Choosing a crib is one of the biggest furniture decisions you make as a parent. Not only is it potentially one of the most expensive, it’s also a decision involving a very sentimental item. A crib might be used through multiple children and even multiple generations. It’s a very surreal moment for new parents — when you first put your baby’s crib together and step back to look at the nursery, it all becomes real. We know how important buying your first crib is, so we’re here to help you find the best crib for your baby.
What to Consider
We know that when you start to think about cribs, you're inundated with an abundance of choices to make, but there are just a few considerations to decide on. Then, it’s all about taste and style.
Budget: Cribs can cost upwards of a couple thousand dollars, so knowing how much you want to spend is critical. However, all the picks on our list range from $200-$600. The next thing you may want to consider is whether or not you're expecting the crib to serve multiple purposes. If you want something that has longevity for each child, there are options that expand the range of use from a crib, to a toddler bed, to a full-size bed. Essentially, you buy one piece of furniture that could last in your home for 18 or more years.
Longevity: The next thing you want to think about is whether or not you are expecting this crib to become an heirloom. If you’re planning on having more than one kid and want to pass down the crib for your grandkids to use, you're likely going to want something that's made of durable hardwood or wrought iron, and is a classic style that will look good down the road. If you're just looking for something to use for a few years and for one child, you can be a little more lax regarding which materials are used.
Accessibility: In the early 2000s, crib manufacturers stopped making cribs with sides that raise and lower because of the risk of injury. That means that you will be bending over the edge of this crib quite a bit to grab your child. Tall parents should look for a crib with longer legs, and more petite parents might want something closer to the ground.
After these major decisions are made, it's all about style. There are midcentury options, princess palaces, options with storage, and even some that are high-tech. We recommend making a checklist for what you want and need, which will make the process so much simpler.
Right off the bat, when researching cribs for this list, we referenced the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) guidelines for what makes a safe crib. That means, solid wood slats, bolts that cannot be loosened easily, rigid, unmoving sides, and a firm mattress base on the bottom. We then spent hours researching trends for home and nursery design, finding cribs that are well-reviewed for every style and price point. We have communicated with manufacturers like Delta and Nestig to truly understand what goes into making a quality crib, and have used the information we gathered, combined with an eye toward ease, style, and budget to make our picks. Putting together furniture is never fun, so we factored ease-of-build into our decision-making, too. Below, learn more about the best cribs on the market right now.
This crib is an absolute powerhouse. Not only is it heirloom quality, and made of sustainably harvested Solid Brazilian Mahogany, it's also a mini crib, full-size crib, and toddler bed all-in-one. The sleek lines and modern style are fresh, but classic enough that this will still look lovely and current many years from now.
Nestig goes out of their way to make sure that each and every crib is safely manufactured, by having each crib tested and independently certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association.
I've personally put one of these cribs together when it was first released, and watched my nephew try to absolutely destroy it, to no avail. This thing has staying power, and you can be 100% confident in your purchase.
Delta is affordable luxury at its finest. They've been making children's furniture for over 50 years, and it shows.
You can put this crib together in 20 minutes, and it feels study as a boulder, even though it's not overly heavy. It has a compact footprint, and classically modern design that will blend into many interiors and spaces with ease. The gender-neutral aesthetic lends itself to any number of themes, from forest sprite haven to big city nursery. You can also convert this crib to a toddler bed or child's sofa with a few simple changes.
Also, this is one of the easiest cribs you'll ever clean.
This is a crib, a toddler bed, and also a full-size bed, thanks to an available conversion kit. It's solid hardwood, in a classic farmhouse style and natural finish that will work beautifully in your child's nursery.
This crib, while it looks tall and imposing, is actually reasonably low to the ground, so if you're on the shorter side, you won't struggle to get your child in and out without hurting your back.
There's just something so wholesomely Victorian about a wrought-iron crib. It harkens back to a time when babies wore long dresses that made no sense, but looked great in black and white photos.
Thankfully, we've done away with the white dressing gowns in favor of sleepers, but this style of crib? It just keeps getting more beautiful.
It is a heavy crib (iron being iron), and $400 is nothing to sneeze at, but this is a bed that will last long after your baby is out of the crib, and having their own babies.
What a beautifully interesting crib. It looks a bit like a barn or a playhouse, and if you're looking for something that maybe not everyone else has, this might be it. It converts into a toddler bed without much effort, and it all feels a bit like a fairytale, to be honest.
It's made of pine wood, with a durable, nontoxic finish that wipes clean with your choice of cleaner. (Or that baby wipe you swiped off the changing station. Let's not kid ourselves.)
You can picture this crib as easily on the set of Mad Men as you can in your very own home. The warm, contrasting hardwood finishes, the modern design, the low-to-the-ground styling, it's begging to be a part of your mid century-styled abode.
It's made of Greenguard Certified New Zealand pine, with a low VOC finish, so you don't need to worry about safety or durability with this choice. And it comes with the toddler guardrails needed to turn it into a toddler bed, making it an economical modern option.
Gold is a classic, and this wrought iron model from Isabelle and Max is an absolute looker. It's not so shiny that it will dominate your nursery, but it has just enough glitz to take even a gentle theme like Noah's Ark and make it really something special.
This crib can convert to a toddler bed, and then a full-size bed, but it's worth noting that those parts are sold separately.
If you're looking for a crib with a bit of storage and a changing table, Delta has you covered. Part crib, part toddler bed, part everything, if you have limited space and really need something that has multiple functions, this is it.
Yes, this one takes longer to put together, but it's solidly designed so that you won't want to punch kittens in frustration halfway through the project.
Jenny Lind cribs have been around for eons, and the style is never passé. It's a light, movable, cute crib, and this model by DaVinci has been around the longest, and is by-far the most popular. They've made this version easily convertible to a toddler bed, so that's just one more thing you don't have to worry about.
The spindle style is sweet without being cutesy, and it will make your whole space feel more like home.
If you were to think of what would be the platonic ideal of a crib, that crib that when you think “crib” appears in your mind, it would probably look a lot like this Elston crib from Kolcraft.
The sweeping sides, the low construction, natural hardwood finish, and round spindles give this crib a timeless quality to it that would look stunning in your child's nursery. It has a convertible kit that turns it into a toddler bed, and the whole thing comes together in about an hour.
Cat BowenParenting EditorCat Bowen is the parenting editor at BestProducts.com where she researches all of the best products for families from pre-conception through their teen years, focusing on matching scientific evidence with real-life needs.
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