Conference moira::parenting_v3

    I purchased the Fisher Price bed rail and have been happy with it.
    The side folds down to make it easier to make/change the bed.
    
    Nancy

I've also got the FP and really like it.

    My daughter "scooted" her way out of all the rails.  I ended up with a
    sheet that has 3 inflatable tubes (one on each side and at her feet)
    and that has been the only thing that will contain her!  She's a wild
    sleeper....

    Along the same theme as the last reply...
    
    You can roll up a blanket lenghtwise and place it under 
    the bottom sheet at the edge of the bed.  This is what 
    we did. It worked and it was free. 
    
    Kids grow out of stages so fast that there is usually a 
    cheap work-around to most temporary problems/stages.
    
    
    Jodi-
    

    We bought one, and returned it after two days use.  He simply never
    needed a rail.  Although I can't remember the brand name it came from
    Toys R us, had three plastic "feet" (if you will) that anchored it
    under the matress.  I liked it because the feet moved 360degrees and it
    was in two pieces so you could fold in in half to get him into the bed,
    then secure the rail under the matress.
    
    Now for my current question, the paranoid mother in me need to ask what
    to do about our most recent aquisition, a camper trailer with a loft
    type bed.  AJ is just *dying* to sleep in it, but we're both hesitant
    because there's nothing to stop him from rolling and falling 4+ feet to
    the floor.  If I get a bed rail will this do the trick?  Any
    suggestions on types that work better in this type of situation.  We
    are considering not using a conventional mattress, but to get one of
    those air mattresses that you blow up with your hair dryer which has
    the cloth (velvet like) cover. Because they would take up less room
    when we're en route.  This sleeping area folds up to look like an
    overhead storage cabinet when not inuse.
    
    Lyn
    

Lyn,

We used the same Fisher-Price bed rail for sammy to sleep in our
trailer. He likes the vantage point of the upper bunk; we like it
so we can store stuff in the lower bunk. The F-P bed rail folds
180 degrees to let us put him in bed without lifting him over
the rail. We then set the rail up so that he wouldn't roll near
the rail with pillows.

If you're too worried, the FP rail can be screwed into the bed
frame under the mattress.

calvin

    Just FYI -- if you live in New England, the Rich's department
    store chain has the Fisher-Price bed rails on sale this week.
    
    re: .5
    
    I've seen ads for a blow-up mattress that has blow-up tubes down
    each side to help keep the child from rolling out -- perhaps that
    would work for the camper.
    
    --bonnie

    
    	Does anyone know where to get bed rails? I've looked in Bradlees
    and in Ames and neither have them.
    
    	I'm hoping that if I use a bed rail, my king size "belly" pillow
    (as opposed to my two head pillows and my one back pillow) won't fall
    out of bed and I will be able to sleep for just a few minutes longer at
    a time.
    
    	If there are no ideas of where to get bed rails, any ideas for
    making the nights more comfortable in bed?
    
    			sigh,
    
    				Wendy

    Try Child World.  That's where we bought ours, uh.... 6 years ago...
    Sigh.

    Wendy,

        We got a bed rail for David's bed at Toys R Us - they had several
	models.  Sleeping does get awkward the last few months - I used to
	hate the amount of effort it took to roll over!  (It didn't help that
	there were 3 cats trying to share the bed, pinning down my covers!
	I think they all got discouraged by about the 8th month, when I kept
	knocking them over the side, and decided to sleep elsewhere...)

							cheryl

    Bradlees had three different kinds in stock only a few weeks ago. 
    They were in the Nashua Mall store, in the baby furniture section
    (which isn't with the rest of the baby stuff, it's over by the
    greeting cards, between the paperback books and the unfinished
    furniture).  
    
    Zayre's was out of stock ten days ago, but expected a delivery any
    day.  I didn't check back because David stopped falling out of bed
    this week.
    
    --bonnie

    Sears has them in the catalog, and I think I saw them in Penny's if the
    other locations don't have them.
    

    
    Service Merchandise has some in their flyer this week.
    

    KMart, Walmart, and Target all had them a few weeks ago here in
    Albuquerque.  I looked for my son, who moved into his "big bed"
    Wednesday but boy, am I glad I didn't buy one--he is doing perfectly
    fine without it.  He hasn't fallen out at all!!  I especially liked
    the Fisher Price net model that folded down.
    
    Pam

    We moved into a new house when Amy was 13 months old.  I refused 
    to set up the crib for just a short period of time and figured this
    was as good a time as any to transition her to a bed.  
    
    I always meant to buy a bedrail and never quite got around to it.
    Amy has fallen out of her bed once - she had just turned 7 years
    old.  
    
    I'm expecting child #3 in August and Nicole (#2) is only 9 months old. 
    She will be going into a bed by the time she's a year also to make
    room for her sister.  However, this time I will need to make the 
    bedrail purchase since Nicole is a real little wiggler!!  We have
    looked at them and are probably going to go with the Fisher Price
    model.  

