Baby cribs can get pretty expensive. If you don’t have the luxury of inheriting a crib from a parent, sibling, or friend you’re probably looking at a price tag of over a thousand dollars for some cribs. That’s a ton of money to spend on a crib that’s going to be unusable in about a year.

When you think about it, a baby’s crib is a terrible investment. Not only do you have to shell out a ton of cash up front that will add up on top of all the medical bills and other baby related bills, but you’re going to lose the benefit of that money you spent as soon as the baby grows out of his crib.

Crib manufacturers are parents too. They know that having a baby can be an incredibly expensive venture and they know that it is a real pain in the neck to buy something expensive that you aren’t going to use for a long time. That’s why companies have started developing built-to-grow convertible cribs. A convertible crib costs only a little bit more than a classic crib but it offers the ability to grow as the child grows. Be sure to pick out some nice nursery bedding to make your crib look really nice. 

What Does Built-To-Grow Mean, Exactly?

As you’re out there shopping around for your baby’s crib you will soon notice that some cribs are labeled as “built-to-grow.” Basically, built-to-grow cribs are designed to expand in size as your baby’s body grows. They are transformable cribs that can be adjusted in many different ways to meet the new demands created as the size of your child increases. This growing feature in convertible cribs makes them a much safer investment because you can use them for an extended period of time.

Baby convertible cribs are generally larger than your classic crib. They have adjustable railings and mattresses that can be expanded or removed to create a more child-friendly bed when you need them to. The most advanced convertible cribs will offer three different kinds of beds along with your classic crib design. You can use the classic crib design while your baby is in the newborn infant stages of life, you can adjust the crib when your baby has outgrown the bars and railings to create a toddler sized bed, then you can expand that toddler bed’s mattress into a twin sized bed, and if you wanted to replace the bed with a new bed you can still use it as a day bed.

Convertible cribs, like the Da Vinci Emily convertible crib, just about triples the lifespan of your average crib and you may find that you can continue to use them well into the young life of your child. Classic crib designs, ones that are not made to grow with your child, will have you throw your money away when your child can’t fit in it anymore. You may get a maximum of one year out of your classic crib design but with a convertible crib you will use that one year and turn it into as many years as you like.

You Won’t Need to Buy a New Bed

Children go through beds like clothing when they are younger. If you don’t use a 4 in 1 convertible crib you’ll soon find that you are buying two to four different bed sizes in three years. You’ll buy them a tiny crib when they are infants, a larger crib when they are a year old, then a miniature bed to teach them not to fall out, a twin sized bed when they grow out of that, and a full sized bed when they are too big for the twin.

Save yourself some money by purchasing a convertible crib at the beginning. You can hold onto it as your child grows up and you will never have to worry about him out growing it until he is much older.