With all the different features of baby cribs, it can be a little overwhelming to sort it all out. This article reviews some of the most comon baby crib features and reviews the pros and cons of each feature.

Is the Baby Crib Made of Quality Materials and Construction? Wooden Baby Cribs/Iron Baby Cribs
You don’t often think of the material that the baby crib is made of as an actual feature to consider. But, picking a baby crib that is made from quality materials can make the difference between a baby crib that is used for years and one that you wish you had never bought. Wooden baby cribs should be stained or painted hardwoods like maple, ash, beech, or oak. The overall stability of the baby crib could be threatened by the use of inferior woods in the manufacturing process. This is due to the baby crib slates becoming weakened and/or warped with use. Baby Cribs can also be made from metal such as iron. While Iron Baby Cribs can be beautiful, the styling can be limited over time. If you plan on keeping the baby crib for years, be sure that you think you will like the metal styling in the future.

Issues to Consider with the Baby Crib Side Bar: To Drop or Not to Drop
Baby cribs are made either with fixed, single-drop or double-drop sides. If you are tall, fixed sides are fine for you. I am 5′ 8″ tall and never lower the sides of my baby’s crib. Higher end models will have side rails that lower on both sides of the baby crib. Depending on how you position the baby crib, this could be a nice feature. If you plan on putting your baby crib up against a wall, this feature won’t add any benefit to the baby crib.

There are three basic types of drop sides:

1. Knee Push- Leaning your knee against the baby crib side to lower it. This is typically a simple and quiet type of drop side.Â
    
2. Foot Bar- Balancing on one foot, you push a lever to lower the baby crib side. This ma be a bit tricky depending on how you are standing on one foot.Â
    
3. Double Trigger- You have to use two hands to lower the side. This style is ok as long as you are not holding the baby. But, it is not very convenient since you will most likely have your baby in your arms before you lower the baby crib side.

Ideally, you should be able to lower and raise the side rail with ease. Keep in mind that you will often have your baby in your arms when you are trying to lower the bar. When trying out a model in the store, try lowering the bar yourself while imaging that you have your baby in your arms. This will give you an idea of how easy it will be when you are trying to put your baby down to sleep. Also, be sure that the rails have locking mechanisms to prevent accidental release. You may want to consider how quietly the side rail raises and lowers. You would not want it to wake your sleeping baby.

Does the Baby Crib Allow you to Lower the Mattress?
Make sure your baby crib lets you adjust the height of the mattress. Unless you are tall, a higher mattress will make it easier for you to get your baby in and out of the baby crib. Once your baby starts to move around, you will need to lower the mattress. The baby crib you buy should have at least 2 height positions for the mattress. Some higher end models will have 3 height levels which is a nice bonus feature.

Baby Cribs with Drawers
Some higher end models have drawers in the bottom of the baby crib. If space is an issue for you, this may be a good feature to have. You may be able to put off buying a dresser for your little one. Just beon the bottoms of the drawers (if htere is space for your little one to crawl under the crib.

Baby Cribs with Wheels
Some baby cribs come with wheels. This is a very nice feature if you plan on moving the baby crib around. It can make it easier to change the linens and to clean under the baby crib. Being able to roll a baby crib into another room is also a nice flexibility to have. Metal wheels are better than plastic. Keep in mind that this could be a potential danger as well, especially if you have other children in the home. They could push the baby crib themselves (i.e. down the stairs, up against a window or furniture). Make sure that the wheels have a good, solid locking mechanism. If the baby crib that you want does not come with wheels, you can always buy high quality wheels and install them yourself or have someone install them for you.

Convertible Crib: Baby Cribs that Convert into Other Things
Many baby cribs are designed to convert to a toddler bed, a bench, or even an adult daybed for later use. While this is a very nice feature to have with your baby crib, make sure that you like what it converts to. If it converts to a toddler bed, consider how long your toddler will be able to sleep in it. You may end up having to buy a regular size twin bed in a few years if you child outgrows the toddler bed. Also, most baby cribs with this feature require an additional kit to make the conversion. Be sure to check on how much this kit will cost you before making your decision.

About the Author
Sarah Holmes, Ph.D. quit her full-time job in order to stay home with her baby girl. She created www.BabyCribCentral.com as a free resource to other new moms and dads. Her site compares prices on hundreds of baby cribs from more than 20 online stores allowing you to find the beset price with a click of a button. Her site also offers lots of information about the different types of cribs as well as all sorts of safety information about how to buy and use your new crib safely.

Even though choosing a mattress for your new baby is not near as exciting as picking out the baby crib and crib bedding, it is a very important decision in terms of the safety and comfort of your baby. This article reviews the issues you will need to consider when picking out the best baby crib mattress that meets your needs.

