Taking advice from boards as well as Baby Bargains, I thought that the Ultimate Crib Sheet would be something that I love. I was surprised to find I didn't, and of course being a petite mama had a lot to do with it.
First off, this petite mama has been doing things to create a reduced chemical environment with things like an organic mattress and using natural products. I guess I didn't think clearly before putting on the registry, but the Ultimate Crib Sheet (UCS) is loaded with vinyl and who knows what else. Putting something like that on top of an organic mattress just seems to defeat my purpose, and the smell upon opening the package made it clear there was no way around it.
Then there was the problem us petite mamas will face: getting the UCS snaps around the crib rails in the back. This was a surprise as something I never considered not being able to reach the back of the crib at the level of the mattress being a problem. But you can't hook any of the snaps around the rails on the back side if you can't reach! I had to pull the whole crib away from the wall just so I could get around and hook in the back. Doing this much work just made the chemical laden sheet I got to make life easier more work than it is worth. I plan on keeping in case of an absolute emergency, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother owning one.
So how does a petite mama make up a crib to make life easier to change a soiled sheet in the night? I decided on layering. Since I can't reach to the backside of the crib none of those ease sheet changing solutions available on the market were going to work for me. That is, none that I have found or heard of. I was going to have to do some sort of regular sheet removal and probably light mattress lifting. To make this work as easy as possible, this is how I made up the crib:
LA Baby Organic 2-in-1 mattress from Costco
Naturepedic Waterproof Crib Pad (mattress cover)
sheet
Naturepedic organic cotton waterproof crib pad
sheet
This way, when junior makes a messy sheet, all I have to do is remove the top sheet and crib pad, and I already have a clean sheet and cover under that. No need to make up a new bed, just remove soiled sheet and pad. Then, once daylight strikes and I have a chance to do laundry I can re-assemble.
First off, this petite mama has been doing things to create a reduced chemical environment with things like an organic mattress and using natural products. I guess I didn't think clearly before putting on the registry, but the Ultimate Crib Sheet (UCS) is loaded with vinyl and who knows what else. Putting something like that on top of an organic mattress just seems to defeat my purpose, and the smell upon opening the package made it clear there was no way around it.
Then there was the problem us petite mamas will face: getting the UCS snaps around the crib rails in the back. This was a surprise as something I never considered not being able to reach the back of the crib at the level of the mattress being a problem. But you can't hook any of the snaps around the rails on the back side if you can't reach! I had to pull the whole crib away from the wall just so I could get around and hook in the back. Doing this much work just made the chemical laden sheet I got to make life easier more work than it is worth. I plan on keeping in case of an absolute emergency, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother owning one.
So how does a petite mama make up a crib to make life easier to change a soiled sheet in the night? I decided on layering. Since I can't reach to the backside of the crib none of those ease sheet changing solutions available on the market were going to work for me. That is, none that I have found or heard of. I was going to have to do some sort of regular sheet removal and probably light mattress lifting. To make this work as easy as possible, this is how I made up the crib:
LA Baby Organic 2-in-1 mattress from Costco
Naturepedic Waterproof Crib Pad (mattress cover)
sheet
Naturepedic organic cotton waterproof crib pad
sheet
This way, when junior makes a messy sheet, all I have to do is remove the top sheet and crib pad, and I already have a clean sheet and cover under that. No need to make up a new bed, just remove soiled sheet and pad. Then, once daylight strikes and I have a chance to do laundry I can re-assemble.
