it when he could sit up a bit and then one day i walked into his room and he was standing holding onto the rails. 10 minutes later the crib was at its lowest setting! good luck!
Hi W.,
We used only the highest setting and the lowest, skipping the in-between stages. I don't think we lowered the mattress until the day we found Jesse standing up in his crib (9 months), laughing at us instead of taking a nap. But that day it got lowered!
If your daughter isn't pulling herself up yet I don't think you need to worry; however, I would always err on the side of safety. If you're having doubts, lower the mattress a little and rest easy!
(I am a teacher too; resigned after my little "baby" was born 3 and a half years ago!)
Good luck!
Good afternoon W., I too have a 7 1/2 month old, last week I lowered her mattress. She is not crawling yet, but can turn over, she stands up in her walker. I have alwasy heard, they do things before you see them do them. This being said, its only a matter of time, before she starts pulling herself up. Its always best to be safe then sorry. I put it down to the second to last setting, this way its easier on my back and I can put the rail down with ease. Kayla is my first baby as well and you never know when they are going to start doing things, it all seems to happen so quickly. Out littl one should be crawling at any time now... she is also 22 lbs....
Best of luck... K.
yes, you should lower the matress...as you have discovered they do things sooo fast and one day she'll be fine and in a blink she will be pulling herself up and if you're not in there when she does, better safe than sorry! not to scare you but a friend of mine, her son was leaning over his crib to look out the window(it was to low) and before she knew what happened he flipped out and busted his head open to the skull...he is fine now(6years later) but he has a huge scar down the length of his forehead...and she feels guilty because he was never a climber and she had it lower but he saw something out the window and leaned to look and boom...I don't know tall you are but I am 5'7 and I just lean over the side, I never bothered with the lowering of the side...and once she pulls herself up you'll be lifting her out when she is already standing. Goodluck and enjoy your little girl.
My daughter is almost 7 months old and hasn't pulled herself up yet, but I have been recently advised to change the crib to the lowest setting so that's my goal for the day! :) Just not sure if I should remove the bumper???
Don't worry about lowering the crib until she can pull herself up. If you put her in a sleepsack, this will also prevent her from climbing out of the crib as she gets older.
At about this time, we lowered our crib mattress right to the lowest setting. Our son loved to pull himself up to a standing position in the morning at around 7 or 8 months so we just ended up (for our own peace of mind, I think!) lowering the mattress down.
And as a matter of fact, with our other children (and we've got 4) we just ended up leaving the mattress at the lowest point. It just seemed easier for us and it always worked for them.
Good luck and enjoy your beautiful baby!
Hi W.,
Once my son was able to sit on his own, and he was holding onto the side of the crib, we lowered the mattress. And thank goodness we did because the very next day he pulled himself up to stand in his crib. We went straight to the lowest setting for the mattress to save my husband from having to adjust it two more times in the future. If it is a lot of work to lower the mattress, then it might be worth it to just put it on the lowest level now. Best of luck to you!
Please lower your daughter's crib. I'd recommend putting it to the lowest level at this point in her development. She'll soon be pulling herself up and it happens very fast. My sister-in-laws' daughter climbed out of her crib when she was little and broke her collar bone. It's just not worth the risk of having it high.
Since your crib has a rail that you can lower and raise as you put her in, I'd recommend just getting used to doing it. Once it becomes a habit, it won't seem like such a burden.
Keeping her safe outweighs any perceived convenience. I'd imagine you'd beat yourself up if she actually got hurt. HOpe this helps!
It is getting very close to the time to lower your daughter's mattress.When she starts to pull herself up you will definatly need to lower it.If she is not showing signs of pulling herself up and is not sitting up all by herself yet then there is nothing to worry about. I would lower it one level as soon as she sits unassistated.Every baby is different though and you as her mom will know when it is time. Good luck and enjoy every minute for they grow so fast.
Hi W.,
Children will surprise you, believe me. Even though there is a convenience for you not to lower the mattress you will be surprised at how fast a child can learn to pull themselves up. I would lower the mattress just to be safe. I have 3 children and when they were infants every day they learned something new. It was a blessing. God Bless!
All kida are different so only you can determine when it is ok to put the mattress down another notch. I put my daughters down when I saw that she could easly fall out when on her knees. Then again my daugther is very tall so this happened at about 5 months old.
I think it's wise to put the crib mattress at the lowest setting now. You don't want to wait. Many times children learn to do things way before you think they are ready and willing (e.g., stand up). I know it feels very soon but you will adjust in no time. Good luck.
W., do not hesitate to lower that crib right away. I am a mother of three the youngest who is now 26. I also have pediatric nursing background. Children develop at very different times any moment your little one could just try hard enough to role over or even sit or stand up. My first stood up at 5 months. I was in shock when I saw her that morning. She had been sleeping in a port a crib because we had moved . Boy did that crib go up fast. You just can't be to careful
