Buy Graco Lauren Classic Crib

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It's so hard being a new parent, isn't it? How many hours have you already researched cribs? Losing sleep yet? Well, stop.

This is a great crib for around $150.00. I am an ICU RN, my husband is a safety engineer. We spent a LOT of time researching cribs. Please note most negative reviews for this product are for the drop side crib. That is not this crib. If you are looking for a safe, cheap baby crib, you have found it. That's why this crib is a baby bargins winner. What I care about is safety, safety, SAFETY! Who loses sleep over a knick in the wood? I could careless. I'm not rich; I need something that will last through 2 babies without breaking the bank. I've had this crib for 7 months and it still looks great. My husband assembled it with no problems. I purchased the Sealy Soybean Foam-Core Crib Mattress to go with it and it fits perfect (best mattress ever if you're struggling with that decision too BTW). I am very happy with this purchase for the price. I will use it for baby #2 as well. Save your money for their college and buy this crib.

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We love this crib :) It gets an A rating in Baby bargains, which is a book which tells you everything you need to know about purchasing baby items, as well as safety ratings. We ordered it online and it arrived very quickly. It was packaged very well, everything was there that we needed. The instructions were simple, and I was able to put it together by myself in less than an hour. I also purchased the matching changing table and was very happy with that also. I would recommend this crib to any of my friends and family looking for a safe and good looking product for a very reasonable price. :)

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I love this crib with one caveat: IT WON'T LET A STEEL-FRAMED CRIB MATTRESS SIT FLAT because it won't squeeze between the brackets that hold the springboard up.

Why I chose this crib:

(1) After reading reviews on a TON of cribs, the problems reported seemed fewer and less significant or even avoidable. (More reviews for this crib are under the espresso finish.)

(2) I chose the natural finish because, like many cribs priced up to $500, it's made of pine, which is by its nature a softer wood, so likely to be dinged by a baby. I figure that with the natural finish, any dings or chips on the finish won't show as badly as on the espresso finish. Also, pine is a light wood that you can kind of mesh with other pine or birch pieces and it looks fine... Darker stains are harder to match.

(3) I went to a store with a lot of cribs set up to see how the standard mattress fit in each one and to shake each one for sturdiness. This was the cheapest one where the mattress fit snugly and it seemed very sturdy. (Granted, even good cribs may seem less sturdy if not tightened properly when built.)

(4) I found it for $125 new, which made it a lot cheaper than my other top choices for cribs.

(5) This is convertible to a toddler bed. The downside is it doesn't have a half-rail, however it's super low to the ground at that stage, so I don't see that it will be a huge problem. I can always put pillows or blankets down for the first while. I would think that most kids will only fall out a few times before they learn not to roll off.

(6) You can also convert it to a full-sized headboard (not the whole frame) which I liked because a lot of other cribs require you to spend around $100 to buy the matching side pieces to put along the bed. I thought this was much more economic, because if I do use it that way I can just buy a cheap bed frame and cover it with a dust ruffle. And really, kids don't need footboards on their beds, in my opinion. I don't even think they need headboards, but it's sure a nice option!

When we received the crib, my husband and I put it together. The directions (which are on the spring assembly in the box) were great as long as you really pay attention to where the holes are on the picture to see which way the pieces are facing. I didn't do great at first, but it only added a few minutes to fix the piece I'd turned around. It was easy to assemble, and when you tighten the bolts properly, it is very sturdy.

Only problem:

I tried to put my nice steel-framed mattress in and saw that where the brackets made it so the mattress wouldn't fit flat. I warily called customer service and was actually very impressed with them--except the replacement springboards they sent, though different, still had the inherent problem of not allowing enough room for the mattress which was the size they said to buy because it won't "squish" in between the brackets. So... not having the packaging for the crib anymore, I ended up buying a firm mattress without a steel frame instead. I'm extremely disappointed with this easily avoidable flaw in the design, but otherwise really do like the crib.

However, I do overall like this crib, and it's reasonably priced. I'm about to buy my second one for my second child.

Honest reviews on Graco Lauren Classic Crib

Back in October 2011, I saw this crib online and fell in love with it...until I started reading some of the reviews on here about it. With multiple reviews (and some customer photos) of this crib arriving damaged--not to mention multiple complaints about the nightmares those people had to go through with LaJobi's customer service--this crib scared me away (Note: By this crib, I mean the Graco Lauren Signature Convertible Crib, cherry finish--NOT the older dropside ones). I was talking to my mother-in-law about how disappointed I was in my hunt for a crib, and she told me that we could use one that she had been keeping in storage for several years and that it was still very sturdy and in good condition. Problem solved...

February 2012, we pulled out my mother-in-law's crib, and to our disappointment, we discovered that some of the hardware had gone missing over the years. Yet again, we were at square one to find a crib. With only a month before our baby's due date, we immediately went to a baby retail store and started looking at the cribs on display. Again, I saw this crib and LOVED it (though I had forgotten that I had already "made up my mind" about it). To sweeten the deal, it was also on sale, but it was the last day of the sale. Not wanting to pass this up, we immediately placed a special order for the crib, paid for it, and went home. It wasn't until I got home and looked it up online that I realized I had just ordered "the crib from hell" (at least that's the impression all of the nay-saying reviewers who gave it 1 or 2 stars left with me). My heart sank. I didn't want to pay the cancellation fee and start the crib search all over again, so I decided to wait for it to arrive. And I prayed. A LOT.

When it arrived a week later, I immediately began scrutinizing each piece, half-expecting to find some major flaws in the construction that would render it unusable. There weren't any. The ONLY flaw I could see was that there was a VERY slight dent--about half the width of my little finger-nail--towards the bottom of the right side where the mattress support would go, so it wasn't even visible at all once it was assembled. The assembly is another category that gets 5 stars from me; I did it all by myself--keep in mind I was nearly 38 weeks pregnant by then--and this thing is SOLID. I've moved it around, I've tried shaking it, and this thing doesn't wobble or anything. No worries about its stability from me. Also, some people complained about a strong chemical odor. When I took the pieces out of the box, it didn't smell any different (or worse) than what you would smell if you were to walk into a Home Depot or other hardware store that sells lumber and paint; after about 4 hours, I couldn't even smell that anymore.

Overall, this is a WONDERFUL crib, and it's a bonus that we got it for such a bargain! The paperwork that came with the crib said that it was manufactured in November of 2011, so hopefully whatever issues LaJobi had with their previous cribs has been resolved by now. As for those who had flukes or other horrible experiences with this crib, I feel sorry for you. You missed out on a GREAT crib. I have no doubt that this crib will last for years. DEFINITELY WORTH IT!

EDIT: Just thought I'd also add that the crib is made from PINE. So yes, it is a softer wood, but at least it's not that awful particle board junk, and it feels just as sturdy/strong as a hardwood crib.

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This crib was purchased as a gift for expectant parents. The packaging protected it well during shipping, which apparently turned violent. Assembly was simple, and the crib is remarkably sturdy when fully assembled. The crib is beautiful and of surprisingly high quality.

One caution: The owner's manual that ships with this crib indicates that it is not intended for newborns. This may be due to mattress dimensions (as others have mentioned) or perhaps the spacing of slats. With that having been said, a set of bumpers around the perimeter of the crib and it was ready to go. It would have been nice to know this prior to purchase.

In all, this is a beautiful, sturdy crib.

EDIT: My recommendation of adding bumpers was written before they were implicated in many SIDS deaths. I believe bumpers are considered a bad idea now.