apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

but can you put them back in later?

That's what I was wondering!

Oops--also meant to say that I figure it probably depends on how each individual crib is put together (where the screws are, if the rails were glued into place, etc.), but I'm guessing that this might not be a reversible process for most cribs....

The crib in the photo looks like the spindles can be put back in if you wanted to reverse the process.

fab idea -

Never mind if the spindles can be put back in folks... what about the spacing of the opening? This is not safe. Remove at least the same number of slats as your child is long, this way he can still move around in his sleep without possibly getting a limb twisted or stuck. I'd rather a toddler fall out of the low crib than get my leg/arm twisted or worse. Cribs that don't function a certain way is because they weren't made that way and to mess with the integrity is asking for trouble.

That's not a toddler bed. It's a crib with a hole in the side -- a potentially dangerous hole at that (I'm with you, charmgirl).

It looks like a good idea, but I would also be concerned about the structural integrity of the side once the slats are removed. When a toddler gets big enough to get out of the crib either because of height, weight or a combination of the two, you need to be mindful that they may put a leg (or more) over the top. The crib is meant to be supported by a certain number of slats. Removing some of them compromises its load-bearing abilities.

Good concept, but I'm with the others on the scary-hole-integrity-and-size issue (being the uber-overprotective mom that I am)... it looks like something my in-laws would do. (they have a lovely collection of recalled baby furniture they see no problem using on their grandkids, including old-school mesh playpens [DANGER] and antique highchairs & cribs with wide-gapped spindles and broken drop sides) Hey, who wants to play with some magnets??

I did this about a week ago to our crib. The way it's built there's no going back, so it was a permanent change. It worked GREAT. He spent 20 minutes just climbing in and out, and goes to bed several times a day.

That is, until last night. At around 3am I heard him scream on the monitor, and I went in to find his arm caught between the bars and him hanging with his butt about 3 inches off the ground. Luckily he wasn't seriously hurt, not even a bruise, but it could have easily been a broken arm or dislocated shoulder.

I've now taken the front panel off of his crib and moved all of the furniture out of the way so he doens't hurt himself if he falls out of bed. He's really not ready for a full-on toddler bed, and I thought this would be a great in-between stage. But it's really not safe, and now my crib is permanently damaged.