Baby crib suggestions

[sesfw]

My g-dtr is expecting her daughter in November and we need ideas and suggestions. I've looked at a lot of cribs, car seats/strollers on line and getting overwhelmed.

Any suggestions from you my YM friends?

[Wisconsin Beth]

Does she have a registry going somewhere? 

[muttleynfelix]

Those are all things that it really depends on the parent as to what they want.   So talk to your granddaughter as to what she wants.

We don't use a stroller on a regular basis.  We a jogging stroller, but if someone had bought us a traditional stroller it would have been wasted on us.  So find out what she wants/thinks she will need.  Car seat - find out what features she wants. Some fit in cars better than others.  I chose the Chico Keyfit 30 because it adjusted easier than the other ones available at the time.  (it is 5 years old now)

Cribs - all that are sold new meet current safety requirements. We have a davinci crib (they are sold at Target, although we got ours at Nebraska Furniture Mart) and it has held up well through 4.5 years of use/abuse.  But find out what she wants.  Does she want a certain color/style? 

[Sam_2.0]

Remember all baby products are highly-regulated. Carseats, strollers, cribs, etc all have to meet the same safety criteria. More expensive does not always mean better. Consumer reports is a good place to start. Walmart sells cribs + a mattress for as little as $120, and obviously the price can go way up from there.

We have a Storkcraft crib that we just bought for DS used from someone in the neighborhood. DD had a Bonavita crib that we converted out to a full bed - it was a freebie from a friend that was done having kids. I prefer the plastic covered crib mattresses as they are easier to deal with all the messiness of babies, but that's just my opinion

It comes down to preference. Like muttley said, make sure the carseat fits in the car! It's a lot cheaper to get the seat that fits than it is to get a new car Crib will be preference as most want it to match the other furniture in the room.

[HoneyBBQ]

Probably not everyone's choice, but I got a beautiful sturdy crib from pottery barn. I HATE wobbly furniture so I wanted to make sure it was very solid wood. Additionally, it converts to an open sided crib, and a toddler bed, so I figured she could use it til she was at least 5 or so. It cost around $500 so at $100 a year to have what I wanted... it wasn't out of the question for me. I also wanted a crib we could put in the middle of the room (in our old house)  and be simple and not over girly and this fit the bill perfectly: (not my picture)

[myrrh]

May I suggest that if you go with a "convertible" crib based on the fact that you can convert it, that you get all the stuff to convert to a regular bed when you buy it. Because who knows if that make, model, or style will still be sold when you finally get a twin size mattress.

Other than that, make sure it's pretty sturdy and make sure it's relatively easy to adjust the height of the bed up and down. Too bad the ones that you could slide one side up and down aren't sold anymore. My arms are pretty short so reaching down to the deepest setting to pick up my kid got old. Such is life I suppose.

Or you might just get a cheap sturdy crib, cause mine used his as a teether a couple of days (one side had gnaw marks all over.) That wouldn't make such a pretty headboard. LOL