5 Things to Consider When Buying a Convertible Crib

Convertible cribs are an often over looked solution to providing your child a bed until they leave home. The ease of use and expandable nature of these very practical cribs/beds make them the perfect and economical way to give your child the comfort they deserve.

In a lot of ways it can be said that a crib is a crib and in most case this would be the right way to put it. But in the case of a convertible crib it has a lot longer usable life span then just the first couple years that your child is in a crib. When it comes to selecting a good crib there are quite a few things to consider.

1. First, can your child get their head between any of the supports, slats, or anywhere else for that matter? The answer must be a resounding no to this question in all cases. There is nothing more tragic than hearing about a child getting hurt or worse because they got their heads through a hole in the crib.
2. Second, are any of the supports, slats, or anything else flexible enough to be pushed to the side by your child. Again in this case it must be a resounding no. Just because there isn’t enough room to get through a space doesn’t mean things aren’t flexible enough for them to be pushed to the side. So make sure and check to see how flexible everything is when you look for a crib.
3. How well built is the crib? Most people assume that the companies manufacturing kid’s furniture, especially cribs, live by a higher standard. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Just look at all the problems with chinese made toys. Look over the crib and make sure that all the critical areas are held together with more than just a simple snap bracket or thin single screw. Lag bolts and other very strong connecting hardware like that should be used. In most cases giving the crib a good shake while it’s assembled is a good way to tell. As a matter of fact jerk, tug, push and pull everything on it to see if it moves, comes loose or worse breaks. Move it around! Rock it back and forth to see if it’s top heavy and will tip over easily. While we all hope for the best when it comes to our child’s disposition you just never know if you’ll end up with a “wild child” that will find the weak points in a cast iron block so put it through that crib through it’s paces and see if it will hold up. Better to expose the problems now rather than find out through a horrible tragedy later.
4. Are there any sharp corners or places they can get pinched should something move? Run your hand over everything! Stick your pinky into every nook and cranny you can see. Move all the working parts and see where any potential problem areas for pinching can occur. For the safety of your child knowing things before hand is always the best way to go.
5. Panels or Slats? This is obviously a personal choice but there are somethings to think about. If you elect to go with panels you can’t see in the crib from across the room for those quick glance check ups that seem to happen every 5 minutes with new parents. So if you want to be able to see your baby from across the room panels may not be the best option. Now slats present some other potential problems. While they are easy to see through choosing the small size slats means they are pretty flexible which can lead to your child getting stuck. Thin slats can also be broken more easily than wide ones which can create problems with splinters or worse should they fall over and land hard against them. Thick slats on the other hand do limit visibility a bit but you can still see and they are no where near as flexible making them a great balance between the various options.

The things to think about with a child’s day bed are more related to height than anything else. You should make sure that the bed isn’t too high off the floor. You want your child to be able to get in and out of the bed easily with as little climbing as possible. Not only that but just in case they happen to roll in the wrong direction they won’t have very far to fall.

Something we always suggest is that you actually sit in the day bed itself, like in a chair. That way you can easily see how strong it is. If it can handle an adult sitting there, moving around and bouncing a bit then it will handle pretty much anything a child can throw at it. Make sure and check the conversion board. If it’s held on with 1 bolt or screw on the end it can rotate when you child slides off the bed which may cause problems.

This is the stage that will see the most use: the full size bed. Unless you kid is heading toward NBA stardom, the full bed that these cribs convert into should be fine until they get their own place or enough money to replace it with a style they like. With the full bed look for the same things you would in your own bed. Sturdy mounts for the side rails, good support for the box spring and mattress, it doesn’t wobble all over the place when you go to move it and things like that.

The biggest advantage to this type of bed is that you only have to buy it once and everything your child needs, as far as a bed goes, is taken care of for as long as they stay with you. Unless of course they do the whole “Why would I leave home, they pay for everything!” move. Then a full bed is all they deserve anyway! So it works in that case too!

In this day and age of disposable….well everything not just furniture, making an investment in a convertible crib is easily the most cost effective and most convenient way to go. So, if you’re soon to be having a baby make sure and check out the most functional pieces of children’s furniture out there. Just make sure and do your homework that way your most valuable possession in the world will be safe.