We bought a convertible crib, armoir and dresser for DD when she was born. She's still using it all and we've converted to a toddler bed, but we are moving her to the spare bedroom in preparation for DD#2 to use the nursery.
We were planning on buying her kid's furniture for the new room & using the nursery furniture for the new baby, but as we are shopping around, we are finding that it might actually be cheaper to buy a new set of nursery furniture!
Am I missing something? It feels silly to buy a second set of nursery furniture! I suppose if I add in having to buy a full-sized mattress (which is what the crib will convert to), I'll spend just as much or more if I buy new nursery furniture, right?
Can everyone share what they did/are going to do? We're the first ones in both families to have a baby, so we don't have a lot of guidance here...
TIA!
Re: Moms of 1+ Re: bedroom furniture
My DD's crib is a convertible crib too. But she will not be using it as a full size bed. We will get her a twin and let #2 have her crib. She's really young but I think she'll do just fine in a twin mattress on the floor.
does your crib convert to just a toddler or to a twin or full as well?
I would let the new baby have the original nursery furniture and buy new kid furniture since if you bought new nursery furniture, you'd eventually have to buy a bigger bed (if it doesn't convert to a twin or a full).
For our DD, she went straight from her crib to a full size bed w/guard rails and a nightstand since the closet is adequate for her clothes.
At some point you're going to have to purchase a "big kid bed"... Since you already need to purchase a mattress, you may as well get the frame which won't run that much depending on what you choose and makes more sense than purchasing another baby room set. This way you can also transition DD into the role of "big sister" and doing the new room.
We're leaving the convertible crib we've got as a crib and decided not to convert it into the full bed when done with it. The other thing we learned is that a full bed takes up FAR too much room when compared to the sheer amount of toys. We should have just gotten a twin size bed for DD's room and kept the floor space for her to be able to play...
My #1 is much older (8yrs) so we had alreay taken the real bed plunge long ago...
IMHO I will say do not invest too much in a bed..shop around..kids are fickle and their tastes change as they get older when she is 5-8 she may want something totally different. I would wait until early teens to invest in a nice set that can last more than a few years. DD has had 3 twin beds since kinder (mostly b/c the new one is the only one we actually bought) and all have been very different but suited to her needs/likes at the time.
You can shop resale (consignment) garage sale, CL, and other venues for good quality bed frames at lower prices.
Fortunately, I have a good amount of hand-me-down furniture in general...my family likes to pass things around. I have 2 spare bedrooms that are furnished.
So, for DS's room, I was given a dresser and changing table. We bought a crib/mattress for him. When DD came along, we got DS a toddler bed off of craigslist. We moved the changing table and crib into DD's room and I had found her a nice dresser at our big community-wide yardsale. The total we have spent on furniture for our 2 children so far has been roughly $225. We're definitely not ashamed to use hand-me-downs or buy used, especially with the money we are saving...there are other/better things for our children we'd like to use our money for.
We kept the nursery intact to use with DS. We moved DD to the guest room and kept the furniture that we had in there. All we did is change out the bedding and artwork then added a small bookcase and her toy box.
DD's crib is a convertible too, and it's been set up as a toddler bed for a while now.
We're going to be getting her a platform storage twin-sized bed and use the crib for the new baby instead of buying a new nursery set.
DD has done well in the toddler bed, and I'm sure she'll do fine with a twin. Plus, the platform bed has extra storage space underneath. We'll also get her a dresser.
When I was pregnant with our daugher we bought our son all new bedroom stuff .. twin bed, dresser and night table and then moved the crib, change table and dresser into the new baby's room. I figured we'd have to do it at some point anyway so we just spent the money and did it then.
When we had DD we did the same as you, full bedroom set with convertible crib. Then when DS came along, we bought him a new crib and changing table, but we had an extra dresser for him. Now with LO #3 coming, I'm putting DD and DS together in DD's room which is much bigger. Both DD and DS are in toddler beds, but we got rid of DS's crib because it was a drop-side crib and recalled for obvious reasons.
So LO #3 will be getting a new convertible crib and I'm going to some local thrift stores to find a long dresser to use as a dresser/changing table combo. I'm also getting my crib from Walmart and they sometimes run deal where you can get a convertible crib and mattress for bundle and it no more than $200. The one I'm actually getting is crib and mattress for $175 with free shipping. I uses the site to store option ill 11 miles from a Walmart. I mean there are plenty of ways to get what you need without blowing your budget.
We bought LO1 a convertible crib, dresser, and changer/dresser. I decided to convert her bed into a toddler bed and just buy LO2 a new crib and changing table. We're going to use our guest bedroom dresser for LO2 as well.
It cost me $350 to buy a mattress, crib and changing table (Graco Lauren) to match guest bedroom furniture. I figured this will be fine for a while. And it cost me less than a big kid bed would anyways!
When my girls are old enough to share a room, that is when I'll buy new kid furniture. I think LO will be fine in her convertible crib for a while. When she is a little older, we'll convert her bed into a "day bed." And then when LO2 is about 1.5-2 years old, we'll move them both into a room together.
I converted Riley's crib into the day bed a few weeks ago to get her adjusted as shortly I will no longer be able to reach into her crib to get her anymore. Because we have a 2 bedroom apartment and our in laws stay with us, we keep a queen size bed in her room too. I discovered that Riley hates her day bed and wants to sleep in the queen bed. Which works out great since I won't have to buy another bed, I can turn the convertible bed into the crib again and we'll be set.
As far as your question, what is going to be your best investment long term? Remember the government is passing a ban on selling used cribs at yard sales and retail stores, so it may not be a smart decision to buy another nursery set. At some point the kiddos are going to need to be in bigger beds, so is it cheaper to buy them now, or buy another set of nursery furniture and buy bigger beds later? KWIM?
Good luck.
My DD is using the convertible crib as a toddler bed right now. My mom gave us a twin bed frame when my brother upgraded his bed. We just need to buy a mattress for it. They're going to be sharing the room eventually so we can't really fit much other than the furniture that is already in there plus the twin bed.
I would search craigslist etc... for good deals on furniture and just take the plunge to buy a twin bed.
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