How much does a good quality baby crib cost?

On average, a baby spends the first twenty four months of its life sleeping in a crib. When you consider that babies need from around seventeen hours sleep each day when they are born to around 13.5 hours sleep each day when they are eighteen months old, you can see how important it is for your baby to have a comfortable and safe crib to sleep in.

There are serval different styles of crib you can buy and they all have different features. Cribs also vary greatly in price, from around $AUS 150 to upwards of $AUS 1,000. It’s important to note that you do not have to buy a crib at the higher end of the cost scale. The most important things to consider are safety, practicality and comfort. We are going to take a look at what you should consider when you are buying a crib so that you can recognise which cribs represent the best value for money, enabling you to make best use of your budget.

What safety issues should you consider when buying a crib?

If you see a crib for sale that is at the lower end of the price scale then you should not just be tempted to purchase it straight away; you need to make sure that it’s safe for your child to sleep in. There is a mandatory Australian safety standard that cribs should meet, but you still need to be careful as it’s possible that some may slip through the net.

Just because a crib is reasonably priced does not mean it is not safe; there are good cribs available to buy to suit all budgets. You just need to ensure you have peace of mind by asking yourself some questions before you buy:

• Is the depth of the drop side to the mattress at least 50cms when it’s closed and at least 15cms when it’s down?
• Is there less than a 4cm gap between the crib mattress and the side of the crib, all the way around?
• Are any larger spaces between 5cms and 9.5cms and any small spaces not between 3cms and 5cms? It’s also important that there are no really small gaps anywhere that are between 5mms and 12mms wide.

These are all important safety considerations when it comes to purchasing a crib. Having regard to them can help prevent your child from getting out of the crib, getting stuck or suffocating.

Is the crib practical for you and your baby?

It’s not just safety you need to think about when you are buying a crib; you also need to consider how practical the crib is. If you only have a small amount of space in the room where the crib is to be located you do not want to spend money on a crib only for you to discover that there is no space for anything else.

You also need to think about how easy it’s going to be for you to place your baby in the crib; is the crib too high for you to reach into and is it easy for you to pull the sides down without it being easy for your child to get out?

When you go shopping for a crib you need to have all of these considerations in mind. You should also not forget the importance of the crib mattress and you may want to seek advice on mattresses from experts such as Sleep Judge. Remember, that there will be a crib that is safe and comfortable within your budget so always be realistic with the amount you can afford to spend. This means that you get the perfect crib for your child without worrying about having spent too much money after the purchase.