Big time lurker here stepping out of the shadows.
Riddle me this.... I'm attempting to put together my registry and I can't seem to make any final decisions about, well, anything.
Could you all please enlighten me about which crib you got, where you got it from, and what you love/hate about it? Anything specific I should look for or avoid?
Please and thank you!
Re: Registry question for ya...
we picked out a crib from a local baby store. we knew we wanted a convertible one so that LO can use it for years to come. I like the design and color (we got white)
we got the storkcraft carrara 4 in 1 convertible fixed side crib
Delta Bentley in Espresso from Target.
1) It was on sale for $179
2) it had the most NUMBER of guest reviews, and still had 4 and a half stars
3) It was a convertible
4) I liked the look of it
5) Once I got home and we put it together, I can safely say that it was insanely easy to put together (I could have done it alone)
6) The toddler rail was only $60 and there isn't a "conversion kit" for a full sized bed, you just use a bed frame.
We purchased the Baby Cache Montana crib from BRU. It's a solid crib and we loved the design. Honestly, didn't do a ton of research when it came to cribs but did read some reviews.
As for other items . . I read list and just added items we wanted to our registry. I also registry stalked random registries and got good ideas that way of items I made have forgotten to add.
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This! We were all set to go with IKEA. This is the choice of many on this site and has the best prices if you can go to the store yourself. But when we saw this one, we liked the look better, and on sale, it's not a bad deal. Unless you have a big vehicle, you can't fit it in your car, so make sure you are getting free shipping when you order.
Since we don't have too many people who want to spend a lot on us (and we didn't expect anyone to deal with sales, shipping deals, cash back bonus awards, etc.), we just bought the big items ourselves and registered for things in the $10-$60 range. My mom did want to buy us some of the bigger stuff, but we just emailed a lot and called to make sure whoever was buying was getting a good deal.
I second this! We got the Stanley Young America Built to Grow Crib in Espresso. Loved that it was Green Guarded (i.e. no harmful chemicals in the paint stain or wood) and Made in America. I loved the dark wood for our boy, but comes in basically any color you want. Bought it at a local baby furniture store. It was a gift from grandma.
I third the Baby Bargains. While I don't agree with everything in the book, it's a great place to at least start. It will give you a good idea of at least things that are important when it comes to purchasing certain items.
As for our crib, we went with AFG's Athena Nadia crib which we found online at Walmart for right under $170. It's a conversion crib with the toddler rail included and no special conversion rails needed. It was super easy to put together (I did it by myself in maybe an hour?). I also loved the fact that it doesn't look like every single other crib out there and matches the rest of her furniture really well. Is it as stout and hefty as some of the $400 plus cribs? No, but the odds of any crib making it a decade down the road are pretty low so we didn't want to dump a ton of money into something that may or may not last a while.
BFP 8.14.15 ~~ Due 4.22.16
Our conversion rails ended up being being backordered. Apparently they cancel your entire order if an item is backordered. I also did not get my first set choice Tori OR second choice Rockland Austin because they said those were backordered despite the site saying they are in stock every day since I started having issues. I think there were more issues than that, but after a few communications with corporate, they compensated us for all of the confusion and inconvenience.
After all is said and done, the set is very nice and sturdy. I would recommend it. We couldn't pass up the deal after they took money off the set.
This.
It also gives you really helpful information beyond just the ratings but also of the companies themselves, and what they have also been called/who they are affiliated with.
I had a DaVinci Kalani for DS. It was $400, and I did love the look of it, but the wood scratched so incredibly easy. When I left my ex-husband, I bought a Graco Lauren crib at Target for something like $160. I put it together myself, and I have absolutely loved it. DS now sleeps in a toddler bed, but we saved the crib and the changing table for this LO. After 2 years, it still looks brand new.
I also highly recommend this book!
We ended up getting the kalani from million dollar baby I believe it's been 3 years
Honestly we ended up bed sharing so it was the one big purchase I wish we hadn't made. Thankfully we only spent a couple hundred bucks on it. I've seen people spending 500800 which is just crazy to me.
this.
Ditto! Got mine yesterday fit in the back of my Chevy Equinox. Haven't put it together yet.