Recommend your crib

[Anonymous]

Hi there - would love a crib recommendation. Doesn't matter the price, where you got it, style, wherever, would love all recommendations! Thought we were getting one for free but have to order one now (do they have long lead times?). Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I have been to every single store that sells cribs in the area lately. While some places have cribs in stock, most were quoting us 8-12 weeks for delivery. They told us it rarely takes that long, but we should be prepared. I think Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg had the largest selection of cribs. Ikea has the least inexpensive and everything they carry is in stock.

[Anonymous]

Get yourself the Baby Bargains book. It has a great chapter on how to choose a crib with ratings of the different manufacturers of cribs, pros and cons of different kinds of cribs, safety concerns, crib recommendations based on your budget...etc. It's a must to read it!

[Anonymous]

Just to respond to your question about long lead times-- we ordered a crib from Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg on February 7th, and just got it this past Saturday. Turned out to be defective (a wheel snapped off) so we are dealing with getting the part fixed now.

So I'll be the advocate for getting this done well in advance!

[Anonymous]

We waited too long to buy ours (can't remember exactly when we did, but if we had ordered one it would have arrived months after DC was born). We found that Buy Buy Baby has a few models in stock, so we went there and asked which ones were available to take home that day and picked one of those. We got the Lollipop crib and love it - it was on the cheaper end (maybe $300?) but seems very simple, well made and attractive. (DC has always slept fine in it, but of course she doesn't know any different.)

[Anonymous]

I have a Newport Cottages crib. They are made in America (very hard to find these days!) and very well constructed. Great colors and appliques. Love it.

[Anonymous]

I would NOT recommend DaVinci crib (Emily model). It's solidly built, and cute, but I got it in black, and the paint scratches off easily.

[Anonymous]

We bought ours from JC Penney - the Renew Standard crib. It seems like a great crib, and it came in 2 days (yes, DAYS) to our local JC Penney store. We then had to go pick it up (it would have cost an extra $100+ for shipping to our house, but shipping to the store was free). The crib was on sale for $200. If you're worried about lead time, I'd recommend checking out JCP. You'll have to order online though, I don't think any (or at least not many) stores have them to view.

[Anonymous]

Pali crib. Ordered from Great Beginnings.

[Anonymous]

We got ours from Ikea. They (usually) have it in stock, it was pretty easy to put together and it's recommended by Baby Bargains.

[Anonymous]

Ditto on Ikea. We have the Gulliver in birch and I love it. Sturdy as can be. Compact but takes a standard mattress.

[Anonymous]

We also got a Pali from Great Beginnings, which has a nice selection but very long lead times. Like wedding dresses, cribs and other nursery furniture appear to be handmade by elves with chronic fatigue syndrome who only work during the full moon when Venus is in retrograde.

We blew past the 12- or 14-week delivery period and didn't actually get the crib until after our son arrived. (He spent the first couple months in a pack n play, so the hassle was more psychological than anything.) To GB's credit, though, they comped the delivery charge, made sure to schedule a convenient delivery time and did a rock-solid job with assembly. A very classy response.

[Anonymous]

We have a Pacific Rim Woodworking Radius maple crib. I didn't go crazy with eco-friendly stuff but I liked the clean lines of this crib and the fact that no chemicals were used in making it. It was the one thing we splurged on in the nursery. It's made in Oregon and all of them are made to order. They finish it with beeswax and tung oil, so it's fine if baby chews on it. We love it and DD sleeps great in it. It was about $700 last year and I found free shipping online. (Sorry I don't have a link, typing this on my phone.)

[Anonymous]

Baby Bargains book is great.

We bought a Mother Hubbard (Enchantment) nearly 2 yrs ago from Buy Buy Baby in MD. They do take months to get.

I'm glad we got one made in Canada--DS has nearly eaten the entire crib. Often his face & hands were covered in paint chips from eating it. B/c it's a convertible crib we couldn't find anything to cover the rails (we ended up tying a sheet on it). They don't use toxic paint and it's really well made. We bought the convertible rails for it but doubt we can convert it b/c he's eaten so much of it.

[Anonymous]

OP here - wow, this is my first kid, and I never thought of the little ones chewing the sides. Is this a pretty common thing for all of them? Also, any thoughts on the convertible to day-bed type cribs, or is that just not really as practical a feature as it seems?