No mom, I'm not using that damn crib...

learningfromlife · January 2012

My MIL had told my husband and I that she was getting this nursery furniture set I had been keeping my eye on as our christmas present. Awesome. It was a crib, a dresser/changing table thing and a glider for $350. Instead? She found the only Wii I've ever seen that doesn't come with games included. Oh and it's bright blue. While I appreciate the fact that she didn't have to get us anything, I wonder what made her opt for completely unnecessary electronics we will never use (especially since we have no games for it) over something we could get some actual use out of.

Anyhow, my mom keeps bringing up my daughters crib now. There are a million reasons that crib will not be in my nursery and here are a few.... It's a drop side. Even if I could find a conversion kit for it I have no idea where all the original hardware is and I'm just not comfortable trying to substitute pieces from the hardware store. It's been outside for like 5 years. While it has been protected from rain it has been exposed to extreme heat in summer and cold in the winter, along with numerous critters since it's not covered at all and she allows cats to live in her gargage... I just can't believe it is safe at all to use.

Then there's her old mattress. I don't know if this one has been kept inside or out but they chain smoke so bad in their home I could walk up to any wall (or object really) and rub my finger on it and get an inch of smoker filth from it. Not exactly what I want to put my baby to sleep on.

Basically what's going to happen is I'm going to start bringing home all the baby stuff from my daughter that she has at her place(a carseat, some toys, some clothes... all of which are either sitting outside where any and everything can get to them or inside where they can smell like tar) so I can "go through them" but really so I can go through my back door with them and throw them in the trash. Perhaps if they had been stored better (I would have put them in storage if I knew it all existed before she exiled it out into her garage) I would consider it but I'm more at the point where I don't think any of it is safe to use (except for the clothes but I'm sure those are all stained with nicotine and heaven knows what else) and I don't want to risk her setting up the crib somewhere one day and trying to put my daughter in it.

Like I told my husband we can afford a nice inexpensive crib and a new mattress and have to worry a lot less about her getting hurt or sick from the stuff that's at my moms house. Am I over reacting here??

gisa886 · January 2012

In this situation newer is better. You might be able to find a decent crib/furniture set on craigslist for a good price. Just check for recalls there.

learningfromlife · January 2012

I'm really iffy on using a used crib at all (I have no idea why really.. I mean I know why I won't use my daughter's old one but not sure what I have against anyone elses) and luckily it's within our budget to be able to get a new one but she just keeps pushing the old stuff from when my daughter was a baby and I really just don't get why. I mean I'm sure she's trying to save us money but I'd rather spend a little more and have a lot more peace of mind

learningfromlife · January 2012

softskate31:
I agree with your plan. That crib and mattress need to get tossed. Why did you leave all your baby stuff in a smokers house/nasty garage anyways?

Like I said in my post I didn't know she had it all. I assumed it had all been tossed a long time ago. I just found out about it all a few weeks ago. I never go through her cluttered house so I didn't know what she was keeping in there and I guess a couple months ago she moved it all out to the garage. I saw all the trash bags but never knew what was in them.

ETA: I had been single since I split up with my ex 5 years ago and didn't ever anticipate having more kids so I wasn't really looking for her baby stuff after we moved up here.

cuppaco · January 2012

Crib and mattress - I totally would toss.

The car seat has probably expired too (looking at the age of your daughter), as most expire in 5 years.

If you have an Ikea nearby they have nice cribs and mattresses for really reasonable prices.

learningfromlife · January 2012

cuppaco:
Crib and mattress - I totally would toss.
The car seat has probably expired too (looking at the age of your daughter), as most expire in 5 years.

If you have an Ikea nearby they have nice cribs and mattresses for really reasonable prices.

I don't live near anything lol. I wouldn't dream of using the car seat, even though it's probably only 3 years old (it wasn't her infant one) because it looks disgusting and I found out it's been sitting out in the garage for who knows how long.

I'm glad you ladies agree with me on pretty much pitching everything (though I was pretty sure you would given how gross this stuff has gotten)

ateal2490 · January 2012

Yeah, there's a reason that selling drop side cribs is illegal. Not just frowned upon...Illegal.

Good for you ditching all that stuf.

JaimeG183 · January 2012

yes in this situation, i'd throw it all away!

I wouldn't want my baby in stuff that I'm not sure of the condition of - since it's been outside and around all the smoke

angiekay84 · January 2012

Absolutely throw it away. I agree with you, you can get a nice, (maybe not fancy), but very safe, and even recommended crib in the $200 dollar range.

jesbeth · January 2012

Check out Walmart.com! Lots of awesome deals.

dojo1 · January 2012

All new cribs meet minimum safety standards. If you can afford new and want to buy one, it's no one's business but your own. What's your mom going to do, sneak into your house and return it then set up the old one?

Kids spend more time in their crib than anywhere else, this isn't the place to mess around with safety.

mamabear0813 · January 2012

DO-JO:
All new cribs meet minimum safety standards. If you can afford new and want to buy one, it's no one's business but your own. What's your mom going to do, sneak into your house and return it then set up the old one?
Kids spend more time in their crib than anywhere else, this isn't the place to mess around with safety.

I agree. We got our crib from Walmart. It's a Graco. We love it. DS has been in it since he was about 6 months (he was in our room until then) and it doesn't show any signs of wear. Plus, we can convert it to a toddler bed for him if we want to.