Such a beautiful hand crafted, eco-friendly crib!! But at $2450 - we had to pick our jaws up off the floor and more on.
*first - I just had to share that we FINALLY got the results on our baby's fetal echocardiogram... it's NORMAL!! No congenital heart defects noted - thankfully, praise God. Now we wait for the bill (omg.)
When we first found out we were pregnant, we decided that we wouldn't buy anything new. We would buy our baby things from consignment shops, ebay, craigslist, and wherever we could find sweet sweet bargains. The price of baby gear is outstanding and my income is meager...we need to live within our means. Annnnnd for the time being, our means are...well...small.
We did a lot of research...and found out that there are a couple items that should be purchased brand new - a car seat and a crib. The reason for a new crib is that if you get one used (from an unknown source) you don't know the wear pattern of the previous owners, or if the crib was recalled, or if it meets new safety standards, or the integrity of the crib after having been taken apart/put back together. Clearly, if we had friends or family members who had a crib that they would share with us - we would have JUMPED at using a used crib. But we don't have that luxury. And getting a crib from a Goodwill just leaves us with too many questions. So a new one we sought.
super stylish - $690 on sale from $975 - not quite a big enough sale for us
We made a list of things we wished for:
- safety regulations had to meet (and exceed!?) US safety standards.
- fantastic consumer ratings - always good :-)
- price range - $200 max (we didn't even know if this was possible)
-we wanted a spring base for the mattress to sit on instead of wooden slats (I've heard/read that they hold up better to jumping toddlers!)
- solid wood: no particle board (can we ask for that at $200 price point?) And as charming as the iron cribs are, solid wood just seems so sturdy.
- a non-toxic finish (some babies chew their cribs so non-toxic is importante).
- one that can be converted into a toddler bed and/or a full bed as our little one grows - genius idea!
- an eco-friendly option?? (how do we find that stuff out?)
Took a browse at Babies R Us and Target - both places made me want to cry as everything was out of our price range...like...hundreds over. So we turned to the Internet...and did some bargaining. Once we looked online we found hundreds of choices within our budget - so we stopped freaking.
I did notice that I tended to be super attracted to the modern lines of some of the cribs...wasn't so much expecting that. But then, after browsing them for awhile - they alllll started to look the same to me. A crib is a crib is a crib.
Check back to see the the one we selected!!!
Do you read Young House Love? They give lots of details about their crib search--but since you've chosen one, maybe now is not the time to look. :)
ReplyDeleteGood on you for not buying anything new. I'm so up with that one. Although cribs (or cots as we call them here!) and car seats are defo worth getting new. That first cot is amazing but blimey o'reily, what a price! I can't wait to see what you got xx
ReplyDeleteBloom Baby cribs are modern and fairly "inexpensive" ($399). I found them through Naomi (Rockstar Diaries)... see what you think.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloombaby.com/collection/main.php?sID=83
But it sounds like you guys already found one? If so, congrats! xo.
We actually didn't use a crib at all for our girls. They co-slept w/ us as itty bitty babies and then we just put a full-size mattress on the floor after that. Unconventional? Yes, but it totally worked for our family. :)
ReplyDeletestephanie@metropolitanmama.net