A small home doesn’t have plenty of room to accommodate most of your stuff.
If a baby arrives, you need to figure out how to rearrange things and free enough space for the new arrival’s crib and everything else they’ll need.
Still, raising a child in a crowded space can be tricky.
It’s certainly not great for the child’s health and fitness.
While trying to find the best way to accommodate your newborn baby in your small home, you may have imagined putting the crib in the closet.
So, Is It Safe to Put a Crib in A Closet?
Yes, if you repurpose the closet or make a few safety changes to it; and “No,” if you plan to insert it in there without any changes. One of the surest space-saving ideas for small homes with a small child is to place either the crib or changing table in the closet! That way, you’d have put your closet to two uses – to store your clothes and offer your baby a comfy place to sleep. While this plan might seem outlandish and even dangerous, putting your baby’s crib in the closet is safe if done correctly.
If You Plan To Place The Crib In A Closet….
1. Install airflow channels
I think it is cute to install a crib in the closet, but I’d be a little hesitant to try it if the closet is completely devoid of proper ventilation.
The infant will need sufficient airflow around them, otherwise, they will be open to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
There is no closet out there that comes ready to accommodate a living being in it. If you plan to put the crib in one, you have two choices:
- Leave the doors open when the baby is inside
- Install airflow mechanisms so that the baby can sleep behind closed doors
Let’s rule out option 1 because open closet doors occupy a lot of space and you want to put every nook of free space to use.
About option 2, you will be required to make changes to the closet to ensure a steady inflow of fresh cool air and removal of warm exhaust air. Air vents can be a perfect hack.
To calculate the degree of ventilation perfect for your baby, first, measure the size of the closet—multiply height (H) by width (W) by length (L).
The closet will need oxygen exchange once every 3 minutes.
From those facts, you can calculate the size of the CFM (cubic feet per minute).
The CFM helps you understand the amount of fresh air the fan should move.
All kinds of fans you will find in the store have CFM rating details written on them – ensure you purchase the right product.
If you need 1 air exchange every 3 minutes, then your fan must move a third of fresh air per minute.
Therefore, take the closet volume and divide by three to obtain the perfect CFM. The CFM needs to be closer to this value.
If your home is located in a hot climatic region or you have a big lamp installed in a small room, you will need to ask the technician to increase your target CFM by around 45%. Remember that carbon filters are designed to drop the pressure of air inflow passing in a vent.
Once you have set up the closet as required and worked out the airflow channels, you will need to install simple lighting setups.
The light bulb should be inside the closet.
You might want to add some kind of lining on the wall of the closet to cut to reduce the chances of mold growth and cold.
2. Go for a compact crib
Not all sizes of cribs will fit in your closet.
There are products you can purchase that don’t occupy vast amounts of space.
Most of the cribs you will find in the store fall in three size groups –
- 2-in-1
- 3-in-1
- 4-in-1.
Groups 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 are perfect for a typical closet but it’s recommendable that you get the measurements of your closet before choosing one.
Also, it is recommended that you reconfigure the closet and get the most amount of space most out of it instead of shoving the crib in there just because it can fit.
Here is why you shouldn’t put the crib in your closet:
As aforementioned, reconfiguring your closet to accommodate your baby’s crib can only make sense if you are seriously deprived of storage space, and you’d do anything to reclaim it.
I’ve seen a bunch of repurposed closets that work.
They look really cute with babies in them, but some of them end up being too tight with barely any space to store other essentials or complete some activities.
The biggest problem with cribs in closets is lack of space to complete such tasks as
- making the bed
- picking anything that fell accidentally on the other side of the crib
- and ensuring the unreachable corners don’t offer an optimum environment for the growth of mold.
Sometimes, there is pee and poop in areas you didn’t even think were possible.
Another drawback of putting the crib in the closet is running out of space to store your dresses, shirts, and coats.
Closets are made for the storage of clothes, not to hold cribs.
Two Alternatives To Putting The Crib In The Closet
You probably shouldn’t make such radical changes to your closet in the name of freeing space for the crib.
1. Put up with the situation for one year
Staying in a tiny home with a small child does not have to be an eternal thing!
Nursing parents and mothers with a decent sleeper can share the bedroom with their young baby quite easily at the start.
If you are renting, give yourselves one year to study the situation, then re-evaluate.
The baby will transition to a toddler capable of talking and walking.
At that point, it can be convenient for you to give up the current home/location for more space somewhere in the suburbs.
Children are unpredictable— so, just like real estate, be sure to reevaluate.
2. Employ a Minimalist approach
If you are raising a toddler in a small home as part of your minimalist lifestyle, it will take some time to adjust.
Leading a minimalist lifestyle with a baby is possible, the hardest part is getting other family members especially aunts or uncles and grandparents to like the idea.
While a minimalist approach might take quite some time for most family members to support, the entire practice of living comfortably on less will assist in keeping your small home organized, cleaning kept to the minimum, and removal of the need to put the crib in the closet.
Conclusion
So, is it safe to put a crib in a closet?
The answer is “yes,” if you are planning to repurpose the closet and “No,” if you plan to insert it in there without any changes.
If you are willing to repurpose the closet to serve the new function, and you have the resources for it, go ahead and do it.
However, understand that the closest isn’t the best place for the crib.
You will still struggle moving things and even servicing your baby.