Baby Crib Mattress Safety Issues
A baby crib mattress should be firm and tight-fitting. You don’t want any space between the mattress and the baby crib walls. How much space is too much? If you can fit 2 side-by-side fingers between the side of the baby crib and the mattress, then the mattress is too small and poses a safety hazard. Most mattresses come in a standard size that fit standard style baby cribs. The standard size for a mattress is 51 5/8″ by 27 1/4″.

Types of Baby crib Mattresses
Baby crib mattresses vary from expensive inner-spring models to economical polyurethane-foam styles. One is not necessarily better than the other, given that they are both of the same high quality. Foam baby crib mattresses are usually less expensive than coil mattresses and just as safe provided they are of high quality. They are also usually lighter and easier to move around if you need to pick it up to change the sheets. The question is, “How do you tell whether a mattress is of high quality?” Here are some tips that might help.

Foam Mattresses
In general, weight is a good indication of the quality of a foam mattress. As the weight goes up, the quality of the foam goes up because it means that the foam is denser. A second issue to consider is the firmness of the foam mattress. Generally, the firmer the mattress the better. Remember, one easy way to check the firmness of the mattress is to pick it up, place your hands in the middle on opposite sides, and squeeze. The harder it is to squeeze the mattress, the firmer it is. Lastly, you may want to consider the resiliency of the mattress. Resilience refers to how quickly it regains its original shape when the weight is removed from the mattress. A higher quality foam mattress will regain its shape quicker than a lower quality mattress.

Innerspring Mattresses
It can get rather technical discussing the features of innerspring mattresses. But, I will try to keep it as simple as possible. It would be nice to think that it is only a matter of the number of coils in the mattress. It is not that simple. What is more important is finding an innerspring mattress with the highest amount of steel. Definitely, more coils means more steel. But, there are other factors than can add a significant amount of steel to the mattress. For example, the largest pieces of steel are the border rods which circle the top and bottom of the mattress along the edges of the mattress. Border rods provide additional edge support which is important once your baby is able to hold on the baby crib rails and walk back and forth in the baby crib. The border rods also help distribute the weight over the surface of the mattress which helps to avoiding any sagging over time. So, if you decide on an innerspring mattress, make sure it has a border rod. Ready for some math…. Here we go. Let’s consider coils for a minute. The coil count is somewhat important in determining the quality of the mattress. Another thing to consider is the quality of the coils. It doesn’t make much sense to have lots and lots of coils if they are of poor quality and will wear out quickly. To figure out the quality of the coils, you need to look at the thickness of the coils. Mattresses with 150 coils or less will usually have a 13.5 gauge steel coil or thicker. Remember, the lower the number of gauge of steal, the thicker the steel. Once a mattress has more than 160 coils, the steal has to be thinner because there isn’t enough room for thicker steel. Are you confused yet??? Let’s just say that a 150 coil mattress with 13.5 gauge carbon tempered steel coils and 9.0 gauge steel border rods is a good all-around baby crib mattress. You can compare the baby crib you are considering to this general standard to see how it compares.

There is just one more issue to consider with innerspring mattresses. It is important to consider the layers on top of the spring coils which add cushioning and softness to the mattress. This layer is called in insulator layer and will hopefully prevent the cushioning from sinking into the coils over time. The best and most expensive material used is coir fiber. Coir fiber is actually made from shredded coconut shells made into a pad. Many other materials, all of them less expensive and of lower quality, are used as insulator pads. The most common material is miscellaneous types of scraps of cloth collected from the floors of textile mills, washed, and pressed into a pad. This type of insulator pad feels just as good as a coir fiber pad but it won’t hold up as well over time. Many baby crib mattress manufactures call this material a fiber wrap pad.

Mattress Cover
Almost all mattresses have a vinyl cover. Cheaper mattresses with have only a single layer of vinyl cover or a quilted vinyl cover. Better mattresses have a double laminated cover. The best quality covers are triple laminated, nylon reinforced covers and hospital grade vinyl covers that use a thicker vinyl. Nylon is the best reinforcing material because it allows the vinyl to stretch and give without tearing. Keep in mind that some manufactures use polyester or other type of reinforcing material. Nylon is still the best (and most expensive) in terms of preventing the vinyl from tearing when a toddler is jumping on it.

Vents
There are pros and cons about vents which you will need to weigh. Most of the higher quality mattresses have vents. Vents allow the mattress to breathe and keep the mattress from bursting should your toddler decide to use it as a trampoline. However, vents also allow any airborne particles to enter the mattress. One good point is that vents are never near a baby’s face.

