Thinking Outside The Box

Or really the crib as the case maybe. When we found out we were expecting again, it was quite the shock and we had no idea where we would put anything baby related, let alone another body! However, this is Israel and people are used to small spaces and lots and lots of kids! So we were not alone in the conundrum and there were many ideas suggested, but they didn't seem quite right for us. Fortunately babies take 9 months give or take to arrive so I had a lot of time to ignore the situation. Puking takes a lot of work too!  When the day arrived to bring our newest princess home, we still had no bed!

The final solution, a kidney shaped laundry basket. This basket was the first one we bought when moved to Israel, it has been a toy basket, a laundry basket and a holder of miscellaneous items, the final item being its final occupation before being a crib. The laundry basket is the perfect crib and I wish I had thought of it sooner! It fits on the bed, which means getting up with her is easy, however, she has her own bed so when I am really not up to sharing space with a tiny being that manages to take over every last available inch of space, she is still next to me. When she was first born we carried the basket out front so she could be with us when she was awake, and it fit on the couch, the floor and the table. Now we move her bouncy seat around. To make her basket comfy we put a pillow on the bottom then layered it with blankets. Most babies hate cribs because it is too open a space and unlike being inside mommy. With the basket, she has that close feeling so there was never a transition issue. We put a pillow on the bottom and then a blanket around the edges, close enough to be comfortable, but not so close as to be dangerous.

In Finland they use a card board box decorated up, it's a brilliant idea and it looks great, but I was afraid the kids would be jealous.... for us the laundry basket is brilliant and it reminds me how little a little body really needs to be happy!