Preparing for Baby!

We boutght a 4-in-1 that was pretty expensive. I loved it as the crib, we never used it for the toddler bed cause it seemed a lot higher than I would have liked (our son was 16 months when he went into the toddler bed), so we bought a cheap toddler bed from walmart. We now have his bed set up as a full size bed - and i HATE it. The footboard is so high, that i can't reach over it (my arms aren't long enought) to make his bed and tuck his sheets in. We are now expecting number 2, so we will be getting my son a new bedroom set and using this for a crib for the new baby, after that - i'm done with it.

When I was pregnant with my son, I got a convertible crib for about $100 from Wal-Mart that went from a crib, to a toddler bed, to a day bed. It worked great as the crib, but the only difference between the toddler bed, and the day bed, was how high you set the mattress. My sister is currently using the crib for her son, so I will probably buy a new one for this baby.

I wouldn't get the lifetime crib. I wasn't happy with ours. It was a great crib, and we used it as a toddler bed as well, but then we got new beds.

I saw some really nice looking used ones awhile back on Craigslist. You might find one there. We got cribs at Nebraska Furniture for our grandchildren and they were reasonable. I don't think our daughters will end up using them as a double/full sized bed, which is what they make, but they do plan to use the toddler bed part of it with the rails. You can get the rails with some beds included in the price and some you have to purchase them separately. I would check out the Craigslist first. Also you could seriously look at garage sales. I think beds now can't be the drop down sides, wouldn't concern me but if you want to do it 'right' I wouldn't purchase one of them now. My opinion is that kids can go to twin beds just as easy as those toddler side rail cribs. I just wrote on here about what we did with our kids when they out grew the crib and they were in twin bed on a frame with a board instead of box spring like a bunky board, and a mattress on that so it's lower. You can vacuum under the bed and store toys in pans under it that way. Is that little rail worth the bed that converts or not? It's up to you.

We put gift cards from our shower toward a fairly expensive lifetime crib. Personally, I regret it. Style-wise I just don't like it as a toddler bed or regular bed. It was a great crib when he was a baby (not that he slept in it but a handful of times), but reconfigured it just looks out of place with my son's style. That might sound weird, but it just doesn't "go" with the paint/curtains/etc he loves. It is white and it just seems too feminine or something.

Plus, it converts to a full-size bed (not a twin) and I just feel like that's too big for my son yet (and his room), although the toddler bed is too small. If I had to do it again, I'd get a regular, inexpensive crib and wait til he needed a twin bed to invest anything.

Congrats, and good luck!

Don't spend an arm and a leg on a crib. My hubby and I bought a 4 in 1 crib from Walmart for $150. We bought it for our older son but he never used the bed part of it after it gets converted to a bed. He is in a bed bed now so his little brother is in the crib. Walmart has great stuff, that's where I got most of my stuff.