Crib or Bed?

[lanieceh15]

My pediatric unit is currently reevaluating our safety guidelines and we are looking at our guidelines for placing patients in a bed vs crib. Our current practice is to place all patients 3 years and under in a crib. We do have a crib release for those 2-3 year olds that sleep in a bed. However, they are considering changing the age to 2 years and under are placed in a crib. What policies or guidelines do your units currently have in place?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

When I worked in the hospital, we had the same policy. By default= under 3, in a crib, 3 and over in a bed. Infants could go in a standard crib but any children who could pull to stand went in what we called a "can't get out" crib. If parents wanted a 2 year old in a bed, we simply had to document that we advised them on the increased fall risk.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Under 5 gets a crib. The only exception is children who come into surgery- in preop, those old enough (deemed so by parent) can be in a litter if the parent is in the litter holding them. Our cribs are probably big enough to hold a 10-year-old child.

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

3 and under in a crib. Tiny infants can go in a bassinet and mom can sleep in the hospital bed. Toddlers who are requested to be in a big bed must have a signed sleep waiver, which actually states the parents can not leave the child alone in the room at any point for safety reasons.