# Opinions on Round Baby Cribs.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611 "2006-10-07T16:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/1 "2006-10-07T16:26:25Z")
What is your opinion on [round baby cribs](http://www.theclassicbabystore.com/roundbabycrib.htm) ? I would think it is much less tradional than the angular rectangles of most households but is there any developmental benefits? I’d think the abscence of straight lines _ **could** _ alter some cognitive mapping schemes but in all I don’t think developmentally there would be any measurable effect different from the norm… Perhaps they are the new _IN_ thing but I have not heard much about them… Anyone else care to chime in with an opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/2 "2006-10-07T17:16:02Z")
From th elink: > [@](#): > > That’s right! Round! Round baby cribs are the new shiek when it comes to baby cribs. Round baby cribs are ideal for large nursery rooms and allow the parent access from any side. Not all of us have large nursery rooms. Secondly if you don’t put a rectangular crib next to the wall, you also have access from all sides. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > Round cribs come in lots of colors and themes. You can purchase round mattresses and sheets and there are many beautiful round crib sets. One great advantage of this shape is the four sided visability. Retangular cribs come in even more colors and themes. I would like a cite that retangular cribs are invisible from one particular side or angle. :rolleyes: :dubious: > [@](#): > > This is the crib you want if you want that really special nursery with something greater than the usual. Ah at last the real reason for buying a round crib. It is not about the baby, it is all about the mom having the latest and most chic baby accessory. This is in the same catagory as Guess baby rompers. The kid would be better served by having a more involved set of parents. ---
**Author:** ![Kairos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kairos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kairos)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/3 "2006-10-07T17:22:32Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] …it is all about the mom having the latest and most chic baby accessory… [/QUOTE] Actually, according to the website, it about the mom having the most _shiek_ [sic] baby accessory. Sheesh…if they were going to use the wrong homophone, they could have at least _spelled_ it correctly. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/4 "2006-10-07T17:24:01Z")
> [@](#): > > One great advantage of this shape is the four sided visability. I want to know how you get four sided visibility from a round object. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/5 "2006-10-07T17:46:08Z")
I’ve never heard any developmental claims, and I’d be highly dubious of them if I did. I think they’re incredibly adorable from a “fantasy princess bedroom” perspective. I think they’re a pain in the ass to change the sheets on (no corners to help hold the sheet while you scootch around the other side) and that the largest ones make it hard to grab the baby if she’s tiny and in the very middle of the crib, or if she decides to run a race around the perimeter to stay out of your reach. But it should be noted that I formed those opinions in about 32 seconds in the store, when putting my baby in the floor model for a cute photo op, and I don’t own a round crib myself. I also love canopy beds, non-functional mosquito netting and fairy decals on the walls. I’m a princess dork. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/6 "2006-10-07T17:50:32Z")
The picture shows that crib with a bunch of sticky-up pointy things. I thought those were illegal now, on account of that whole choking thing (you get a string caught around it and around baby’s neck–\> dead baby). Where does this crib come from? Anyway, I think it’s kind of pointless and a hassle to change the sheets. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/7 "2006-10-07T18:13:25Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] …make it hard to grab the baby if she’s tiny and in the very middle of the crib, or if she decides to run a race around the perimeter to stay out of your reach. [/QUOTE] OK, that would be entertaining to watch-a baby doing laps on its own jogging track. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/8 "2006-10-07T18:19:37Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] What is your opinion on [round baby cribs](http://www.theclassicbabystore.com/roundbabycrib.htm) ? I would think it is much less tradional than the angular rectangles of most households but is there any developmental benefits? I’d think the abscence of straight lines _ **could** _ alter some cognitive mapping schemes but in all I don’t think developmentally there would be any measurable effect different from the norm… Perhaps they are the new _IN_ thing but I have not heard much about them… Anyone else care to chime in with an opinion? [/QUOTE] Why would curved lines in one area of a baby’s environment = the absence of straight lines? Why would this alter cognitive mapping schemes? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/9 "2006-10-07T18:32:49Z")
Yeah, just go find sheets for that thing. Let me guess - the company that sells the beds also sells the bedding, and its significantly more expensive than the regular stuff, and much harder to find. There’s a reason things come in standarized shapes and sizes. When my parents call and ask if we need them to buy anything for the baby, and I say sheets, I want it to be sheets they can buy anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/10 "2006-10-07T18:35:02Z")
