drop side crib question

[galincognito]

i know there are a bunch of safety issues with drop side cribs but are the same issues there if you leave the side down permanently, kind of like a day bed?? 

i guess i'm not totally sure on what exactly the issues are.  i was under the impression that the repeated raising/dropping of the side could cause the hardware to loosen, posing a risk.  but i could very well be off base with that!!

right now, the side is up and fixed in that position but dd2 is climbing out and i'm nervous she's going to really hurt herself.  we don't have the physical space to put the mattress on the floor without disassembling the whole crib (which we'd rather not do since we'll need it for baby#3 very shortly) but that's what i'll do if having the side permanently down isn't a very good idea.  unless there's any other good ideas out there (no, co-sleeping is not one of them)!

[DahliaRW]

I believe the issue is the side not staying engaged and the baby getting their head stuck between the rail and mattress and suffocating.  I believe they fail because they either are not locked into place properly or the cheap plastic parts degrade over time and become brittle.  I know the old school drop sides that had metal instead of plastic didn't seem to have this issue.  I don't think side position would solve it.  You could just modify the crib yourself to make the side stationary (screw it on I would think) if you want.  It's a parental decision of course.  You could also just shake it like crazy to see if it seems secure and check it periodically.  It's really your comfort level.

[LaughingHyena]

When DS got to the stage that we thought he might be able to climb out (though he never did) we removed the drop side completely. Since it didn't bolt in or anything we figured it was not structural.

We did think about getting a bed rail as there were a couple of times he fell out, we couldn't find one to fit though so we just put an extra duvet on the floor.

[jennifercp8]

When DD was about 14-15 months, we just removed the side all together.  The mattress was at it's lowest setting, and she could climb in and out of the bed safely this way (instead of over the top).  She has fallen out a few times, but does really great.  We are going to transition her to a big girl bed soon, so we have the crib for the next baby coming.