Being a petite mama means that some things in life are just out of
reach. However, when things are it is easy to find a stool and make
things happen. I never thought that it would extend into baby
furniture!
When the time came for my husband and I to venture into the world of Baby Furniture Warehouse (thank you Baby Bargains
for
leading us to this treasure trove) I never thought that it would be as
difficult as it was to find some furniture we are happy with. We set a
budget, perused the items, had a good idea what we could get for our money. We knew drop-side rail cribs were no longer really being
manufactured as they were considered to be dangerous, but we never
thought that the majority of cribs would be impossible for me to use
due to my petite stature. We arrived at the store and headed straight
to a recommended crib to see it in person, as we thought that is what
we were going to walk away with. When I tried to lean over the rail we
were both shocked that I could barely put a baby into the crib when the
mattress was at its highest setting. What was I going to do once we
started dropping the mattress?
After getting over the initial realization that this wasn't going to be as easy as pie, I started to figure out the features that seemed to make reaching into a crib more easy for me to reach into. Here is a simple list:
1. A low rail on one side. Some cribs had a lower rail than others, and we just had to look around to find a good height. There is a surprising amount of variation in how low crib manufactures will make one rail.
2. The rail that you will be reaching over is thin. This is difficult to describe in words. What I mean by thin is that you shouldn't be able to set your drink on the rail. The rail should be thin so that nothing can be set on top of it, making it easier to lean over as you aren't having to lean over something wider than you have to.
3. I found that a more rounded rail was more comfortable than a square one, just as a simple anatomy of something poking in your belly/ribs.
Once we had found a few cribs whose rail passed the test it was time to check out the quality of the pieces. We wiggled them, leaned into them, and looked closely at how they were put together. I also checked out all the matching dressers to see how they were made as well as we wanted to buy the set. Surprisingly, some of the furniture was very cheaply made, and the price tag didn't always reflect it! There were dressers that we liked that when we opened the drawer and applied a little weight to the bottom of it, it felt as if our hand was going to push a hole right through the drawer. We avoided those manufactures from then on.
In the end we really liked the Bonavita collection. They had more than one crib that worked for this petite mama, we didn't feel as if we could push a hole in the drawers, and the cribs appeared to be solid. I had also read some good reviews on the manufacturer in Baby Bargains
and there were other petite mamas who really liked the cribs as well
when researching message boards.
We ordered the Bonavita Metro Lifestyle Crib, with matching 6 drawer dresser that we plan to use as a changing table.
When the time came for my husband and I to venture into the world of Baby Furniture Warehouse (thank you Baby Bargains
for
leading us to this treasure trove) I never thought that it would be as
difficult as it was to find some furniture we are happy with. We set a
budget, perused the items, had a good idea what we could get for our money. We knew drop-side rail cribs were no longer really being
manufactured as they were considered to be dangerous, but we never
thought that the majority of cribs would be impossible for me to use
due to my petite stature. We arrived at the store and headed straight
to a recommended crib to see it in person, as we thought that is what
we were going to walk away with. When I tried to lean over the rail we
were both shocked that I could barely put a baby into the crib when the
mattress was at its highest setting. What was I going to do once we
started dropping the mattress?After getting over the initial realization that this wasn't going to be as easy as pie, I started to figure out the features that seemed to make reaching into a crib more easy for me to reach into. Here is a simple list:
1. A low rail on one side. Some cribs had a lower rail than others, and we just had to look around to find a good height. There is a surprising amount of variation in how low crib manufactures will make one rail.
2. The rail that you will be reaching over is thin. This is difficult to describe in words. What I mean by thin is that you shouldn't be able to set your drink on the rail. The rail should be thin so that nothing can be set on top of it, making it easier to lean over as you aren't having to lean over something wider than you have to.
3. I found that a more rounded rail was more comfortable than a square one, just as a simple anatomy of something poking in your belly/ribs.
Once we had found a few cribs whose rail passed the test it was time to check out the quality of the pieces. We wiggled them, leaned into them, and looked closely at how they were put together. I also checked out all the matching dressers to see how they were made as well as we wanted to buy the set. Surprisingly, some of the furniture was very cheaply made, and the price tag didn't always reflect it! There were dressers that we liked that when we opened the drawer and applied a little weight to the bottom of it, it felt as if our hand was going to push a hole right through the drawer. We avoided those manufactures from then on.
In the end we really liked the Bonavita collection. They had more than one crib that worked for this petite mama, we didn't feel as if we could push a hole in the drawers, and the cribs appeared to be solid. I had also read some good reviews on the manufacturer in Baby Bargains
and there were other petite mamas who really liked the cribs as well
when researching message boards. We ordered the Bonavita Metro Lifestyle Crib, with matching 6 drawer dresser that we plan to use as a changing table.
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