Tips on Purchasing Convertible Baby Cribs
When it comes to shopping for baby cribs, you need to think long term. If you make a wise purchase right now, you will never have to purchase another bed for your child until they are grown and out of the house. In fact, you may not have to purchase them another one even then!
A high quality convertible will grow with your child from infanthood to college, and then will turn into great guest accommodations. Some may just convert from crib to toddler bed, but the best savings are found with a full conversion into toddler bed, day bed, and eventually a full sized headboard and footboard.
Some of the titles for these cribs are 4-in-1, Lifetime, and Stages cribs.
The great news is that a crib with all of these features does not have to cost a lot of money. There are some really sturdy, ultra safe and stylish cribs that do cost a few hundred dollars or more, but there are also some great lower cost models that will last if you take good care of them.
The only catch you have to consider when making your purchase is whether the actual crib comes with the rail sets needed to make the conversions, or if you will have to buy that separately.
The toddler bed conversion is only a matter of removing the front panel of the crib to create an easy crawl-in to the mattress. Sometimes the small safety rail that goes in front to create a toddler bed is included, but other times it is a separate purchase. You should never have to purchase bed rails beyond that one piece for the toddler or day bed.
You always have the option of just not purchasing the small rail and going with a day bed right off. The day bed is converted simply by removing that small rail anyway.
When you convert to a full sized bed, you will have to purchase a full sized rail set. The actual crib forms the headboard and often a footboard as well. The catch is that some companies will want you to purchase a particular rail kit designed for your particular crib model. The best value is with a bed that can work with any standard full sized rail.
The best part of buying convertible baby cribs is that they will always match the coordinating bedroom furniture so you never have to worry about finding headboards that fit into the room nicely! This could literally be the only bed you ever have to purchase for your child!