Crib Shopping with Dad

Baby shopping is scary.  So scary, my dad had to drive down from Ohio to help get me started.  It's scary, because:

• I am not a gifty person in general.
• There are too many choices!
• What about all of the safety considerations?!
• I won't really know what Lily needs until she is born. 
• Some of the stuff is too cute, but unnecessary.
• Pregnant brain makes thinking hard.
• I have to plan for an apartment that I haven't found yet.
• I am nervous about over-buying.
• I am nervous about buying things that folks will buy or pass along second hand. 
• Then, I'm nervous about losing the receipts!
• Every list of what you might need for baby is different.
• There are many things that can wait until later.
• Space is an issue right now and in our new home.
• I might pick out something now, but find something better later.
• I don't want to spend a lot of money on things that we'll only use for a couple of months or not at all.

SCARY!

Now, some of this seems silly to moms who have been through all of this.  Feel free to get a good giggle.  Dad was doing safety research on cribs and other big ticket items.  He couldn't find much information, besides the fact that dropside cribs were banned in 2011, and that wasn't a concern since those aren't even permitted to be resold. That doesn't mean that someone won't try to resell them on Craiglist or at a garage sale, but at least we knew that we should avoid them if we did see them.  According to the Consumer Produce Safety Commission, "A consumer should not resell, donate or give away a crib that does not meet the new crib standards, such as trying to resell the product through an online auction site or donating to a local thrift store. CPSC recommends disassembling the crib before discarding it."  While that was a relief, that didn't narrow the search down.

Dad and I hit Babies R Us on Saturday.  We made a b-line for the baby sleeping stuff.  I want to try to cosleep, so should we buy a crib, bassinet, or cosleeper?

Bassinet

Bassinet - a sort of cradle that looks really cute and homey.  These ran from around $79 to $199. Most were good for newborns through 15 lbs (around 3 months)

Co sleeper

Co sleeper - a bassinet that can attach to a bed, so that baby sleeps close to you.  The one at Babies R Us was around $159.  Good for newborns through 15 lbs (around 3 months)
 

Graco Lauren Convertible Crib

Cribs - There were lots of choices.  Some were relatively inexpensive ($130 to $199) and others were just through the roof ($399 to $599).  There wasn't much difference between the cribs.  Most of them went against the wall.  After realizing that most bassinets and co sleepers were really just for the first three months, Dad and I opted for just getting a crib.

• How much do we want to spend on a crib?
• High back for against the wall, or accessible from both sides?
• Some cribs covert to toddler beds, day beds, and full size beds.  For $89 and a mattress, that crib could be a  kid's bed when we're ready. 
• Cherry, white, espresso, or natural color?
• Wheels or no wheels? 

Ikea Crib

 For good measure, Dad and I trekked up to Ikea to see what their options were.  I remember there being lots of kids stuff, and I usually buy affordable furniture from Ikea.  But, the only choice was a really cheap-feeling option for $119.  That didn't seem to stand up to the few good models we saw under $200 at Babies R Us.  So, we went back to Babies R Us to make a final decision.  Yes, we could have looked on the internet, but we found it really helped us to be able to touch the cribs, and the Ikea question would have really loomed in my head.  We could really feel for the difference in sturdiness from one crib to another.

We were sure that we were going to go with the Graco bed above.  But, we thought about it, and how I might like to have the crib up next to the bed at times.  So, it might be good to have one that was accessible from both sides.  However, I did really like the idea of the convertible full size bed.  It seemed like for our price range, we couldn't get both with the choices in front of us.  So, we opted for the crib accessible from both sides.

We purchased the  Delta Sedona crib.  Ta-da!