There are two types of vents. Eyelet vents are small and usually circle all sides of the mattress in two or three rows. The second type consists of two larger vents on each side of the mattress. One type of vent is not necessarily better than the other.

Conclusion
With all of this information, hopefully you will be armed and ready to find a good quality mattress that meets your needs. Remember, price is not necessarily a guarantee that the mattress is of good quality. Just because a mattress costs a lot and has a long warranty does not mean that it is the best mattress. Read the label for specifications. If it doesn’t meet your requirements, then move on to the next mattress. I hope that this article helps you to make an informed decision when you buy the baby crib mattress. If you are still in doubt, ask the salesperson. The salesperson should be able to discuss in details all of the issues we have consider here. Good luck!

About the Author
Sarah Holmes, Ph.D. quit her full-time job in order to stay home with her baby girl. She created www.BabyCribCentral.com as a free resource to other new moms and dads. Her site compares prices on hundreds of baby cribs from more than 20 online stores allowing you to find the beset price with a click of a button. Her site also offers lots of information about the different types of cribs as well as all sorts of safety information about how to buy and use your new crib safely.

The quality of a baby bedding collection is determined by the fabrics used in making the quilts or comforters, crib bumpers, dust ruffles, and other items that comprise the baby bedding set. Little information is available to consumers to help them access the quality of fabrics used in the hundreds of crib bedding collections that are sold by dozens of manufacturers. Here are a few characteristics that a consumer should consider when comparing crib bedding collections from competing brands.

Printed Fabric Patterns versus Woven Fabric Patterns
Many simple fabric patterns – such as stripes, plaids, and ginghams – can be printed or woven. While not readily apparent to the uninformed consumer, the differences between these two fabric manufacturing methods are significant and important for the appearance and durability of the crib bedding.

Woven fabrics start with differently colored threads or yarns. These threads or yarns are woven together in such a manner as to create the desired pattern – generally ginghams (small checked patterns), plaids, and stripes. The colors and pattern become an integral part of the fabric itself. Look for a fabric where the pattern appears on both sides of the fabric- this is a sure sign that it is woven. Or simply examine the fabric up close and note the colors of the individual threads that make up the fabric.

Printed fabrics are made with a solid colored material. The desired pattern is imprinted onto the surface of the solid material using a variety of inks and printing techniques. Look for a fabric where the pattern appears only on one side – this is a sure sign that it is printed, not woven.

Woven fabrics are almost universally superior to printed fabrics. They are more color-fast and resist fading more effectively than printed fabrics. The pattern, being an integral part of the fabric itself, will not wear off as compared to a superficial pattern that is printed on the surface of the fabric. The durability of a printed pattern is very much dependent on the amount of ink and precise technique used to imprint the pattern. Unfortunately, this is almost impossible to determine based simply on examining the fabric.

Complex, nonlinear patterns cannot generally be woven. But a manufacturer who chooses to use printed fabrics for simple gingham, plaid, and striped patterns is sacrificing quality in favor of cost. Not to say that a printed pattern should be avoided at all costs; but the higher price of a baby bedding set made with a woven gingham or striped fabric is usually more than justified by the higher quality.

Printed Designs versus Embroidered Designs on Fabrics
Manufacturers are increasingly creative in using complex designs in their baby nursery bedding to communicate a desired theme. These designs can be either embroidered or printed.

Embroidered designs use separate threads to sew the design into the fabric, often in combination with other textured fabrics. While embroidery techniques and technology has improved over the years to make them more cost-effective, it is still more costly to embroider a design than it is to simply print it on the surface of the fabric. Embroidered designs are generally more detailed, and almost universally more durable than imprinted designs.

Again, not that printed designs need be avoided at all costs. But the consumer should be aware of the quality differences before choosing a baby nursery bedding set with printed designs over a more costly crib set with embroidered designs.

Real or Printed Patchwork
In an effort to reduce cost, some “patchwork” bedding is really one piece of fabric with a “patchwork” design printed on it – the fabric shell of the item is then “stuffed” and sewn over at the borders of the different patterns to create a patchwork appearance. It is generally easy to see this shortcut with a simple up-close examination of the fabric – the stitching rarely lines up consistently with the printed pattern. True patchwork is far superior to printed patchwork designs and is always more expensive. True patchwork shows different textures as well as different colors and patterns.

Price versus Value
Unfortunately, some crib bedding manufacturers are choosing to use lower quality fabrics to decrease their costs without passing all of these savings on to the consumer. You should be very alert to discover these differences. It can mean the difference between a crib bedding collection that will last for a single child, or one that will last for generations.

About the Author:
Robert Meier, is President of Baby Supermall, an internet retailer of Crib Bedding, Baby Bedding Sets and Baby Nursery Decor.