Hello,
I am due with # 3 in January. My first two used the same crib, but with the big recall for the drop down sides, along with the age of the crib (it is 6 years old now), I thought it would be best to purchase a new, safer crib. Where is the best place to buy one? I'm thinking Babies-r-Us, but I'm wondering if there are any great websites that sell high-quality cribs as well. Also, are all drop side cribs unsafe? Safe? I'm not even sure where to begin. Thanks in advance for your input!
R.
I haven't put it together yet (just got it 2 days ago!) but I just bought a nice looking crib from BabyAge.com...good range of prices and not just on cribs but all baby stuff.
As far as the drop side cribs they now make repair kits with a devise that makes it so the crib side can no longer drop but other than that you could try a furniture store like Pottery Barn Kids, Ethan Allen, or JC Penny or Sears furniture. Overstock.com might have more "designer" stuff for less money than buying from a store.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/crib-recall-cpsc-repair-k...
I like some on cribs.com. I used to work at Babies R Us, and we did sell a fair amount of good to high quality cribs. Baby Italia is made of solid wood and are great cribs!! They are more expensive, but worth it. The do convert to toddler then full size. What you really want to do it shake the crib and if it's sturdy then it is a good one. If it rattles, creaks, easily moves, I wouldn't buy it. Solid wood is the best.
I cannot answer where to buy the crib, but I believe the government is going to consider banning drop side cribs because of the reported problems that seem to affect a large number of brands. We have a drop side crib, but wish we had bought a fixed-side crib instead - the recalls and reported problems are very unnerving. It really is not as difficult as I thought it would be to put my now 22-month-old into the crib without lowering the side, and we could have bought a nice convertible crib instead.
If buying new, I would go with Babes R Us or Target. Go with a reputable name. I had a crib that was recalled and the manufactuer was out of business, yet I was able to exchange for a new one at Babes R Us. I don't know much about drop side cribs, but it seems that they get a lot of bad press these days. Regular cribs don't seem to be too expensive, and you can also pruchase a crib that can transition to a bed. Best of luck!
We bought ours from Costco.com, they had a good selection. We got it almost 4 years ago and it converts to a fullsize when you are ready. We are goingt to use for our new one and it is still in great shape. We never purchased a drop side, did not feel it was nessacry and dont regret not having one. The front does come off when you are ready for a toddler bed but my daughter went straight from crib to big girl bred so we never used that feature.
We love our IKEA crib. It has been used since 2006 continuously for our two children. It is solid wood, does not have drop-down sides, and is still sturdy. It converts to a toddler bed as well. It was under $200 I think. If you're looking for solid wood, made in Europe, you might want to look at IKEA. They are a little smaller (shorter in height) compared to the typical American super-sized crib, however, they fit a normal crib mattress. It's just that there isn't any extra wood creating bulk on the ends and top.
I did a ton of research and shopped around quite a bit when I was looking for a crib. Baby Bargains is a great book and website to check out. I went to all the big stores and then went to a bunch of speciality baby stores. I hated all the cribs in the big stores, none of them seemed safe and seemed like crappy construction. I went with the speciality store because the cribs there seemed better quality. I talked with the store owner, researched the company on the ones I liked and came to the conclusion that my custom made crib was going to be safer than an assembly line ones in the big stores. The store owner even gave me the number of someone at the crib manufacter to call if I had any more questions. I had to wait 8 weeks for my special order but I love it and would do it again. It is solid as a rock and it does have a drop-side that has quality construction. I did spend a good chunk of money on it (over $500) but I saw it as the best option for my child. Plus it was made in America and that added to my decision. I would go to several different stores and look at the ones on display, shake them, see how hard it is to move the matress, research the company to see what kind of recalls they have had and of course take into account the cost. This is where you child will be spending a great amount of it's time.
