CRIBS!!

So we decided to be way ahead of the game and buy our nursery furniture while JCP was having a huge home sale and free shipping back in July.

Things started off badly when I found out "baby" didn't qualify as "home" and that furniture never receives free shipping.  I did manage to work a 15% discount out of the deal, but it was still more than I was expecting.  Then the furniture came, and "espresso" finish was actually medium brown, the dresser was cracked along a seam, the drawers did not slide (they "jumped"), and the smell of the furniture was very strong.  Fortunately JCP was awesome to work with and it has since been picked up for a full refund, including the $200+ shipping fee.

Now I'm on a hunt to find the perfect crib, for not too much money.  I'm usually such an "all natural" girl, that it's pretty hilarious that I jumped on the jcp set so quickly.

My ideal crib:

made of sustainably harvested wood

made in the USA

formaldehyde-free (meaning no MDF or "green MDF")

non-toxic and no VOC finish

3 mattress height options

Here are some cribs at which I'm looking:

Oeuf - Robin

$631 with shipping

$150 for conversion kit

Imported, "manufactured in Europe"

Argington - Bam

$622 with shipping

$99 for toddler conversion kit

Imported, "made in China"

Goodnight Room - European

$610 - free shipping

$160 for toddler conversion

made in USA

giggle - Harper

$539 with shipping

$110 for toddler conversion

Imported

And I'm pretty sure I really want one of these baby hammocks by Hushamok.

Although I've pretty much narrowed it down to the 4 cribs above, I'm still looking at DaVinci / Million Dollar Baby brand cribs, as long as they are solid wood with no MDF.  These cribs range from $200 - $300 before shipping.  That would leave more money for a mattress, bedding and furniture.  They don't list where they are manufactured (so I assume China), but their standards for the actual crib are high, and they are made of sustainable wood.

"For all of our paints and finishes we use a non toxic sealer with lacquer. Our paint is ultra-safe. We exceed JPMA regulations and go through annual paint tests. Paint is called safe when it has toxic materials under 300 parts per million [ppm].For a company to claim low toxicity means they have paint with toxicity below 90 ppm. Here at Million Dollar Baby, our paint levels come in at less than 2 ppm.

Our cribs are manufactured under the highest standards in Taiwan and China. All of our cribs are made of 100% solid New Zealand Pine. The only exception being those cribs that include a trundle drawer or our mini cribs. On the mini cribs the mattress support is MDF and on the drawers the bottom piece is MDF.

The mattress support on all of our full size cribs is made of metal."

Hmmmm ... what to do, what to do!?

Anyone know if there are any advantages of having a slat mattress support over metal?