I have a VERY nice crib that my daughter has grown out of...so why can't I get rid of it? It is a drop side crib that is illegal to sell and donation organizations will not take it. It has a stopper on it and I never even used to drop side on it. I have a crib mattress too. So how can I get rid of it? I don't even need to sell it I just don't need it and I REALLY don't want to throw it away because it is a really nice crib. So any ideas who will take it? Not a fan of craigs list...makes me nervous to have strangers come to my house.
Sadly, you are just out of options here. You may have never used the drop side of it, but there is no guarantee that whoever got it wouldn’t use the drop side with their baby. Is the crib convertible to a toddler bed? If so, turn it into a toddler bed and donate it. Otherwise, you need to just trash it…sorry…
Offer it on your local Freecycle group. You can take the drop side off and offer it as a toddler bed or sidecar sleeper for a family that cosleeps, just not as a crib.
Word of mouth.
you will get flagged on craigslist. That is the top item to not resale because it is illegal and people automatically think they are saving a baby from this death trap by reporting you to craigslist (yes, both of my kids slept in one and it is/was really nice). I’m sure yours is nice too. Nobody wants it. You can google ways to repurpose it (cute ideas, but it still looks like a crib).
You can’t even list it on Craigslist anymore since they’re illegal to sell, they’re on the “banned” list. I believe that’s the way it is on any of the sites and the recycle-type publications now from what I’ve seen and heard.
Unless you can find a creative way to use it as a toy bin or huge planter or something else I would just break it down into pieces and trash it. Check out some ideas for recycling cribs here:
http://consignmentmommies.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=419&PostID=199031
You can give it away with Freecycle. You advertise it on their site and just leave it outside. Someone will come and take it. You don’t have to interact with anyone at all. It is illegal to sell, but you can give it away.
In my city, we just leave stuff out on the curb and someone will take it - furniture, almost anything.
A few days before your trash day, put it out on the curb (bundled together – screws in a baggie - taped to it). Put a FREE sign on it. You could even say “All here. Works great.” on the sign.
Just watch the weather so it doesn’t get rained on. I bet it will be gone in a few hours.
Doesn’t the manufacturer provide you with the hardware to convert it to a fixed side (legal) crib? I had a drop side Pottery Barn crib. I called them and the shipped me the conversion kit for free (basically some bolts). I don’t see why you couldn’t resell it once it is a fixed side crib. I got the conversion kit and gave mine away. My crib was a 2005 model and Pottery Barn had the conversion kit in 2011.
ETA: You can also buy a universal conversion kit if your manufacturer can’t help you.
I can honestly say that whomever you give it too may not know about the issues with it. They may figure out a way to make the sides go up and down and that would put their child at risk. Do you really want to find out later on that someone put their child in it and they died?
It is illegal for a reason and you would be perpetuating the risk by even thinking of giving this crib away.
It served you well, it is time to break it down and put it in the trash. Children that used this same crib died. That is all that needs to be known. It is not of a safe design.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to take the chance with my child. I’m willing to bet, most people don’t, either. I wouldn’t want the liability of giving the crib to someone, if something ended up happening to the child sleeping in it. It might be “nice,” but it’s not SAFE. It’s illegal to list in on Craigslist, and most freecycle moderators won’t allow you to give it away. Drop side cribs really belong in the trash.
ETA: “One or two children?” Try thousands of injuries and dozens of deaths. You are really playing down how dangerous these cribs are. They are ILLEGAL, for a reason. You were OK, but what about the dozens of parents who lost a child, or the ones who were left with brain damaged children? You must be incredibly naive.
I have the same problem. I contacted the company who made mine to get the conversion kit and they sold to a new company. So I contacted the new company and they said they can’t help me. It is so frustrating! But I’ve been told by many that you just have to throw it away or make it into something else. Good luck!
Contact local churches and ask if they have anyone in their congregation that could use a crib. They may want it for their nursery or a pregnant teenager. Take pics so they can see the condition of the crib. This is how I got rid of carseats. They cant be sold or donated but there was a family with baby #4 very grateful.
I agree that it sounds like a waste when you have no options, but you really have no options. You can choose to save it in your basement for 30 years and use it on your grandkids if you’d like. That is what my mom did! My son has slept in a drop side at her house and our house for the past, almost, 3 years. We don’t use the drop option either and it’s been fine, but you can’t really give it to anyone else since the recall. Sorry, it sucks to be so wasteful!
I have been Freecycling DOZENS of things to people in my area. They NEVER come inside my home. I just put the item on my covered porch, and they pick it up. In fact, the past 2 days I had 4 different pick-ups occur. I’d check to see if your area has a Freecycle website. It is MUCH more trustworthy than Craigslist, and is moderated.
You can probably donate it to the Lupus Foundation or Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation. These organizations will pick up furniture at your house and give you a tax receipt.
But I agree with others here that most parents would not want to take a risk in using a hot-button recall item.
Most drop-side cribs were “recalled,” but in the sense that you could send in for a safety kit to make them not drop-side anymore. That’s what happened with my son’s. Contact the manufacturer of the crib and see if they sell the safety kit, or if they advise just tossing it. If you’re lucky, they’ll have a kit. Once installed, the crib is no-longer considered drop-side (at least in my area) and can be donated to Good-will or other organizations. However, if they are no longer providing kits for that crib (if it’s an older model, this will probably be the case) you may be out of luck. Maybe you could remove the drop-side and turn it into a piece of furniture or something?
You could convert it into a craft station for your kids… I saw this on pinterest and I am planning on doing this when we are done with our crib. 
it looks like it would be super-easy, and very fun for kiddos.
This link has some other ideas to do with it too.
http://www.regives.com/blog/19/ways-to-reuse--recycle-old-or-recalled-baby-cribs
I know exactly how you feel. I have a crib that has been in use for 13 years and is still in great condition, but I have to get rid of it. I do daycare and because of the drop side issue I’m not allowed to have it in the house. I’m just going to have to dismantle it and put it on the curb for the trash man.
M
Can you remove the hardward that makes it drop-side, get some screws from Lowe’s, drill some holes, and make it a regular crib?
Then put it on Craiglist.