    I have tried a bed rail on my daughter's bed and have found her legs
    hanging out underneath it, her arm stuck in between it, and found it
    was more pain than it is worth.  It has plastic bars rather than mesh
    so maybe that's the problem, but I can't afford to buy another one
    right now.  Any other suggestions???  She falls out of bed all the
    time, so I have either 1)put a comforter and pillow along the bed, or
    2) let her sleep in my bed.  It seems to be 2. alot lately, and she
    really does like her bed, but I can't sleep at night worrying about
    her.  She is a total wiggle worm.  Has anybody had this problem??
    Thanks.  Kristy

re .8:  Try putting her mattress on the floor?

    Also, to make it less likely for her to get limbs stuck in the rail,
    put a bunch of stuffed animals along it?

					cheryl

    I'd opt for the mattress on the floor.  This way if she 'falls' out,
    she doesn't have far to go.  It also might help her get used to the
    idea that there are edges to the bed.  Jason has the bottom of a
    trundle bed, and the mattress is lower than the frame by about 2 inches
    (so he has 2 inches of wood all around the bed) - it's all he needs to
    stay 'in'.  If she has some type of 'frame' to her bed, maybe you could
    get the same affect by removing the box spring?  Personally, I think
    I'd just get rid of the frame, and plop the whole thing on the floor.
    
    Good luck!
    Patty

    I've seen advertisements for a "soft bedrail" which replaces hard
    rails with soft bolsters that make it difficult to roll out of bed
    unintentionally.  The bolster is attached to a fabric panel which
    slips under the mattress, I believe.  Unfortunately, I don't have
    a name or store for you, but it sounds very much like what you're
    in the market for.
    
    				Steve

    
    We've just put Colleen in a bed for the last 2 nights. The mattress and
    boxspring are on the floor. 
    
    The first night we found her cuddled up the floor at the foot of the bed.
    We bought the Fisher Price bed rail at Lechmere yesterday (on sale @ 17.95)
    and put it on the bed. Last night I hear a 'thump'. So I get up only to
    find her sitting in the middle of the room and starting to cry.
    
    I guess she has her fathers tendencies to move around at night.
    Looks like the bed will stay on the floor for awhile longer ...
    
    Doug.

    Cheryl,
    Thanks sooooo much for the suggestion about the stuffed animals.  
    It works great because 1) she loves having all her animals and
    dolls next to her and 2)there's so many of them she couldn't possibly
    roll over "the mound".  Besides, it looks so cute with them all 
    lined up against the bedrail.  Three peaceful nights now and looking
    good!!!!!
    
    Kristy

    Along the lines of moving children from cribs to beds,
    I am looking for suggestions on bed rails.  
    
    We plan to transition Steven (22mos) from his crib to a bed
    this weekend and need to buy a bed rail (or do we?)
    
    I saw the Gerry/Nu Line wooden bed rail on sale and was
    wondering if this type folds down like the Fisher-Price
    model does.  I couldn't tell from the description on the
    box.  Do any of you have this brand?
    
    Looking for suggestions on what brand is best and if
    bed rails are necessities.  Steven doesn't move around in 
    his crib all that much, until he wakes in the morning to play.
    
    thanks!
    Linda
    
    

    Check back in the beginning of this note, this may already be here, but
    in case it isn't....We bought a bed rail (can't remember the brand
    unfortunately) that had like 3 anchoring "feet" that tucked between the
    mattress and box spring, what I liked is that it had hinges that
    allowed it to fold in half to make it easier to get your child in or
    out of bed.  Cost was between $16-20.
    
    We brought the thing back though after 3 nights, he just didn't need
    it. Never had a problem, we put his new twin bed with a wall at one
    side and the head and he just never moved enough to need a rail.
    
    I guess a second preference, if I had to do it again would be the ones
    with mesh instead of wooden rails.  But probably more expensive.
    
    Lyn

    See .2 & .3
    
    Try without - you mentioned he doesn't move around much. We used the
    special sheet and inflatable tubes. One benefit was that we took the
    whole thing (deflated !) to Florida for use in the hotel and at my
    parent's place. We had Marc's bed in a corner so only used one of the
    tubes anyway. Or, I like .3's idea of rolling up a blanket for a bumper.
    The need to have something really didn't last that long anyway.
    JR

    Gee, maybe we will try rolling up a blanket first and see
    how that works.
    
    thanks for the suggestions!
    
    Linda

After protesting the crib for 3 weeks and sleeping on her bedroom floor!,
Jim/I spent yesterday switching Juli's crib for "one of the bunk beds" (in
the attic).

Oh, we got a lot of flack from family and friends about NOT considering
side rails, but we hung firm on our decision ... for two reasons.  Juli's
slept on many a "sideless" bed in her 2 years (and has fallen off a few times,
too!), but never once injured herself.  We never wanted to make her fearful
of falling either, so we'd just say things like "have a nice fall?, see you
in the spring ... what are you doing down there? ... come on!, hop up! ...".
Now when Juli rolls off, she just climbs back in again.

