Eco Friendly Crib Options: a house log

Ok, here it is. The much anticipated crib post. First we have to talk about how giddy we are to have a mini-me mattress going on. Let me explain. Remember back when John and I talked about saving our pennies for an organic mattress (after sleeping on a sketchy old hand me down for far to long) back in June of last year? Yeah, we in fact had a “mattress fund” going until we could take that baby home. And fairly much ever since the day that we sprung for our own Organic Serenity Natural Dunlop Latex Mattress By Savvy Rest we dreamed of someday getting a mini version for our offspring in the form of a totally organic crib mattress (p.s. do not you like my mattress pageantry below?).

After all, if John and I did not want to go to bed with simply anything (my obsession with all things eco made me yearn for a pure and organic mattress free of fireproofing chemicals and made from 100% natural materials that are simply as good for the planet as they are for people) we certainly hoped the same thing for the beanette. So imagine our sheer delight and amazement when the thoughtful and generous people at Savvy Rest contacted us and offered to send over an organic crib mattresses for our big nursery makeover. Yeah, it was sufficient excitement to make my bladder nearly burst (this reaction might also have something to do with all the kicks I have been getting lately- we have a little can-can dancer in there

What makes it so covetable? Well it is totally free of any chemicals and made from five inches of firm all-natural latex. The top and bottom of the mattress are also covered with flame-retardant quilting made of organic wool fiber and organic cotton fabric (it meets all the fire-proofing standards here in the US without being sprayed or dipped in any chemicals). Plus wool is naturally repellent to dust mites and keeps the mattress’s inner environment dry so baby P will sleep cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Does not it sound like the Ferrari of crib comfort? Seriously we were thrilled and we cannot thank the sweet folks at Savvy Rest sufficient for their remarkable gift. Of course we have not taken it for a spin since it is a bit too short for us, but we can certainly vouch for the comfort-factor and durability of our own personal Savvy Rest mattress which we have enjoyed for nearly a year now (check out an update on how we like it right here). And we have not mentioned that Savvy Rest is based right here in Virginia so it is sort of a “local” company too. Gotta enjoy that it did not need to travel far to arrive right at our door.

So that is the rainbows and unicorns (read: glad-go-lucky) part of the story. Then it was time to figure out where we’d be putting our lovely new mattress… as in, locate a crib. This is easier said than done my friends. It was a major challenge to straddle the line between “we’d like it to be reasonably green and non-toxic since that is the way we live” (we compost, have a rain barrel, use non-toxic cleaning products, etc) and “our budget is not in the $700-1500 range so all those entirely eco crib options sadly are not within reach for us” (with things like strollers, car seats, cloth diapers and other big ticket items still on our must-buy list we unfortunately had to set a crib budget and stick to it).

We swiftly realized that we’d be glad to find a crib that was somewhat of a compromise (a bit more eco than most especially low-cost cribs with a few strong non-toxic features but obviously nothing in the sadly-unattainable-for-us $700+ price range of those remarkable industry leading green crib makers like Oeuf, Cariboo, Pacific Rim, DucDuc, Spot on Square, Argington, and Q Collection Junior). So after a bit of research and soul searching we arrived at a decent little “must-have list” that we thought would work best for us in order to narrow down all the contenders and hopefully leave us with something ideal for Baby P. Here was our required criteria:

• A crib that was constructed entirely out of solid wood (since pressed wood and MDF can be held together with off-gassing glue and formaldehyde)
• Something with a non-toxic finish (since babies are known to inexplicably gnaw on their cribs)
• A price tag under $400 if at all heavenly possibly (our initial budget was in fact in the $200 range but we scored such a good deal on a secondhand nursery chair that we had a bit more to put towards the crib).
• A crib that meets or exceeds all of the established US safety standards
• Something modern-ish with clean lines and a white finish (to work with the rest of the room and feel gender neutral sufficient to reuse for future bambinos)
• A solid well rated stationary crib (we hoped to avoid anything with a drop side since there have been so many recent recalls)

We also had a bonus list of “it would be pleasant” characteristics that were not necessary but were certainly welcome:

• A crib with some sort of pull out storage underneath it (we are all about maximizing our stash-it space)
• Something that can be converted to a toddler bed or daybed (we’d like to work with what we have for as long as possible)
• A splash of darker wood to balance the clean bright white finish on the rest of the crib (we in fact found ourselves loving the dual-toned look but it was not that straightforward to hunt down)
• Free shipping (because that is consistently a pleasant bonus when purchasing such a big ticket item)

Our minds swirled with a ton of possibilities that we carefully considered as we went…

Idea #1: Could we make our own crib to meet every prerequisite? After a bit of deliberation we realized that with all the safety features, testing and industry standards we’d better leave crib-making to the experts.

