by Ashley
Remember when I talked about the kiddos climbing out of their cribs and how we’d have to buy some expensive bed rails soon?
Well, I have an update to report.
Based on some of your suggestions I decided to opt for a bed rail as opposed to the fancy-pants (and $$$) toddler crib conversion kit. I ordered the cheapest crib rails I could find on ebay, to the tune of $25 + free shipping. Plus it was one of those “name your price” things so I emailed the vendor and asked if I could get a deal if I bought two. Out the door it ended up costing me $45 (a $5 savings) and I got free shipping to my house.
The problem, my friends, is that sometimes you get what you pay for.
The bed rails, although advertised as able to be used with a crib, are total crap. First, they’re made of cheapy plastic and I can tell they are going to fall apart soon. Second, they take up the entire length of the crib, so it’s very difficult still for the girls to get in and out of bed and they’re forced to still climb over the side. Even though it’s much lower than the old crib side, it still doesn’t seem safe. Particularly since the cheap pieces of plastic aren’t sturdy and were not intended to be climbed on/over. Sigh. We’re going to make do until the girls are old enough to simply have them removed entirely.
Bed Rail – Taking up the entire length of the crib and just generally being a piece of doo-doo.
But here’s a little life lesson for you. I could have bought a moderately priced bed/crib rail for $50 each, spent $100 out the door, and still saved more than $100 versus the cost of the toddler crib conversion kit. Instead, I opted for the $25 model ($50 for two), and bought total pieces of crap. Boo!!!! Sometimes, you get what you pay for.
Foot note: I don’t want this to sound like I’m blaming you guys since some of the readers had suggested the bed rails! Actually commenters provided exact links to better quality ones (not the cheapy ones I found on ebay), so this is 100% my fault! After proofing this it sounded almost like I’m mad at you guys for giving me the suggestion and I don’t want it to come across that way at all!!! On the contrary, I’m always grateful for your suggestions!
Have you ever bought the cheap version of something only to find out later it was total crap? On the flip side, what have you scored for a lower-cost that ended up being just as good as the full price product?
(I’ve had pharmacist friends say to always, always by generic medicine because its the exact same, often manufactured in the same factory and just put into different boxes. So that’s one thing where the cheap version has worked just as well as the higher-priced name brand product for my purposes)
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
I’ve been very lucky I guess and haven’t had that problem yet. We don’t usually buy used online though just because I really like to look at something and check it over. We buy about 90% used though. Most of the stuff in my house was found for free or bought used. We almost always buy used vehicle parts–not always though because sometimes new is just as cheap depending on what type of vehicle you have and where you shop.
Well shoot, that didn’t work, did it? Our rail looked just like that one but it must’ve been shorter, because it left a little space like that on each side.
Can you teach the girls to squeeze through the space? They are smart cookies after all. That being said, my toddler would use the space to climb in but would go over the rail to get out no matter what I did. I just put pillows on the ground. Hang in there, this can be a short phase!
Another thought – these are probably made for twin beds, not cribs…
This was my thought as well.
Yeah, after seeing them, they are absolutely made for a twin bed! But online it was advertised that it could be used with a crib as well. The seller (whom I purchased them from on ebay) had 100% positive feedback so I thought it was a safe purchase but, when I got them and was unhappy, I looked up feedback for the actual product and basically everyone with a crib has the same issues I have. I guess they’ll function better on an actual bed but we don’t have actual beds right now so we’re just kinda stuck with these.
I’ve tried to teach the girls to squeeze through the space, but its really tight. And, yeah, they really only use it for climbing in then resort to going over the rail to climb out.
send them back if you aren’t happy.
how about a big fluffy pillow on the floor below the bed to catch a falling kid?
Ditto Adam’s advice. It doesn’t look like to much of a fall if the girls are active sleepers.
It’s true, the cribs are set on the lowest setting so they’re already close to the ground. I’m not as much worried about them hurting themselves if they were to fall out of bed as I am about them waking themselves (and sister! and mom and dad!) up if they fall and are scared, and then its a whole ordeal to try to get them to go back to sleep. Sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen! And for the record, they are VERY active sleepers. Almost comically so.
I guess I still don’t understand the need for those bed rails.
And I also don’t understand why you’re husband couldn’t just build them from scrap wood. But maybe I don’t understand that because I don’t understand the general need for the bed rails.
But don’t beat yourself up over it and just aim for better choices & better research before purchase next time (e.g. making sure to ask the vendor about the measurements of something if it’s not already listed).
And since you’re fighting debt so hard & have made so much progress, in the grand scheme of things it won’t be much of a setback I’d say.
My son is grown now however we had a similar one when he was a toddler. With the model I had, you simply pulled up on the rail in the center and that released it and it folded down. The girls could then enter the need easily and you would flip up the trail once they are in the need.I am unclear as to why these would not fold down. It should work the same whether it’s in a crib or a twin since I’m guessing it fits under the mattress correct?
Sorry about the typos above. The sentence should say that you would flip down the railing and the girls could enter the bed. I’ve never seen one that didn’t flip down but it’s been twenty years, lol.
As for generic prescriptions, there’s a huge difference for some medications. My son has one medication that isn’t effective at all in the generic version. We have a few that we buy the brand name…cost is high. My understanding is that generic meds use the same “active” ingredients. We all know shampoos use sls as the active ingredient and there is a vast difference in brands.
Bottom line for anything is that sometimes you can.get away with.less expensive brands and sometimes not. With the bed railings, I think they should fold down. Good luck.
I put a pool noodle (a buck from the dollar store!) under the crib sheet on the edge of the beds. Worked perfectly for both my girls.
I find this posting hysterical. I think you will look back and find this moment in life as very comical. I recently bought a laundry rack, which was the cheapest one at a large chain store and it doesn’t fit most of my clothes. Too bad you can’t get your $45 back, but have you thought about contacting your card company?
Why is the credit company at fault? It stinks she got a cheap product, but Ashley picked the product. The merchant shipped it undamaged and they were new and usable, albeit not how she had anticipated. You do get what you pay for. The only company she should consider contacting regarding her dissatisfaction is the merchant.
Yeah, I’m just chalking this up as a life lesson. I think I could return the product to the merchant since I’m dissatisfied with the product (as you can return a product to the store that you’re dissatisfied with), but – of course – we promptly recycled the large boxes so to buy the boxes and pay for shipping would simply be more expenses (and headaches) and then we’d still need something new….its too much headache and hassle. I did learn a lesson, though, so I’ll just call it a $45 lesson.
They apparently would work well with twin size beds so either you can do that once you size up their beds or you can resell them to someone who is going from a crib directly to a twin size bed. I have to admit I still don’t understand why you simply didn’t put the mattresses on the floor. An inelegant solution but it works.
I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts, particularly because your twins are a little older than mine so I get a glimpse into what lies ahead of me! Have you considered just putting the mattresses on the floor? You could keep the frame but just remove the bottom panel. This is something one of the other twin moms I know did that worked great because you are right one waking up upset because she just bounced off the floor is a surefire way to get the other one up and upset and that means no sleep for anyone!
Measure, measure, measure. Ask, ask, ask. Yup, life lesson learned. They do make shorter bed rails. Sorry you didn’t get what you wanted, but you did get what you paid for. What I would do is immediately stop using them, get another solution, and resell yours as gently used. Before there’s damage, so you can still say “used 30 nights” or something similar.