The image of a baby in a crib is one of the defining touchstones of parenthood. Most parents, with any luck, get their baby crib from a relative or as a baby shower gift; as the place where your little one gets to sleep, it’s essential for your peace of mind as a new parent. They need to be something the kid can’t roll or crawl out of, and they need to be easy to use and safe.

While there are a lot of styles of baby crib, the one you use should be based on your needs and preferences. How it’s painted and colored is part of the nursery’s dcor, and they range from colorful paint jobs to beautiful stained wood. The crib’s materials should be non-toxic and not emit any esters or funny chemicals. Your baby’s immune system is just getting started, and you don’t want any chemicals to interfere with it and trigger allergies later.

Baby cribs come in many shapes and sizes, so you will be able to find the right size of crib for your nursery. One style you may want to consider if you are going to have more children in the future is a convertible crib. These can grow with your child, turning from a crib into a toddler-bed. Some even turn into a full child’s bed. The drawback to these is that to convert the crib into a lager bed, sometimes you have to buy another kit. Check into this before you buy.

Access to the crib itself is a matter of how easily the sides can be manipulated. If they can be lowered, it’s easier to lift your child in and out of them. However, adjustable side cribs do have the risk of giving latches as a toy for a curious baby who’s still figuring out fingers and thumbs! Make sure that the latches can’t be reached from the inside.

Another kind of crib is one that has a canopy, on four posts over the bed. This can usually be raised or lowered to give access, and they tend to touch on the maternal desire to make sure that your baby is in a safe, enclosed space. The risks are that as your baby grows, they’re going to reach and grab for things, and they might be able to pull the canopy down on them.

Currently, crib manufacturers are in something of an arms race, trying to add features and grab market share. In large part, this is because of horror stories about manufacturing in China and the like, or trying to turn cribs into an extension of the digital electronic revolution. Look carefully at features and don’t let them sell to your insecurities.

As with any purchase, comparison shopping is recommended. While you can find bargains online in cribs as well as with anything else, you’ll want to buy from reputable sellers, with good customer service ratings and a clear and friendly return policy. It’s also worth it to look at cribs in stores before buying online just so you can be familiar with them.

The last consideration is decorating schemes. Your nursery will have a particular look to it, and so long as the crib suits your needs, making sure it matches the look of the nursery is the final piece of the puzzle.

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