It’s amazing to see all of the new must have baby gear that comes out every year. Mom’s and dad’s wind up with so much anxiety before baby is even born just trying to fill their nurseries with furniture and toys that baby won’t even touch for months. I was that parent, so I know. I too had the empty full sized crib for my newborn that didn’t get slept in until well after baby came home. There was a time though – (I’m told ) – when babies slept in laundry baskets and dresser drawers while still little and until parents could pull together the necessary items to keep them comfy and safe. There are countries that even today send moms home with a cardboard box with the early necessities and a pad at the bottom to turn the box into a crib for the first few weeks. How simple and practical.
Maybe not quite as practical in the beginning, but our crib has lasted us through four little ones and still has a lot of life in it. Our littlest man of the house is growing fast though, and eventually won’t even need his, what once seemed huge, crib anymore. Pretty soon it will convert to a toddler bed and he’ll get in and out as he pleases – and eventually it will get put into storage for his big boy bed. All my babies will then be grown and I’ll long for the days when I fretted over huge empty cribs when all I needed was a deep dresser drawer. There are many things I would do differently as a newborn parent if I had to do them over again, but one would be to stress a little less about the material things.
