For some reason, I always feel the urge to justify my purchases to the interwebs (especially a crib since I know so many people are totally anti-crib.) I’m not sure why. I guess I feel guilty for buying anything that’s not 100% necessary. Probably why I wear the same 3 shirts & 2 pair of jeans over and over and over again! Anyway, I’ll try not to do that. I’ll just say that we wanted a crib for the new baby, and we didn’t want to pay an arm & a leg for it. We were hoping for black (so it would match the dresser in what used to be the spare bedroom) but the main requirements were that it be inexpensive, but not “cheap” (and yes, there’s a difference in my book!)
I had been eyeing up the deal sites and checking sales. It seemed like you could get a halfway decent crib for under $200, but they weren’t necessarily our style, and weren’t black. We weren’t really in a hurry though, since I am determined to make cosleeping work!!
I ended up finding the Graco Stanton Convertible Crib
The MSRP is $159.99, but Amazon had it for $139 with free shipping. It was one of those “Temporarily out of stock, order now and we’ll deliver it when available” items, so I was worried it would never show up, but it did! The crib is available in white, cinnamon, cherry, black and espresso. The price has gone up to $149 since I bought mine, but it’s still a good deal!
I did read the reviews before I bought, and they seemed OK. I knew I wasn’t buying a $700 crib! I mean, a convertible crib for $139 couldn’t be that great but whatever. Well I was actually pleasantly surprised! My husband was able to put it together quickly, even with “help” from the kids. The crib converts to a toddler bed (no guard rail needed for conversion), daybed and full-size headboard with footboard.
I commented that the highest setting seemed pretty low. Hubby said it was just because the mattress wasn’t in yet, but once I put the mattress in, he agreed that it is kind of low! It still seems high enough for shorty-short me (5′ tall if you round up or let me leave my shoes on) to lay a newborn in it without much trouble. It has a total of 3 height settings.
Overall, I’m pleased with it. I think it’s a nice looking crib, and I like it more than some of the $800+ cribs we saw at the bigger stores. It seems sturdy and well made. Then again, it’s not an $800 crib and it’s definitely not perfect. Most noticeably, the paint is kind of sloppy.
One thing I was expecting based on the reviews, is the bed skirt trouble the corner support weirdness causes.
You can see in the stock photo I used at the top of the post (you may have to click to enlarge it to see what I mean) that the bed skirt doesn’t come all the way to the corners of the crib because of the supports (and may not work at all depending on the style/if the corners are split.) That will definitely bother me, so I figure I will just cut the bedskirt, then maybe use a diaper pin (or a few quick hand stitches) under the mattress to hold it back in place. The brackets will still be visible though, which is super annoying, but what are you gonna do?
Overall, sure, I wish someone would deliver a crib on my doorstep that didn’t have the paint and bracket issues, but if someone handed me $800, I’d keep the crib we have and use the money for something else!
FTC compliance: I paid normal, retail price for the pictured item. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own. Post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
[…] didn’t make a typing error. I’m not transitioning my 2 1/2 week or 2 1/2 month old to a crib, nor am I transitioning my 2 1/2 year old to a “big boy […]
we bought this same crib for our daughter (who is now 13 months old) for the same reasons price etc. Our daughter is only 30 inches tall and last night in the middle of the night flipped over the edge out of the crib on to her head. The mattress was on the LOWEST Setting. Reading the assembly instructions it clearly states the lowest setting is safe for kids until they are 35 inches. A warning for all parents who have this crib! I am planning to contact LaJobi and make a complaint.
Oh my gosh, that is so scary!
[…] read stories, and really didn’t want to snatch it away from him. Plus, it doesn’t match the baby’s crib which we bought to match the “spare bedroom” furniture we already had. (The new glider […]
I couldn’t tell you what type our crib is… but until this post, I had no idea that not all cribs have the mattress supports! I never got around to making the crib look “finished” with a skirt and all that cutesy stuff because of those darned things.
I have to see if I can find a picture of our other one. It has supports (obviously, LOL) but the go straight out from the corners I think…they didn’t interfere w/a skirt with split corners!
We bought a different Graco crib. (Charleston) We got a great price from Target (using promo codes & Red Card discount/free shipping). We chose that one as it is a very affordable convertible option and we wanted white. Our mattress support seems low as well and we have the same odd supports. We have not found paint issues though. But, I would rather have those “issues” then have to spend double or triple what we paid!
It’s so shocking to walk around places like Buy Buy Baby where the CHEAP cribs are like $800! *thud*