Themeatically they match your love nest round king sized bed with the adjacent heart shaped whirlpool tub… Wonder if they have satin sheets and hearts shaped like pillows for them. (Name your daughter Mirage and stick her in a heart shaped crib and there is no fighting Destiny…ok, well, since Destiny is her older sister, they probably will fight). ---
**Author:** ![BigDaddyPete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@BigDaddyPete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDaddyPete)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/11 "2006-10-07T21:08:10Z")
I actually looked at one before my daughter was born. They’re really cool, although entirely impractical unless you have a very large room. In our small apartment, it just wouldn’t work. And they are much more expensive to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/12 "2006-10-07T22:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Why would curved lines in one area of a baby’s environment = the absence of straight lines? Why would this alter cognitive mapping schemes? [/QUOTE] It wouldn’t… I’m not involved in academia anymore, but before I left some people at my school were studying nursery designs and the impact on infant cognition. One of the studies had as a factor a round room… I was just kinda of brain storming in a ubiquidous sort of way 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/13 "2006-10-07T22:26:43Z")
[QUOTE=Kairos] Actually, according to the website, it about the mom having the most _shiek_ [sic] baby accessory. Sheesh…if they were going to use the wrong homophone, they could have at least _spelled_ it correctly. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] So, if you get a round crib, the baby (assuming it’s a girl) is going to grow up destined to enter a harem? ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/14 "2006-10-07T22:26:49Z")
Yeah, I’d also be concerned to be sure the crib design ensures that no scooching baby too young to roll itself over gets its head stuck into the slats at an angle that smooshes its face into the mattress. Spitz and Fisher (our “Bible”) has lots of sad black and white pictures of asphyxiated infants in cribs before the design was perfectly understood. If I had gone to all the trouble to reproduce (as I haven’t), I wouldn’t buy one of these until I knew two decades of use had gone by without an asphyxial death. It isn’t just strings that can catch a kid’s face. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/15 "2006-10-08T22:23:41Z")
I just _had_ to hit the link for the twin round cribs - MY GOD! All that bunting and frou-frou - can you imagine how much crap (literally) the babies could smoosh into those nooks and crannies (just like a Thomas’s English muffin) once they get to the “gee, what do we have here” phase? I did end up buying two cribs, one from Once Upon a Child and the other from a thrift store. I knew we weren’t going to have any more kids who’d need them later, so spending $80/ea on them (plus $40-60 ea for mattresses) made a lot of sense to me. And sheets - lots of sheets! Mine were out of their cribs entirely by age 2. Re: cognitive mapping, you might want to look into slinging your child for daytime naps, if that’s an option for you. I’ve seen some arguments that that’s very beneficial, although some kids just don’t go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/16 "2006-10-09T01:27:43Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] So, if you get a round crib, the baby (assuming it’s a girl) is going to grow up destined to enter a harem? [/QUOTE] Hell, I thought it said _‘Shrek’_. Couldn’t imagine what a green ogre has to do with cribs. I don’t know about the development issues, but I personally think they’re butt-ugly. No real reason, I just do. E. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/17 "2006-10-09T06:19:41Z")
[QUOTE=Rhiannon8404] I want to know how you get four sided visibility from a round object. [/QUOTE] Inside, outside, top and bottom. Assuming you opt for the glass-bottom crib, of course. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/18 "2006-10-09T06:29:00Z")
If you mounted the crib on its side, the kid could get some very developmentally useful exercise _and_ you’d have a source of free power. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/19 "2006-10-09T22:25:33Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Re: cognitive mapping, you might want to look into slinging your child for daytime naps, if that’s an option for you. I’ve seen some arguments that that’s very beneficial, although some kids just don’t go for it. [/QUOTE] Slinging, as in stuffing the kid into those baby slings that I’ve seen some parents wandering around with, slings that’re basically a large length of fabric with a buckle (if that)? Or a more formal hammock? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611/20 "2006-10-09T23:16:36Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Why would this alter cognitive mapping schemes? [/QUOTE] There have been some cognitive studies comparing the visual responses of people who grew up in “carpentered” environments (i.e. virtually everyone in Europe and North America) with people who grew up in “non-carpentered” environments (African villagers, for example.) People who grow up around lots of right angles are better at judging if two lines meet at a right angle. Interestingly this “right-angle detection” appears to occur very early in the visual pipeline, far before the data reaches the conscious part of the brain. It appears that certain neurons in the visual cortex can be reprogrammed by repeated stimuli at an early age. (Don’t ask me for a cite. I read the paper in grad school twelve years ago. And I don’t feel like digging around to find it again.) Of course a curved baby crib in an otherwise square room isn’t going to affect visual development much at all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-round-baby-cribs/375611.md?page=2)