Second reason:  the bottom bunk bed is VERY LOW to the ground ... TOO low
for "me", but great for Juli.

Yesterday, my folks dropped by for morning coffee and Juli fussed to go
with them ... so that left Jim/I with a nice quiet few hours alone, so we
switched the crib for a bed.  Early evening, we picked up Juli and I couldn't
wait to see her reaction (she had NO CLUE of the switch, although she's
been VERY VOCAL about "hating" her crib (which I can't figure out since we
never used it to punish her or threaten her!)).  She walked into her room,
stopped dead in her tracks, stared at the bed and said "Mommeee, DAAddDDEE!,
hurry!  no crib!  Crib all gone!"  We told her it was "Juli's big bed".  She
was thrilled.  She climbed up on it, cuddled up with her dolls and bears
(on the pillows) and Jim took a candid picture (from the hallway).  Jim came
in and sat on her bed and she promptly told him "Off, DAddDDE!, Juli's bed!"
She sat on her bed, tested the pillows, touched the handmade quilt (Nana
made) and was in total awe for 30 minutes or so.

Wished the "introduction" (and excitement) had occurred earlier in the day,
though, as it was tough getting her to calm down and nestle in.  She did
sleep through the night (in fact, we had to waken her this morning!), she 
did NOT fall out of bed and she was still blabbering about "Juli's big bed" 
enroute to daycare this morning.

Dottie

PS:  We also put two pillows in an inverted "V" shape to encourage her to
     sleep in the "center".

    If you think that falling out of bed may be problem, or just want to
    prevent one.  Friends of ours put the crib mattress on the floor beside
    the bed, for a softer landing.  Personally I'd think just putting a
    quilt or blanket on the floor beside the bed, or even a couple pillows,
    end to end, would do the same thing.
    
    I too never had a problem of AJ ever falling out of bed.
    
    Good Luck with the new bed!!
    Lyn

    We transitioned Cory to a bed about a month ago because he, too, had
    become very vocal about not wanting to sleep in the crib.
    
    We decided to get a bed rail because he's always been an "all over the
    bed" kind of sleeper.
    
    Of course, one night he managed to get turned side-ways and rolled down
    the bed and off the end. 
    
    We're using the Nu-Line bed rail that folds down.
    
    
    - Terry
    

I put a rolled up blanket under the edge of the mattress when I put my kids in 
a big bed.  It just raised the edge a little so they tended to roll back in if 
they got too close and it didn't feel like a rail.  My younger boy is also
all over his bed but we never had problems with him falling out.  The older one
always slept motionless in the middle of his bed.

ccb

    We put a bean bag chair next to Jason's bed to help soften the blow
    when he falls out .... With the bean bag chair there, he NEVER falls
    out of bed - move it for a night and BOOM he's on the floor.  
    
    The psychology of know it's there?!??
    

    Just an update,  we decided to get a bed rail since my
    sister in law offered to loan us hers.  
    
    We transitioned Steven to the bed on Saturday.  He LOVES it!
    Wakes up every morning and brags about how he slept in a 
    big bed last night.  So far he's been acting as though it's
    a crib though.  He still finds his way into the same corner
    he used to go to when he was in his crib and this morning
    I found him facing toward the foot of the bed.
    
    And he even calls us when he wakes up and wants to get out!
    (wonder how long it will be before he realizes he can get
     out himself?!)
    
    Linda

    Linda,
    
    It's been my experience with both my boys, that they will continue to
    call to you to come get them, until that fateful morning, when you're
    too tired to move and you tell them to just get up by themselves, and
    willingly they do ..... And after that, half the time they won't bother
    to even TELL you they're up ... till you hear the noise of some
    appliance, or the front door slam shut or something ....!  Appreciate
    it while he still calls!!!
    
    Patty

    Patty,
    
    I'm trying not to tell him to get up by himself.  Mostly
    because of the story you told a few months ago about your
    son getting up and going outside to play (and getting locked
    out of the house).
    
    We live on a busy street and I really fear that some day
    my little monster would decide to go outside like your son
    did.  Luckily, my husband is a VERY light sleeper!
    
    Linda

    I was considering buying bed rails for my 2 year old daughter.  I asked
    for my mothers advice.  Since she works at Baby World I figured she
    could give me good advice.  She told me not to waste my time with bed
    rails that all I'm am doing is prolonging the fact that my daugher will
    eventually fall out of bed.  I was real suprised that she doesn't get
    out of the bed when we put her in.  I thought she would be out & about. 
    And yes she has fallen out of bed a couple of times but they learn.
    
    Tiki

    We have never used bedrails either - we bought my son a small bed,
    which fits a crib mattress. He fell out once a night for a few nights,
    and does infrequently if he's sleeping deeply, but it's rare.