Baby on the way? The first thing your little one is going to want—besides their parents and something to eat—is a safe, comfortable place to sleep. Because newborns sleep for about 16 hours a day, a crib is a product that will be heavily used—maybe for many years, depending on what type of crib you buy.
If you’re in the U.S., you can feel comfortable with the knowledge that if you’re buying a new crib domestically, the crib is safe to use. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has certain manufacturing standards that stipulate that mattress supports must be durable and slats should be made of high-quality wood that isn’t prone to breakage, and that drop-side cribs should not be sold. Many cribs are additionally certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), a trade organization that certifies safe baby products.
How to Shop for a Crib
Always Buy a New Crib
While family members might insist you use the vintage crib your grandparents used decades ago, for safety’s sake, you should only use a new crib that conforms to current federal safety standards. This means that drop-side cribs are also a no-go; they’re less structurally sound than cribs with four stationary sides, according to the CPSC. Because the federal government implemented new standards for cribs in 2011 (including banning drop-side cribs), buying cribs made after 2013 or so (to account for some wiggle room for implementation of the new standards) will ensure that your baby’s new bed is safe.
Baby Cares About Quality Construction and Workmanship, Too
Once you’ve set up the crib, check to make sure that there aren’t any loose bolts, screws, or other pieces that could catch on your baby’s clothes. And check that there aren’t any missing pieces, either—loose or missing parts are dangerous and could lead to deaths or accidents for infants, so if anything is amiss, check with the manufacturer and ask for a speedy fix. Look for loose crib slats and mattress support slats, too.
Oh, and a tip: Put the crib together in the room where your baby will sleep (the AAP recommends that your baby sleeps in your room for their first six months). You don’t want any parts to loosen if you’re moving it around, nor would it be a fun surprise to discover it doesn’t fit through your home’s doorways.
The Mattress and Sheets Matter
The mattress you choose should fit snugly into the crib, without any gaps where the baby can get their head stuck. The CPSC says that full-sized crib mattresses should be at least 27 1/4 inches wide by 51 1/4 inches long, and a maximum of 6 inches thick, but it’s worth checking. “If you can fit more than two fingers between the crib frame and the mattress, the mattress is too small,” says test project leader Joan Muratore, who manages Consumer Reports’ crib tests. “Exchange or return that mattress for one that fits your crib tightly.”
Sheets should fit tightly, too—if you’ve ever gotten tangled up in a slightly loose fitted sheet, it should come as no surprise that this can happen to a baby. If you’re using older sheets, make sure the elastic is still in good condition. To test that a sheet is snug, pull on each corner when making baby’s bed to make sure it doesn’t become dislodged.
Types of Cribs
How much you want to spend on a crib is totally up to you. All cribs sold in the U.S. must comply with certain safety standards, so prices will reflect other factors, such as aesthetics, construction quality, and ease of assembly and use. Don’t rely exclusively on price to inform your choice of crib, though. As we discovered in our tests, a more expensive crib does not guarantee reliable, high-quality construction.
