Choosing a crib is not an easy task! We will help you not to get confused in the variety of options, we’ll tell you which bed to choose for a newborn, and which one is appropriate for an older child. We have illustrated all options with a photo in our article!
Which material is best for you?
The modern furniture market offers us, to put it mildly, ample opportunities for choosing a crib for a child of any age – whether it’s a newborn or a teenager. In addition to the variety of design solutions, we can choose from different price categories, focusing only on their capabilities.
So, talking about furniture in general, and, of course, about children’s furniture in particular – it is worth giving preference to natural materials. Naturally, a cot made from wood will cost more than analogues from chipboard or MDF, and you may well be tormented by a reasonable question: “Children grow so quickly, and after 1.5-2 years, you will have to choose a new crib, so is it worth it?”
Our answer: “Worth it!”
Beds from cheap wood-particle boards (DSP) can release dangerous formaldehyde compounds! If you still decide to buy your child a bed made from chipboard, be sure to check with the seller for availability of certificates to protect the health of your baby!
People are increasingly talking about the dangers of particle boards in recent, so if you cannot afford a cot made from natural wood, consider the models made from MDF – a material that can perfectly imitate various surfaces (including wood) and is immune to complex processing. This, in turn, allows you to create really interesting, high-quality, safe and stylish pieces of furniture from MDF.
The first cot
So, you are preparing to become a parent, or a new member of the family has already been born, which means that it’s time to start choosing a crib for the newborn . Let’s say without any exaggeration: the cot is the main place for the baby, and therefore it is necessary to choose it intelligently!
During this period, when the child is prone to allergies and sensitive to irritants, the thoughtful choice of the material from which the sleeper will be made becomes crucial!
Pay special attention to choosing a mattress! Like the frame of the crib, the mattress should be made of natural materials. In the first year of life, a mattress filled with coconut coir and a jacquard cover will fit the baby.
And in aspects such as the shape and design of the crib, the choice is limited only by your imagination! You can buy a classic cradle, a universal cot with bumpers, an arena bed or choose an ultramodern and functional cot-transformer!
Bed for preschoolers
Children grow fast, yesterday’s baby, who could not hold his head, is now laughing about the rooms, leafing through his first books and learning to speak correctly. He himself does not yet realize the need to change the sleeping place, as that happens at later moments of the child’s life, when he wants to feel older.
However, as a parent or guardian, you realize this need, because the requirements for a preschooler’s bed differ greatly from the requirements for a newborn’s bed.
So, the bed for a child aged 3-5 must have the following important properties:
- The height of the bed should correspond to the age and height of the child, so that he or she is able to climb into it without help.
- Another reason why the sleeper should not be too high is that children at this age are restless, and if they fall, the height should be low enough to prevent serious injuries.
- From the second point follows the third: to prevent possible falls during a dream, the cot should provide for small sides.
- In turn, the sides of the crib must have a smooth shape, so that the child does not get hurt by the edges.
In addition, at this stage, a certain role for the child begins to play in the appearance of the crib, because preschool children have their favorite heroes from fairy tales and TV shows and the topics they are acquainted with. Consequently, they will certainly be delighted with a crib in form of a typewriter, pirate ship or coach.
Which bed will suit the Schoolchild?
With the advent of school age, the child, consciously or not, enters a completely new stage of his life, so closely connected with the eternal childhood desire to become older. This, in turn, can create the need to redesign the nursery and choose new furniture. In addition, in concern with the selection of a schoolchild’s desk , it is additionally necessary to puzzle over the choice of a bed, which should now be not only practical and functional from your point of view, but also to the taste of your little adult. An excellent option may be a bunk bed, on the upper level of which is a sleeping place, and on the lower level a table, storage system or sofa, depending on what is best for your child’s room.
Difficult choice for a teenager
Adolescence is complex for both the child and parent. It is the period of hormonal passions, the search for oneself and a sharp change in tastes and priorities. It is difficult to manage with such a cycle of emotions. Be sure to listen to the desires of a teenager when decorating his room, and choosing teenage furniture – in particular, beds!
In general, the recommendations for choosing a bed for a teenager are the same as for an adult: the naturalness and safety of materials, a quality mattress, the size of the child’s growth, and the external appeal.
A cot for a little princess
Childhood, especially for a girl, is always associated with fairy tales and magic. Starting from the views of this wonderful children’s world, you are unlikely to miss with the choice of the overall design of the bedroom for the girl, and the crib in particular.
Stop your search at cribs in form of a carriage or fairy-tale castle. When choosing a conventional crib decorate it with a beautiful tulle canopy, pick up bed linen with your girl’s favorite heroes or fairy motives and add a few pillows of different sizes. In short, do everything that makes the sleeping place as cozy as possible.
When the girl grows up, trust the choice of the crib to her, without forgetting, of course, the quality of the materials used to make the chosen crib.
Cot for an active kid
Clippers, pirate schooners, spaceships, and impregnable castles are just the most amazing cot design themes for your baby. Or maybe your son/daughter loves dinosaurs? Or reading tales of Robin Hood? Does the kid spend all their free time building up intricate constructions from the designer “Lego”?
Whatever the hobbies of your child, modern designers are able to offer you models to choose from. And if you find a crib with the necessary design is not possible, you can always find a desirable alternative.
