Experienced Moms - Nursery Advice

flyingcarbaccio

Hello All. I'm having a hard time choosing furniture for my nursery. I'm torn between getting furniture that is built to last or buying furniture that I know will be replaced in a few years. Some of the pieces I like are specifically for nurseries but they don't seem toddler friendly so it seems like it would need to be replaced in a few years anyway. Maybe I'm overthinking this? What has been your experience with your nursery furniture? What did you do and what would you do differently?

EmilyRanae22

While I'm not an experienced mom, I have been around a lot of kids (nieces and nephews). Personally I'm going the built to last route but that's because we plan to have more kids. I'm not planning on our baby using the toddler bed option for the crib (at least not for long) because we will probably have another by the time she is 2 or 3. I think that is I weren't planning to have anymore I would go with something that will last while I need it but that I wouldn't be disappointed if it didn't last past a few years of age. Hope that helps.

RBXChas

I agree that it depends on how many kids you think you'll have. I thought a convertible crib would be a good idea, but when your older child needs to make way for a new baby, that's not an option. I also decided against a toddler bed for my son because he's so tall that he really wouldn't be able to comfortably stay in one for very long. As such we bought him a twin bed.

We planned on having three max but most likely two, so it wasn't a big deal to us to have a crib that acted as anything else besides a crib. There's also something nice about your kids' "graduating" the baby furniture and your being able to get it out of the house!

flyingcarbaccio

I think I would like another but I'm really not sure I will have one so I've been viewing this furniture as being only for this baby. With her in mind, I see her furniture as being beautiful and perfect for me being the one who opens the top drawers and puts stuff on shelves but once it's her room it would be a really long time before it would actually suit her wouldn't it? Take the typical nursery furniture at Babies R Us for example. It looks like it is perfect for a nursery but is it good for a toddler and/or child? Thanks for taking the time to respond to this by the way. I feel really conflicted with what to get.

rosy003

We bought a convertible crib that has only been used as a crib since we're about to have baby #3. Both kids used regular dressers. When it was time to move DD out of the crib we went straight to a twin. My son will be moving to a queen bed next month (he's 2) so new baby can use the crib. The dressers our kids have were definitely built to last: all three are at least 50 years old! If you have to buy a dresser, I'd go with something for the long haul. It is also kind of neat that my daughter's bedroom set was my mom's then mine before going to her. If you're going to have more than one child I don't think a convertible crib is necessary.

Reen1234

We bought a crib that converts to a toddler bed, however, as others have said, we won't actually be using it as a toddler bed because baby #2 will use the crib. Although, the last child will likely end up using it. I also bought a dresser and a topper that can be attached and used as a changing table. This way we can use the dresser long after our kids are out of diapers. I bought nice furniture from Restoration Hardware Baby and Child. I LOVE it and know it will last a long time. We bought gender neutral stuff so that we could use it for a boy or girl. The crib I plan on keeping and passing down to my children, but we didn't go all out on the glider. You can easily spend $1,200 on a nice glider, but we bought a cute one from babies r us for $450 because I knew once we were done having kids we would have no use for a glider in our home.

acampbe2umd

We are having our third child right now, so we've kept the nursery as is. We purchased gender neutral decorations with the first and have utilized that with the 3. I bought cheaper furniture. Is it fantastic? Absolutely not, but I put a convertible crib, regular dresser, book case, changing table (free standing) and glider in the nursery for less than $700, which was really reasonable. It definitely has not problems lasting through the 3 kids, but I would never keep it for a toddler / child. The furniture all matches, so I'll just sell it when the times comes to change it over to a toddler room for our daughter. My two older sons are already in "big boy" bedrooms, one in a full and one in a twin. With the older kids, I used furniture that I already had and will plan to get them bedroom sets at some point. We're a tall family or my H and boys are and they'll need to be moved into queens at the smallest by middle school would be my guess (H was 5'10" by 5th grade and his full 6'7" by 9th grade). I think the only thing I would have done differently would have been the dresser / changing table. I would have gotten a longer dresser and just put a changing pad on top of the dresser instead of having a completely separate piece of furniture. It seems kind of redundant and would have saved on space.

RBXChas

Oh, also, since it's been mentioned a couple of times, and I know if kind of goes without saying, that neutral is the way to go as far as furniture. Decorations and bedding can be changed, but having or wanting to buy new furniture because you're having a baby who's not the same sex as your previous child can be a pain! Our nursery furniture is all oak-colored - very neutral. My SIL, on the other hand, has this metal oval crib that's white with a canopy and all sorts of girly embellishments for their little girl. They plan on having more kids, but I can't imagine their putting a little boy in that crib, even with "boyish" bedding, and it makes me sad because I know how much they spent (literally thousands of dollars) on that crib.

ETA that I also did a regular dresser as a changing table in our nursery. I bought a changing pad and put a grip liner underneath it (like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Duck-20-x-6-Select-Easy-Liner/16456559). It's an Ethan Allen dresser, so very well-made, and I bought it off of Craigslist for a steal. When this baby has to move to a "big boy" or "big girl" bed, all we'll have to do is buy a bed because s/he already has a dresser and bookshelf that are really nice.

Jennloella

we bought furniture that was "supposed" to last through toddler years...like a convertible crib, etc....and we did not go cheap either. ..and the reality was: my boys were hard on all of it, broke drawers on the dressers, chewed up the rails of the cribs, etc and I replaced it all anyway before they were each 4. I say if you like something that is specifically for a "baby" go ahead and get it, I don't think anything is really made to last anymore!