How much are you paying for your crib? XP from BMB

[Deleted User] · July 2012

I am soooo stuck. For whatever reason, I am having a terrible time picking out a crib. I just can not find anything I like. Of the ones I do like, either the store does not carry them and I really hate to order online before seeing it. Or it does not have a matching dresser. For me this is a big one. I want a dresser that I can use as a changing table and no it does not have to be the matching one, however I would like it to be a somewhat close match and the idea of trying to randomly find a match really does not appeal to me. Well we finally settled on one at BRU. Now originally MIL offered to buy us a crib. Whatever crib we picked out. So we tell her about this crib and send her a link to it and what not it is $330.00 and she basically tells us that is too much money and we should keep looking.

Part of me says well then lets not even take the money because in my mind I have completely exhausted this crib search and I would rather pay for it myself then have to keep looking. I literally have looked at Ikea (online only) BRU, BBB, Target, Wal-Mart, baby Deport and Shopko. USA Baby by us just closed so that is out and really I have no idea where else to look. I thought about just ordering one online that I like at Shopko and returning it if I don?t like it (which they confirmed I can do) But what a hassle.

So back to my original question, how much did you pay for your crib? Is $330.00 that much? It kinda seems the norm, but I could be wrong.

TIA sorry so long

CrazyToast · July 2012

We paid $99 plus tax for DD's crib (White Ikea Gulliver) and we paid less than the $299 listed for the dresser (White Ikea Hemnes 8-drawer dresser). The dresser was cheaper in 2010.

I would never have paid $330 for the crib, since that isn't something you use as long as a dresser. Everyone is different, though. I'm also not one to pay the big bucks for an UppaBaby (even though it's pretty).

We've decided we're one and done, and so I'm happy with how much (or how little) we paid for the things we have for DD.

TiaS16 · July 2012

My husband is a little ridiculous when it comes to wooden furniture...he has to see it, touch it, see the finish and blah, blah, blah. I'm picky too, but not quite so insane.

Needless to say, we are spending quite a bit on the crib, but it is beautiful and he is happy (whatever makes him happy at this point since I feel guilty about my mood swings and MIA sex drive).

We anticipated this purchase and have budgeted accordingly, but it's your baby, and it's whatever you want.

RRL2012 · July 2012

That sounds really normal to me. Ours was over $1000 but it was a gift from a very wealthy friend. We bought the matching dresser which was also super pricey, but the store gave us 30% off since we also got the crib there. $300 sounds really reasonable, especially if it converts to a toddler bed.

hilsy85 · July 2012

We're being gifted our crib (oeuf sparrow), but that price seems pretty reasonable to me!

drpayne · July 2012

Try to keep it in perspective (if $ is an issue... if it's not, spend away). A crib is something you use temporarily. Your kid may chew on it. You will have a million baby things to buy. We spent like $150 on a crib/mattress (Graco Lauren in Espresso) and have the dark wood Hemnes dresser from Ikea ($150). It doesn't match perfectly and the crib finish is a little glossier than the dresser but it's close and it looks nice. I guess I'm just practical when it comes to that stuff. I'd rather spend the money on something we'll get more use out of. Even looking back now, I realize how many purchases I over-analyzed. It's just a crib. Your kid isn't even going to remember what it looks like. Don't over-think it

Leinistar · July 2012

We, well my dad, spent about $300 on our convertible crib but it was his major purchase and im an only child so it's his first grandbaby. In hindsight, seeing as how much DS chewed up the crib before we got the protectors on it, I would have bought a cheap (and still cute in my opinion) ikea crib and a separate toddler bed later. I was hormonal and wanted a BEAUTIFUL new crib and had notions of this going with him to college....nonsense. Kids destroy furniture and unless you plan on refinishing it later, it probably wont make it past toddlerhood.

hunterjumper102 · July 2012

We spent about $330 on a crib($400 originally but we had a BRU 20% coupon). We only spent this much money on it since it is a 4 in 1 crib. Without it being able to convert we would have looked at something cheaper.

My MIL offered to buy us the crib which apparently meant only giving us $100. I loved our crib so much we just chalked up the rest of the money ourselves. It was more important for us to have something we liked than someone buy it for us.

drpayne · July 2012

Wanted to add... think about whether or not you want it to convert to a toddler bed. (Even at $150, the Graco Lauren does this but I don't think we'll use it). DS will be 22 months when #2 arrives. I'd rather put him in a twin bed (skipping the toddler bed) and use the crib again for the baby. For us, this makes more sense than buying another crib. Some people like the toddler beds... I guess I don't see the point of transitioning twice so we'll go straight to a regular bed and use bumpers.

sadie+w · July 2012

My engineer husband was very picky about our crib. We looked at several cheap ones, but he was not happy with the construction . . . so we are getting a $500 one that will cost $400 after a coupon from BBB. So no, I do not think $330 is too much. I'm not sure if the $330 is before or after any coupons, but the BRU in my town takes non-expired 20% off coupons from BBB and Bed Bath & Beyond.

If I was in your situation, I would let MIL know this is the crib you want and if that's more than she had in mind, maybe she could choose another item (such as a stroller or carseat, etc.) that is more in her price range, or just contribute to the crib, rather than purchasing it in its entirety.

pb_bride · July 2012

drpayne:
Try to keep it in perspective (if $ is an issue... if it's not, spend away). A crib is something you use temporarily. Your kid may chew on it. You will have a million baby things to buy. We spent like $150 on a crib/mattress (Graco Lauren in Espresso) and have the dark wood Hemnes dresser from Ikea ($150). It doesn't match perfectly and the crib finish is a little glossier than the dresser but it's close and it looks nice. I guess I'm just practical when it comes to that stuff. I'd rather spend the money on something we'll get more use out of. Even looking back now, I realize how many purchases I over-analyzed. It's just a crib. Your kid isn't even going to remember what it looks like. Don't over-think it

This!

