Question on Smockity Frocks 4 Moms Post

[lilith]

This is the question.

How do you handle nap time? Next fall I will have a 2 yr old, 2 one yr olds, and a newborn, plus three preschoolers who don’t nap but have quiet time. I am rapidly running out of rooms/closets to put sleeping babies in. Have any of you trained kids to nap in the same room?

Now thankfully Smockity doesn't endorse the placing babies and toddlers in closets to sleep, but closets? Do people really put their kids to sleep in closets?

Is this just a cultural difference in word meanings? To me, an Australian, a closet is a built in wardrobe. Rarely more than a metre deep. Is the American usage the same?

If you have so many babies and toddlers you are running out of not only rooms but also wardrobes in which to place then for nap time, isn't it time to either extend the house or put the baby making on hold?

[ILoveJellybeans]

Some American closets are pretty big, and could easily fit a crib in. Erika Shupe keeps her babies in the closet and theres enough space for them (but I wouldnt recommend it because its not exactly a place that will be checked if there is a fire)

And OMG three preschoolers, a 2 year old, two one year olds and a newborn???? This woman must be more fertile than Michelle.

[MamaJunebug]

I'm hoping she runs a daycare....

Actually I think firefighters do look in closets, since frightened children think they will hide from the fire behind a closet door. But it's still a weird idea.

Don't have more than you can handle, lady (is what I'd tell her), either of your own or in a daycare situation!!!! :(

[Mama Mia]

Lots of people use walk-in closets as a nursery.

A large closet could certainly be big enough for a small child to take a nap.

[Megan]

A bedroom is often defined in your state or local codes. Most places require at least 2 means of escape in an emergency (door leading out of the room or window). A closet would be considered a fire hazard and you could probably be fined if you had a child sleep in one (reckless endangerment).

One of my friends had a shady landlord who made the windows unopenable. It was deemed a fire hazard when they reported it, since the landlord refused to fix them when they mentioned it directly to him. The inspector told them that no one was allowed to sleep in any of the bedrooms that didn't have at least 1 openable window and that the landlord would get some really high fines if it wasn't fixed ASAP.

tl;dr: a closet is not an acceptable place for a child to nap unless it has an operable window.

[yewchapel]

She must have at least one set of multiples, right?

[burntnorton]

Holy Christ. That lady needs to tell her husband to stay the fuck away from her vagina for at least three months following birth, maybe longer. There are other ways to get off and if my experience is any guide, one of the super fun side effects of breastfeeding twins was at least six months of vaginal dryness that made sex decidedly uncomfortable. Sorry to be crude, but sleeping babies are not this woman's problem. A husband who won't let her sleep is.

[meda]

Lots of people use walk-in closets as a nursery.

A large closet could certainly be big enough for a small child to take a nap.

They do? Where is a walk in closet deemed an acceptable nursery? I understand that people with limited space and resources may do this out of extreme necessity, but it is hardly a commonly accepted practice in the USA. In fact it's banned in many places by zoning laws and fire codes.

[lovemygsp]

My current WIC is so large that 2/3 of the space isn't even used. It also has its own full sized window. I have considered making it a small nursery if/when we have a baby. I would never make it my kids room forever but the first year or so I could see why someone might do it. Especially because the other bedrooms in my house are at the opposite end and I can't even hear my husband calling for me.

Of course, I don't think that is the type of set up these people consider safe sleeping conditions. They are just trying to fit as many kids as possible into a tiny place. ugh.

[thehegemon]

Here are a few examples. It's fairly common.

[thehegemon]

This one is a lot worse, found it on apartment therapy. Two kids in a walk in closet. The older toddler is on the bottom and the baby is on the top in a "floating crib" the side is "hacked" to flip down. Not fundies. Hipsters from San Francisco. :think:

[Megan]

The first one isn't really a closet anymore. No doors or anything, more of a niche. Don't know if I'd put all that stuff above a crib, though. The second has a window, so I'm not really concerned about it (assuming the window actually opens).

The third... that seems awfully tight. Two kids, tiny space - seems awfully claustrophobic. It also probably doesn't have a window. And a crib that high up scares me, especially if the side flips down. There seems to be a ton of safety hazards there, given the fire issues and the crib :/

[lilith]

That one in the alcove is actually really cute. But yeah, not really a closet if there are no doors and it's open to the room like that.

[Mama Mia]

They do? Where is a walk in closet deemed an acceptable nursery? I understand that people with limited space and resources may do this out of extreme necessity, but it is hardly a commonly accepted practice in the USA. In fact it's banned in many places by zoning laws and fire codes.

It is very common in expensive areas and areas that have small apartments instead of large houses.

So are trundle beds, which some people here tend to freak out about.

Also, I doubt most places ban someone sleeping in a walk in closet, you just can't advertise it as a bedroom.

