Crib with attached changing station

MissMheMhe

The baby's room is small as our house is not big at all. DH and I were thinking of ways to furnish the baby's room without it seeming crowded. My idea was to have the changing station on top of a low dresser. DH really likes the cribs with the attached changing station. I'm not too sure about them as it seems it might get a bit awkward as baby grows. Anyone have one? If so, how do you like it? Is there a way to change the side that the changer is on? I've only seen them attached to the right side and in my mind, it seems like it would get uncomfortable as baby gets longer since the feet would be against the wall and possibly propped up on the wall. I'm most comfortable changing baby lying perpendicular to me and lifting legs with my left hand...I've worked in daycare for over a decade and this way is just so natural. 

Any pros and cons would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

SummerOH

Con - I've never quite understood them.  I'm assuming you'll have a dresser either way, right?  I'd just use the dresser with a changing pad on top and a diaper caddy or pretty baskets to store items.  

Pro - The stations are removable, so you can always take it off if the baby gets too big, but that takes a LONG time!  My son is almost 3, huge for his age, and he still fit in his crib (with toddler rail) just fine.  We only switched him to a bed because we need the crib.

MissMheMhe

@SummerOH Yes, we will still have a dresser. I'm still leaning toward having a station as you described. Plus we plan to CD and can dedicate a drawer of the dresser to storage of those. 

Looking at them in the store, the changing pad is smaller than a separate changing station pad. It could be because the changing area has a barrier at the back. It also seems that these cribs are a bit more expensive than others available so maybe I can sway DH on the price alone!

Thank you for your reply!

amylynnec

I think I'm going with the dresser idea too. Was just talking about this today

jrouge12

I'm looking at these too. We have a space issue and will not be using a dresser (the room has a smaller linen closet I'll be treating like a dresser) so this crib will be a good option for us.

moonpie28

Lots of moms I know IRL just talked me out of doing this. Apparently their children did out grow the smaller changer rapidly. They also said that they used the changer to start climbing out of the crib at around 8 mo old. I'm going back to the dresser idea.

BBEA2006

We went w/ the dresser and we still use it w/ DS and DD b/c we just took off the changing pad.  Now they can put their trophies, medals, whatever else they have on it.

aphilli8

Waste of money. Just put a changing pad on top of their dresser

willashbaby

My nursery is very small and will not accommodate a long dresser and a crib. We bought a very tall skinny dresser and will have to get a crib/changer to have a changer in there. If the kid is climbing out of the crib you should just change it to a day bed or toddler bed anyway.

babybluu

I was thinking about this too, but wanted to find one that was convertible as well. I instead actually found a dresser with a built in changing table on top. It seems nice!

TTiger03

My friend never used a changer. She has two older kids and when the little one came she said it was a waste. When they are down stairs she usually gets changed on the floor. When she was upstairs they either used mom's bed, sister's bed (shared room when baby was 9months) or the floor. I think we will do the same.
My mom never used a changer. It was just easier with us (twins) to stay in the room she was in. I'm having twins too, so I bet I'll do as my mom did.

ashs88

With DS we just did the pad on top of the dresser. We will use the dresser forever and I didn't see a point in having a separate changing table. Plus once he started rolling over and squirming a lot - probably somewhere around 4 months or so - it was way easier to just change him on the floor. We plan on doing the same thing this time around.

MissMheMhe

Thanks everyone! I'm still pushing a changing station on the dresser. We'll see!

OrangeFox

our changing station is on top of the dresser. It works great. When DS was tiny and his clothes were smaller we used the top drawer to store the diapers, wipes, etc. However, now that he is bigger we have a shelf right next to the dresser. It hold all kinds of things now. Works great for us.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20154591/ (this is the shelf we use). The dresser is one that my FIL made many years ago.

kmo8986

With DS we use a changing pad on his dresser. For DD we are rehabbing an armour to be her changing station. Kind of like the picture attached but that is only because we have an armour to use this time that someone gave us for free and last time we had a dresser ;-)

willashbaby

@kmo8986 just because it's killing me, "armoire".

RepeatPostPolice

aphilli8 said:

Waste of money. Just put a changing pad on top of their dresser

This exactly. Just sayin' and I know thrift shopping isn't for everyone, we got a dresser at a thrift store for $10. Cleaned it up, painted it, and put new hardware on the drawers and door.
Changing station is on top.

Snoopylovesbelle

@kmo8986 I feel like you are going to hate sticking your head in there to change the baby and it will be hard to see anything.
Good idea in theory maybe not so much in real life.
Just my 2 cents

JuneyCleaves

We had a changing table attached. Laundry bin drawer underneath. Fantastic.
No dresser /built ins in closet instead.

I loved it. Will be using it for this babe too

JuneyCleaves

^^ edit: babe never climbed out and we used the change table well after the first year. Is a convertible crib so it got used as a nightstand as well and was just as cost-friendly as other cribs/no more expensive. (Scored the last one on sale for like $130; jackpot!)