Furniture

So...Ross and I have finally decided on a baby furniture set. I was torn about my options as far as brand, quality, price, and appearance/features go. I have a very useful book handed down to me called Baby Bargains, which basically progresses through the major baby products available and discusses pros and cons about various aspects and reviews all of the major brands in that category. Some of the concerns they point out about cribs are that they are mainly made of pine (a very soft wood that easily dents/scratches making that lifetime crib less hardy), recall history (some brands have serious quality control issues), customer reviews (usually related to ease of use, durability, and customer service), where the product was made (mostly made in China which can cause unexpected shipping delays), and features (which features are potential safety hazards, etc.). One of the features my sister-in-laws all recommended was the drop side (not the fold side, which is apparently related to one documenteed infant death) which for safety hazard reasons seems to have disappeared from the market.

Another issue I considered is that this crib set needs to make a move, and every large piece of furniture that made the move down here was damaged, so I must be careful how much I invest in this crib (emotionally and financially).

Ross ended up finding the crib (based on visual) when we were on our babymoon and then I checked out it's background. The result: Baby Cache's Uptown set. It is made out of Maple and Baby Cache is a pseudonym for Munire, one of the best brands on the market with an excellent track record. The only major downfall is that it is only sold at Babies 'R' Us which is not my favorite store. For some reason the store will not allow me to add it to my registry online because it is sold in stores only (why?)...so until I have a chance to get to a store and do it there you can check it out at this website or at Babies R Us:
www.babycache.com/site/products_uptown.html