Zipsheets simplify changing crib sheets

One piece of newborn nursery advice I'm glad I ignored was the suggestion to buy an innerspring crib mattress as opposed to a firm foam mattress. Have you ever tried to lift an innerspring mattress? Foam is much lighter making the frequent sheet changes MUCH easier. And seven years and two kids later, the thing still looks new.

Anyway, that's not the point of this hack. The point? Josh's Zipsheets testimonial:

I think Zipsheets are really cool having had that struggle to change crib sheets in the middle of the night.  This beats my standard, pull the mattress out solution.

I've also noticed the Ultimate Crib Sheet at Amazon, but I've never tried it myself. Any crib sheet hacks to share?

Related post: Put several crib sheets on at the same time

Comments

[adrienne]

We love the Ultimate Crib Sheet and own two of them. Friends with older kids told us the story of having one of these sheets.

Their baby got sick in the night in the crib. One parent cleaned him up while the other pulled out the soiled Ultimate Crib Sheet to reveal clean, unused bedding.

Within 10 minutes, the baby was back in the bed. Unfortunately, within 15 minutes, they were back at square one with soiled baby and bed.

Did I mention that we bought 2?

They're easy for an adult to install and remove, but our baby hasn't figured out how to remove it or get under it. They now have them in cute colors.

We consider ours a bedding essential.

[Rach]

I agree- didn't discover them until babe #1 was almost a year, but now I can't imagine life without one. I wish they made them in full-bed size for my 3 year old.

[Jay]

Another option is from http://www.cloudsandstars.com . Much cheaper than Zipsheets, and it seems the only difference is the lack of the waterproof barrier (which can be bought cheaply anywhere else). Has saved us a number of times! :)

[Duane]

I could have sworn I sent you some crib sheet hacks a little while back (the night after two of my kids were up all night throwing up, hence multiple sheet changings). But I can't find it in my email box so maybe I hallucinated.

One thing I found is to pull down the fitted corners on the short side first (like, head and foot of crib), then do the other side, rather than trying to do lengthwise (front and back). In other words if the crib's rectangle is:

A--B
C--D

then you'll want to do AC first, then BD. If you try doing CD first, then by the time you get to the final corner the tension will be too much and you'll keep popping off one of your other corners.

[Picholine]

I don't bother with "sheets" at all. I put a waterproof pad on the mattress (the kind that goes on like a fitted sheet--I got it at Target) and then I just tuck a baby blanket into the sides of the mattress under the bumper.

I just change blankets as often as needed (which is every day or so because of how much my three month-old spits up). As long as I keep on top of the laundry, it works. It also helps having a lot of blankets from baby showers and such.

[Jonathan]

We avoid the dreaded middle-of-the-night sheet change problem by making the bed with 2 (sometimes 3) sets of waterproof pads and sheets. If a sheet gets soiled during the night, we just remove the sheet and mattress pad, and voila, a clean sheet already on the bed.

[Serena]

The ultimate crib sheet is my favorite "sounds like it might be a scam but actually really really awesome" baby registry/baby shower gift. It really does work, and it makes changing my son's sheets super easy.

[bittermelon]

Ultimate crib sheets worked really well during the early blowout months, and we bought 2 so we could have a backup. They'll probably come in handy again since we'll be starting potty training soon.

[Florabora]

The Ultimate Crib sheet does work nicely, but I noticed that a few of the elastic strips broke -leaving me to tie the end to the crib slat or leave it loose. Not too much of a problem, but still annoying. I second the foam mattress suggestion, too.

[Adrienne]

We also use foam mattresses. One word of caution though for parents who are mattress shopping.

We got a major maker mattress at Babies R Us recently (covered in those little trademarked counting sheep). It was labeled as having a higher than required fireproofing.

That sounded great as Baby Geek likes to sleep with a Zippo (joke). Okay, we're suckers for the super-safe gear now (don't mock me too much- we did get hit by an F3 tornado when our son was a newborn).

Anyway, we put the new mattress in his bed and the next day his room smelled to me like wet/green wood and to Jim like wet hay.

Turns out the mattress was massively off-gassing because of the super-fireproofing and it's a known industry problem.

It started giving me headaches on day 2 (while we waited for it to dissipate). I hadn't smelled it at the store because they wrap them in some superthick plastic for shipping.

We moved it out of BabyGeek's room, but the smell persisted. A few days later we returned it.

We found a similarly priced off-brand mattress at Target ($10 more) that had no off-gassing odor despite being fireproof.

My advice- open the plastic wrap on a new mattress at the store and avoid purchasing any that have strong and/or unexpected odors. Return any mattresses that seem to emit a strong "new mattress" smell.

[Jill]

Ultimate crib sheet has been a lifesaver the few times my daughter has thrown up in bed or wetted once she became potty trained. We've been using it for over 2 yrs and have not had any problems with the snaps. We also have a Foam mattress and love how light it is to lift out and change sheets on.

[naomi]

Does anyone have any good ideas about similar twin sized sheets? My three year old is having occasional overnight accidents and now that I am almost 5 months pregnant, I hate nothing more than having to strip and remake a bunk bed...

[Elana]

I've heard that a wool blanket is a really good waterproof liner for a crib/cot. They're easy to get at a charity shop, and breathable (which the waterproof pads aren't, since they're backed with plastic).

Ours is still in the cradle and we haven't had too many issues, so our wool blanket is still waiting (it was my mom's camp blanket from the 50's :-) ).

[ikate]

I got tons of regular old sheets and large waterproof pads as shower gifts so we have a a layer system = pad/sheet/pad/sheet/pad/sheet. If there is a mess, just pull off the top layers and the bed's all ready. I'm going to jinx myself and say that in 6 months we've only had one mess in the crib, so we don't use the system too much!

[Dana]

New parents you have to check out www.zipsheets.com. These sheets provides parents with the fastest, easiest way to change a soiled sheet. And the best thing about it, is that they are laundry safe, waterproof and fire retardant!

[lynn]

Who ever said the "moon and stars" quick zip crib sheets is just as good as zip sheets lied!(https://www.zipsheets.com) I've tried them both and there is a HUGH difference between the two sheets. Zip Sheets have removeable, waterproof pads that attach to a zippered crib sheet with velcro. Unlike the moon and stars product that makes you bend over the crib railing to zip off the top of the sheet. What if your baby has a blow out?!? With the moon and stars sheet I still had to wipe down and sanitize the mattress before I could put on a new sheet. With zip sheets I changed my daughters crib in less than a minute and was back to bed. The waterproofing and the velcro make zip sheets a winning combination.

[Hambone]

Am I uncommon in not having to ever change our boy's sheets in the night? No throw-ups, no leaks and he's 17mos.

It's surprising to hear that it's a problem that requires a solution!

[sebastian]

kudos to www.zipsheets.com
I wish they would have invented these sheets when my 1st baby was born!

it's a 3 in one product
a sheet that goes around the mattress, it's quilted and a waterproof barrier pad that zips off with one hand while u can hold your baby with your other hand. A great gift for new parents!! and the price is not expensive well worth the money.high quality made!!