Before You Buy A Crib

After buying a crib, the most important purchase you'll need to make for the nursery is the baby bedding. Finding the right crib can be much easier online. The bedding set you choose may not be the one that others like. Also keep your budget in mind while you're shopping. Bedding sets can get very expensive, so try not to fall in love with crib bedding you can't afford. To make things easier on yourself, decide on the style of bedding you want and how much you're willing to pay, before you ever start shopping.

Think about how large a family you're planning to have. Will you be having more? If yes, then take that into consideration. If you're having a girl, you might have decided on girl crib bedding, adorned with lace and embroidery, or the adorable Pixie Stix baby bedding. But you're not guaranteed to have another girl, and that girly baby bedding is not going to look so great in a boy's nursery. Before you dump a lot of money into baby bedding, it's probably wise to stick to a neutral theme you can use again, no matter what gender your next baby is. A bedding set can cost upwards of $1000, so set a budget before you start and stick to it. Ignore any bedding that is out of your budget. Baby is not going to care what brand of bedding you've bought, he's far more concerned with his comfort.

Because of the limitations of size and geography, "real world" stores can't specialize the way an online store can - which means they also can't offer the selection of an ecommerce site. When you want a certain brand, your local store will probably disappoint you - you might find that they only carry one brand. There are very few local shops that carry the selection of an online store. If you're considering shopping offline because of lower prices, then do some comparison shopping - you'll almost certainly find a better deal online.

The offline store does have one big advantage over the online one, though - you can thoroughly examine and feel the bedding before you buy it. If an online retailer describes a baby quilt as "soft", how do you know what his definition of soft is? Is it more or less than your own? Pictures are great, but even the highest quality product photos don't compare to a real-life examination. The other major problem with shopping online is *too much* selection. The easiest solution is to choose a bedding style and a budget before you go online.