We haven't bought ours yet but we plan to head to IKEA in a few weeks to pick up one of their cribs. Seems like many bumpies here are happy with their IKEA cribs. We can afford PBK cribs and the like, but why spend all that extra $ when it's just something our LO will use for a short few years? We don't want a 4-in-1 or whatever, cuz we most likely can get a twin bed from our in-laws when our LO is big enough. And god forbid we're using an old dresser for LO and nothing will match! Who cares? LO certainly won't care as long as he has a safe and comfortable space to sleep and grow up in.

You can tell I'm a very practical person - I'd rather use the extra money for LO's college fund.

bugandbibs · July 2012

It doesn't really matter how much other people spend, but how much your MIL is willing to spend. We spent around $50 on our crib. NIB Ikea crib in the as-is plus an extra 20% off anything over a certain amount. It's beautiful, converts to a toddler bed, and takes up very little space in the room. Why not take what she is willing to contribute and make up the difference?

wannabigfam · July 2012

We paid $399, plus 20% off of the price. But then delivery was $50.00 (we don't have a way to get it home - truck rental would have been $25.00 or more and so it didn't seem worth the hassle of saving $25) and assembly was $25.00. We hated to increase the price of the crib by $75 just for delivery and assembly, but we had no choice on the delivery part really. I was thankful we paid for assembly w/ our first child because it ends up the crib was damaged; since they were in the home when it was opened and they discovered the damage, they simply took the crib back to the store right away and then came back w/ another one once it was ordered. it was worth $25 to not deal w/ the hassle!

So all said and done, even w/ the discount of 20% I think the total was like $420 or so with tax, delivery and assembly.

Personally, I would ask if you could go in on a crib w/ your MIL. have her put whatever amount of money she thinks is fair and then you pay for the rest. Tell her you have your heart set on a certain crib. OR, tell her since the crib you want is out of her price range (and that your respect her budget and appreciate ANYTHING she is doing to help), perhaps she could buy _____ (fill in blank with special item that is closer to her price range).

I do not think that $300 for a crib is outrageous. I know lots of mommies buy the 150.00 Graco crib - but the ones we have seen in person, the wood is really thin & the paint is already chipping or peeling off. You get what you pay for sometimes! My husband and I are kind of picky about solid wood furniture though.

ElinJ · July 2012

We got the Baby Mod Olivia from Walmart for $269. I'm 100% happy with our purchase, and couldn't imagine paying more than $300.

cutebride73 · July 2012

SInce we are having twins we needed to get 2 cribs and there was no way I was going to spend $300 on each crib! Maybe if there was only 1 to buy, but I never planned to use the convertable double bed option, so it just doesn't make sense to spend a lot to me. We got 2 graco lauren classic cribs in white from Target. They were $150 each. Then we got mattresses from BRU, they were over $100 each as well.

Luckily, I have some awesome generous co-workers who throw me a surprise shower and a bunch of them went in together and bought us both cribs and mattresses. So we didn't have to spend any money on them, but I still wouldn't have wanted to have spent more. Plus, I also knew that I wanted to get a good stroller - a BJCM double and that would cost a lot, so I wanted to spend the $ on that.

I would talk to your MIL - maybe she would rather buy you something else if that is more than she planned. Or pick a less expensive crib. Unless money is no object we all have to pick and choose what our nursery priorities are.

danabsd · July 2012

Ours was about $400, it was a gift from MIL. Huge selling point, it came assembled!

morgs8384 · July 2012

We bought the same cribs for both our boys, because we really liked the brand and the style.. they were both $500 and convert to a full size bed. I hope to get a few extra years out of them as opposed to needing to buy a toddler bed, then a full size, and then a queen.

januaryjen18 · July 2012

we got the brayden crib @ BRU.. I believe it was $299, but we had $100 worth of gift cards & we used a 20% off coupon so we got it for about $140ish. I did not want to spend over $200 for a crib.

bluestarbaby · July 2012

Ours was $499 not including the toddler/adult rails.

MrsJetSet · July 2012

300 does not sound that bad to me but I prioritized what products I felt high end was most beneficial. We went IKEA for crib and dresser but bought an UBV stroller. (DH is tall so most strollers don't work for him). I don't regret the decision at all. My bro bought a beautiful, very expensive 4 in 1 crib. They used our Gulliver when they visited because dd was still sleeping in our room. My Sil said she wished they had just bought IKEA. Adjusting mattress height was easy peasy for us and a whole day ordeal for their expensive one. Know what you are buying and do whatever is best for your family.

freezorburn · July 2012

We got the Babyletto Mercer which retails around $350. DH really liked the Ikea Gulliver for its price -- it can't be beat -- but to me it looked rough and unfinished. Given that some cribs go into the thousands, I don't think $300 is that much. Basically the crib was the one thing I wanted to spend money on, and since the grandmas were tripping over each other to pay for it, we decided that neither of them would have the privilege and we bought it ourselves.

OTOH, I've saved money in other places by buying a lot of other baby gear on consignment.

PPs have good suggestions -- either have your MIL contribute towards the crib or have her buy something that is within her budget.

myluckypig · July 2012

I don't think it really matters what other people spend because you don't know what their finances are. I know people who have spent $1000+ on a crib set, but they make twice as much money as we do so in perspective it would be like me spending $500.

If MIL says it is too much then either find another crib that is more on her budget or ask if she can just contribute a certain amount...or have her buy something else.

Remember, its your baby--not hers, so she is being nice offering to spend any amount of money on a crib!