Shopping time!! Baby shopping is an enthralling experience – with colours and cute things driving you all gaga! However, the trick is to buy what is necessary and avoid being overindulgent as babies outgrow everything very fast. A crib is an essential part of a baby’s nursery, many babies end up spending a lot of time in the cribs. It can be really confusing for the expecting parents to buy a crib for their baby from a number of available styles and varieties in the market. The best solution to this problem is to decide what kind of features you are looking for and what is your budget. Once you have decided upon these two aspects, there are other important points which need to be considered while purchasing a crib:
- Safety Standards: Highly important aspect of a crib for any parents is its safety standards. A crib should be structurally sound and the distance between slats should not be more than 2 3/8 inches. There must be no cut outs in the head and foot boards. The safety measures have changed after 2011. Cribs with fixed sides are considered safe. Drop side cribs are no more preferred by the parents (as these are not considered as safe).
- Corner post: Corner posts of a crib should not be more than 1/16 of an inch as baby clothes may catch on them causing any hazard.
- Mattress: With most of the cribs you can adjust the height of the mattress. Cribs must have well fitted and firm mattress. There should be no gap between the sides of the crib and the mattress. Dense foam mattresses are a good choice.
- Stability: Shake the crib at store to check if it is stable or not.
- Wheels: It is a very good feature of the cribs provided you actually need it. A crib with wheels can be useful if you want to move it from one room to another. If you prefer it without wheels you can get the wheels installed later.
- Height: The height of the crib should be such that you can easily put in and take out your baby from it.
- Convertible cribs: Many cribs can be converted into a toddler’s bed if need be. These are a little expensive so it is totally up to you whether you want to go for it or not.
For the baby’s safety, it is best not to opt for the below cribs –
- Used Cribs: If you are planning to buy used crib, be sure, it is as per new safety standards. Many cribs had been recalled due to their old design which is no more considered as safe.
- Decorative Ones: Instead of going for fancy and decorative cribs, choose those with a solid structure and strong enough to carry baby’s weight once she grows.
- Drop Sides: Never purchase cribs with drop sides as they are not safe for infants if the sides become loose- the baby could get entrapped or strangled and suffocated in the space between drop side and the crib mattress.
