Project Goal: Safe Space for Mom and Baby

Child-rearing is hard work and, more often than not, it requires innovative problem-solving on the fly. My daughter enjoyed exploring early on and was always content if she could move around. I was very sleep-deprived trying to pump due to latching issues. I had postpartum depression (PPD) and torn ligaments in my ankle, so I needed to figure out a way to play on her level and get the rest I needed. Then I had a “crazy idea” and got to work immediately.

Materials:

• King mattress
• Low King bed frame
• Retractable side rail
• Baby crib
• Screws
• Zip-ties
• Crib padding
• Full-length mirror (added after this initial photo was taken)

Establishing a Safe Perimeter

I took one of the longer sides off of the crib, flipped it to be a “ladder,” and screwed it to the bed frame. She could pull herself up on the surfaces, but she couldn’t actually climb over any of them.

In order to stabilize the perimeter, I zip-tied the rail to the ladder. I anchored the crib to the ladder by tying multiple knots with the thick straps from her crib padding. This allowed me to pivot the crib when I needed to clean or change the sheets. She wasn’t strong enough to move her crib from the bed, so the full-length mirror wasn’t added as another anchor point until a few months later.

Development Process

My brain works differently than most people. I look at something that is broken and see the potential solutions. In this example, my mental and physical health were suffering. My PPD was telling me that I was a horrible mom. I was averaging 3 hours of sleep per day. I was slowly losing my mind and I could feel the darkness creeping in on me. After a particularly hard day, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and fix the problem.

I analyzed my situation and determined that the primary problems were: Sleep, pain, depression, and anxiety. I decided to tackle two of my problems related to sleep and pain.

• Sleep: Having her play area on the bed allowed me to doze off safely. Knowing it was safe to sleep significantly decreased my anxiety, increased my total daily sleep time, and improved my depression.
• Pain: By having an elevated platform to play with my daughter, I avoided having to strain my ankle getting her into the crib. I also didn’t have to sit on the floor to play, which was excruciating at times.

Benefits for Baby

Her motor skills developed substantially faster than normal, and she also learned how to be careful when “stepping” down. She did roll off of the bed into her crib on a few occasions, but she slept through it each time. Dropping 6 inches onto a crib mattress couldn’t do much damage anyways, even if she happened to hit the railing.

Benefits for Mom

I was able to get sleep, play, breastfeed, pump, or read a book with her in a safe environment. With my injuries, it is very difficult to stand up from a sitting position on the ground. I wholeheartedly believe that this helped me conserve my energy and heal faster. I have lost over 100lbs since January 2022 by listening to my body and using unique solutions to fix my problems.