As a petite woman, my height doesn’t usually create significant obstacles—there’s often someone taller nearby ready to lend a hand. However, short mothers face a particular challenge when it comes to getting their little ones in and out of cribs. This predicament often goes unnoticed until the day they find themselves in a store, staring at cribs with sides that seem impossibly high.
Recently, a video of a 5’1″ grandmother struggling to put her grandchild to bed went viral, showcasing the everyday struggles of shorter moms. Many of us can relate to this scenario. When I was shopping for cribs for my twins in late 2007, I was taken aback by how high the crib sides were. I began to worry that each time I needed to lay my babies down, I would have to carefully lower them into their cribs—definitely not a comforting thought. Despite the reassurances that babies are tough, I knew that dropping them from a height was not a wise plan.
Fortunately, during that period, drop-side cribs were still legal. For those unfamiliar, these cribs allowed one or more sides to be lowered for easier access to the sleeping baby. They were practical and aesthetically pleasing, but safety concerns led to their prohibition by the Consumer Product Safety Commission as of June 28, 2011. This was a necessary move for child safety, yet it left many shorter mothers scrambling for alternatives.
Since then, many short moms have had to get creative—using step stools, ropes, or even diving into the crib itself, just like the grandmother in that viral video. Thankfully, there are now cribs designed with “lower side profiles,” which sit closer to the ground, and many come with adjustable mattress heights. However, for those who are faced with fixed-rail cribs that stand tall, the struggle remains.
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In summary, being a short mom comes with its own set of humorous yet genuine challenges, particularly concerning baby cribs. While there are solutions available, the unique trials of navigating parenting at a lower height can be both amusing and frustrating.