An excellent option for kids who are characterized by hyperactivity can be cribs, combined with a sports corner. Most often these are bunk beds with a hill, a climbing wall, a rope, bars or other sports elements.
Cribs for two: how to choose beds?
If parents of two children have the opportunity to give each child a room in the room, this is just perfect. But more often than not, we are faced with the need to equip a room, often not a large one, for the needs of two children. Great, if it comes to one age range, and even one gender. But what do you do when the children are of different ages or sexes?
For children of the same sex
Making cots for same-sex children is somewhat easier, because it does not require such an explicit zoning of space. Nevertheless, every child should have their own personal space. So, going back to the issue of choosing beds and their placement, it is worth saying that for cots, they should be the same in design, to avoid conflicts and jealousy. The simplest way of placing them is parallel or perpendicular, that is, close to each other. Recently, bunk beds are justifiably gaining popularity. Sleepers can be “fixed” for each of the kids, or they can swap from time to time so that no one has any grievances. If the room space allows, you can put on a two-tiered crib with a workstation for everyone – this will create an atmosphere of privacy and individual space for each of the children. If your girls or boys are of different ages, it is important to maximally separate their sleeping areas so that children do not interfere with each other. For this, fit decorative partitions, curtains or shelving-consoles.
For children of different sexes
A bedroom playground for children of different sexes assumes either a clear zoning, including color schemes, or, if the children are not too choosy and capricious, choose a single neutral design. The latter option allows you to use any shades, except frankly girlish or boyish ones, – yellow, orange, green, beige, etc. In the case of choosing a design in neutral shades, there are no special differences from the design of a bedroom for same-sex children, but if a compromise option is impossible for some reason, one can resort to a number of tricks. First, the room can be clearly divided in half with a decorative partition, and for each half, a design personalized for the kid adopted. When choosing beds in this case, it is worth using the tips discussed previously in this article. Secondly, if the nursery has small dimensions, you can choose a bunk bed and position it in a way that divides the sleeping area horizontally.
2 in 1: Children’s and parents’ bedroom
Very often, the first bedroom of a newborn baby is the bedroom of the parents. Such an arrangement is convenient and practical – if you need to check or feed the baby at night, you do not need to go to another room in the middle of the night. In addition, a number of psychologists argue that the newborn feels much better in the immediate proximity of the parents, even in a dream. Of course, it’s great if a crib perfectly fits your bedroom design, but it should not be the main basis of the design, especially if in future you plan to create a separate room for the child. As for the location of the crib, it is best placed next to the parent’s bed. Some modern models of beds allow you to move one of the walls and move the baby cot close to the parent, so it becomes an extension of the parent’s bed. This way, the child sleeps in the immediate vicinity, but at the same time – on their bed.
Fairy-tale cradle
Many experts recommend that as the first crib, choose a cradle, because due to its miniature size, the baby will feel more protected – as in the mother’s womb.
Cradles are used from birth to age 6-8 months and are divided into two main types:
- Separate small cribs (can be hanging, on wheels or on rocking chairs);
- Cradles fixed in ordinary cots.
The main drawback of cradles is that children outgrow them very fast, so the second option – cribs for babies with the allowance to mount a cradle is highly popular. Cradles are also commonly used as a portable unit for carrying the baby, apart from the stroller.
However, modern cradles can have a number of remarkable functions, such as automatic motion movement, presence of hanging toys and interesting flashing lights, as well as the reproduction of pleasant lulling melodies. In addition, the most modern models have a system for responding to the crying of a child, which includes the process of motion movement, without the participation of adults.
Beds with a changing table
A cot with a changing table is not only an excellent solution for a crib placed in a parent’s bedroom or a tiny nursery, but also a functional option for children’s standard sized cot.
Such a cot saves you from having to carry the child after certain procedures through the entire room. In addition, everything you need is at your disposal and perfectly organized, because cots with changing tables are in many cases equipped with boxes in which you can (and need to!) store diapers, children’s cosmetics and clean baby’s loose jackets .
Rocking-out cots
Such beds are specially designed to facilitate the process of lulling and putting your baby to sleep. They are equipped with special runners, thanks to which you can swing the crib. Some cribs swing by a special mechanism that manages this task independently. Specialists do not recommend excessive use of the swing function! Swinging of the child is beneficial only in the first months of his life!
A cot-riding-hall
The charm of the cot-arena is its mobility and functionality. It is a space not only for sleeping and rest, but also for games. Modern children’s arenas can be equipped with a removable cradle and a swaddling board, as well as possess several possible positions at the bottom. Another undeniable advantage of such beds is that you can easily fold and take it with you to the cottage or on vacation!
Cot-transformers
Transforming baby cribs, perhaps, one of the best inventions of recent times, firmly established in fashion and in the bedrooms of our children. The bed-transformer saves the parent from the painful need to buy a new bed every few years for a grown-up child. Of course, transformers can stand a little more expensive, but just think about how much money, time and nerves you will save afterwards! Modern crib-transformers from a crib for a newborn are transformed into a bed for a child of 2-3 years, and then – in a bed for a primary school student.
Bunk beds
Bunk beds are indispensable in the interior of a small bedroom for two children. But in the nursery for a child, they will look harmoniously, thanks to the various possibilities of filling the first level of a crib.
