Who knew that short (or should I say “vertically challenged”) moms needed to have drop down rails on their baby’s cribs? I am 5 feet, 1 ½ inches tall. I was the shortest kid in school my whole life and I’ve gotten used to being one of the shortest adults around as well. No big deal – it’s just who I am.

When we were looking for a crib during our first pregnancy, we fell in love with a beautiful crib that converted to a double bed. We thought this was a great idea and we pictured our son in this crib/bed through his 18th year. What we didn’t realize was that such beds did not have a drop down side because the front and back of the crib converts to a footboard and headboard for the double bed. But I didn’t care because it was pretty and we would be getting our money’s worth after those eighteen years, right?!

It wasn’t a problem when our son was small. We had the mattress up pretty high and I could get him in there fairly easily. But as he grew, and as we lowered the mattress to keep him from pulling up and out of the crib, I realized that I was dropping him into the crib more often than placing him in it. This situation created a host of issues. Our son would invariably wake up during mid-drop and start screaming – so goodbye nap time and rest time for Mommy! I tried standing on a stool to place him in the crib but that just made me feel like I was going to lose my balance and drop both of us. I ended up settling with straddling the crib rail in my middle (talk about uncomfortable) and rocking over the crib to place him – this worked about 50 percent of the time. The rest of the time, he woke up, fussed, screamed…you get the idea.

Now, three years later, that same crib is a very nice double bed. But if we had it to do over again, we would get a drop down rail and not worry about converting to a double bed. After all, his room is small and that big bed takes up a lot of space – especially in a room where Thomas the tank engine reigns supreme and requires quite a bit of floor space for his ‘friends’ and track.

Actually, we did “have it to do all over again” about six months ago when our daughter was born. What kind of crib did we get? A very nice little drop down rail number that converts to a small toddler bed. It’s perfect. She stays asleep as I easily place her in the crib and she takes good naps. Who knew???

Thanks to Robin for contributing this post. You can also submit your own “Who knew?” stories to be published on BBA. We’re looking for the stories about pregnancy and parenting that you don’t always find in the books, but you probably should. I’ve often thought, “How am I supposed to just know that?” That’s how this column,”Who knew?” came to be.

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If Restoration Hardware is not in your budget, do what I do. Take inspiration from them and find similar things at other stores like Target and Babies R Us.

These I found are made by RustOleum and can be found at most home stores or paint stores. One of their newest products is a Chalkboard Tint Base which allows you to choose from 12 colors including Fresco Red, Peapod and Grape Fizz to name a few.

Check out this creative wall mural using chalkboard paint (RealSimple.com). I recently saw another picture in a magazine that had large chalkboard rectangles painted around the room. Each had a whimsical, white frame painted around the chalkboard. It looked so real and gave a sophisticated touch to a “chalkboard” in a little girl’s playroom.

I love their Zoo, Olivia and Circles bedding sets. They are reasonable at $79.99 for a 3-piece crib set (bumper pad, comforter, crib sheet) and you can add the crib skirt for just $19.99 more. The rest of the accessories are reasonable too; window panels are $14.99 and decorative pillows are $9.99.

Check out the entire DwellSudio collection here.

For a limited time, babymania.com is offering free shipping on all baby bedding set orders over $99. Just use Coupon Code: BAB3409.

It was such a great way to see who Jack looked like when he came along. He still loves looking at all of the pictures and letting me point out who is who.

Here’s a tip for hanging the J-A-C-K letters and the bow. I used velcro circles to stick the letters and the bow to the wall. It was much easier than nails and allowed me to tilt them. The C has fallen a couple of times over the past year, but I’d still do it this way again.

My baby picture…Jack’s baby picture…Scott’s baby picture