In a space that small most people will take the door off to use it more as an alcove.

[terranova]

7 kids under 6? Sheesh, I bow down to you lady.

I think those converted wardrobes are great and a lot of thought has been put into them. I wouldn't put a baby who was still in a cot on the top bunk, but the rest are pretty awesome.

[Megan]

I just googled - the places I have lived operate under the International Residential Code for 1 and 2 family buildings. The IRC requires all sleeping rooms to have 1 emergency means of egress (ie has to lead outside so firefighters can enter/exit).

http://www.icreatables.com/codes/egress-windows.html

[ladyamylynn]

And the Michelle Duggar Memorial Clown Car Vagina Award goes to... This lady.

[meda]

It is very common in expensive areas and areas that have small apartments instead of large houses.

So are trundle beds, which some people here tend to freak out about.

Also, I doubt most places ban someone sleeping in a walk in closet, you just can't advertise it as a bedroom.

In a space that small most people will take the door off to use it more as an alcove.

If the walk in closet does not have a window, then yes, you would be banned from sleeping in it in many places. Also, the Bay Area and Manhattan are not exactly representative areas of the country when it comes to living arrangements. One does not need " a large house" to have a safe space for a child to sleep in. Most people I know with limited space have the baby in the same room as the parents. That hipster nursery with the elevated crib would have you charged with child endangerment where I live.

ETA: It's illegal in NYC too, unless you live in a high rise, which most people actually don't. NYC building code:

1025.1 General. In addition to the means of egress required by this chapter, provisions shall be made for emergency escape and rescue in Group R and Group I-1 occupancies. Sleeping rooms below the fourth story above grade plane and below-grade stories shall have at least one exterior emergency escape and rescue opening in accordance with this section. Where below-grade stories contain one or more sleeping rooms, emergency egress and rescue openings shall be required in each sleeping room, but shall not be required in adjoining areas of such below-grade story. Such opening shall open directly into a public street, public alley, yard or court.

[bananacat]

Wow, it's quite horrifying to see people endangering their children dressed up as something super trendy. The one with the window isn't terrible as long as the baby can't stand up to reach all the stuff on that top shelf. But that high up crib is a disaster waiting to happen. Someday a tired parent will drop the kid while reaching above their head to put the baby to sleep, or one day the baby will suddenly be able to climb out of the crib and will fall. I hope they give that kid a different sleeping place before it is old enough to even think about crawling over the side. I see those pictures and can't imagine how everyone can just think they're cute and trendy.

[lizziesmom]

Lots of people use walk-in closets as a nursery.

A large closet could certainly be big enough for a small child to take a nap.

Most are large enough (the walk ins) to hold a couple of cribs. If there is an operable window, it might even be the same size as rooms technically called bedrooms. I remember the Sunday School under 3 room of my youth. A wall of bunk style cribs with bars. The room did have windows and doors but I don't think the windows opened.

[Mama Mia]

Most are large enough (the walk ins) to hold a couple of cribs. If there is an operable window, it might even be the same size as rooms technically called bedrooms. I remember the Sunday School under 3 room of my youth. A wall of bunk style cribs with bars. The room did have windows and doors but I don't think the windows opened.

Yeah, the double decker cribs I've actually usually seen in daycare supply catalogs, so I imagine that is where they are generally used. I've always thought they looked like cages, so personally wouldn't have liked to use one but wouldn't freak out about seeing one.

[Beammeup]

My sister's nursery was in a walk in closet. Tiny condo, upside mortgage, not able to move. It was cute , and worked fine. Her closet was huge.

[sewingmom2]

I lived overseas in a third world country about 40 years ago. Families slept five or six to a room, on pallets on the floor. Heck, they lived in one room. I was the rich American--I had two rooms!

I'm cool with family bed/family bedroom but I wouldn't put a baby in that raised crib contraption. Just toss a king-size mattress on the floor and cuddle up--much safer, imho.

[DistantStar]

I would never place a bad, let alone a crib, underneath anything at all that could fall on it. Especially in San Francisco - earthquakes! Which I have been in, one big one anyway. I cringe in hotels when they have only paintings over a bed! WTF are those people thinking rigging a crib like that (bad enough) over a bed in a quake-prone area???

[blisterine]

in the '70s, my grandparents were state-approved foster parents and had a shit ton of kids at there house. they had a three decker my grandfather had made in the hall linen closet. yes, a bottom bunk and 2 cribs he built above it. the state did home visits so someone saw it. there were 2 sets of bunk beds in my aunt's room as well as her canopy bed, 2 sets of bunk beds in the spare bedroom and he added a room onto the back of the house that held 4 sets of bunk beds. they had a huge house because my grandfather had bought a small house on a big lot and added a big room at a time while merging some of the tiny rooms to make bigger rooms. I think the most the state ever let them have were 10 children, even though they had more beds.