Idea #2: Could we grab an unfinished solid wood one (made from birch, maple, oak?) and use a no-VOC stain or paint to finish it ourselves? Well, after hunting down quite few totally unfinished solid wood options (many were already stained or sealed so we would not be able to easily alter the finish) we realized that unfinished cribs were generally in the $500-1200 range (a bit to a lot out of our budget) and typically had country-ish lines due to their raw and unfinished nature (we were interested in something a bit sleeker and more clean-lined).

Idea #3: Could we hunt down a used one? After all, that would be the greenest thing to do. But a bit more consideration had us thinking about those ever-changing safety standards and a slew of recent recalls so it seemed like getting something new that meets all the current safety standards was the right choice for fearful first time parents like us. Especially since my mother generously offered to foot the bill and kept mentioning that we should get something new that we could use again and again and again (somehow she thinks we will end up with seven babies since she herself is one of seven). The good news is that we have in fact purchased an excellent thrift store nursery chair so we were as green as it gets in that category… stay tuned for those details.

Anyway, with all of that pre-hunt brainstorming out of the way, we dove headfirst into active “crib shopping” mode armed with our handy little list of boxes to check off and all the confidence of a nervous eight pound chihuahua (we have to be honest, it was quite intimidating and we were especially worried that we would not find anything at all). But we did manage to dig up this good-looking crib made with solid wood and non-toxic finishes. The only downside: it does not outright say there is no MDF or pressed wood so there likely is. Plus the $379 price is quite close to the top of our range (as in scraping right up against it) so we were hoping to find something that checked off all of our boxes and not simply most of them for that price point. Back to the drawing board.

Then we came across this chic looking $419 crib, which was also made with solid wood and non-toxic finishes. But again it does not outright say that there is no MDF or pressed wood (something that cribs with this feature like to shout from the rooftops) so it also fell a bit short of checking off that last box (and was also a bit over our max budget). That is ok… perhaps the third time is the charm?

Spoiler alert: nope. We then stumbled upon this crib by DaVinci. We in fact heard through a few online reviews that DaVinci cribs were typically made from solid wood, wrapped up with non-toxic paint/stain and even came with BPA free crib guards- but there was hardly any information for this particular model except for the especially vague “made from Asian hardwood” line (which could also be true if the thing was riddled with MDF) so we are not truly sure it met much of our criteria at all. The styling was also a bit less clean-lined than we hoped, although there was certainly something charming and undeniably “classic” looking about it. On the upside, it did come in white (our desired color) and was priced extremely well at $267… but it simply did not do everything we hoped that our future crib would do. Moving on.

We began to wonder if we were (pardon my language) being hard-asses. Was our wish list akin to J-Lo asking for nothing but white candles in her dressing room? Were we tirelessly trolling for something that simply did not exist? We allowed ourselves simply two minutes to wallow in self pity before deciding that we had work to do. Back to the search.

Next we came across two potential Ikea cribs, but the first one was not the white color that we hoped for (although it did seem to be made mostly from sustainable solid wood). Sadly it also did not boast keywords like “non-toxic” or “low-VOC” when it came to the clear acrylic lacquer finish, and we learned along our little researching tirade that any crib with these features likes to highlight them in bold (so we consistently assume that if it does not say something is: no-VOC, non-toxic, sustainable, fully comprised of solid wood and nothing else, etc- then it likely is not). Too bad because the price was fairly fantastic at $159. But that is ok, there was another affordable Ikea option to evaluate.

Our second Swedish find (priced at simply $99) also mentioned some pleasant solid wood & plywood materials (no word of pressed wood or MDF) but again neglected to describe that the “tinted clear amino resin lacquer” finish was anything especially non-toxic or low-VOC. (Insert the womp-womp sound effect here).

Admittedly they were both amazingly priced and we in fact know of at least three glad babies with these affordable and stylish Ikea cribs so by no means are we saying there is a thing wrong with them (or the other cribs that we found along the way)! They simply did not quite check off all the little boxes that we established going into our big crib hunt. We swiftly learned that selecting a crib is certainly a subjective and surprisingly personal decision. What is right for one person might not be right for the next mom and dad to come along so we certainly believe that ironing out what is most essential to you (and acknowledging that it will not consistently be as essential to the next person) will assist you locate something ideal for your family. To each his own, right? But back to our search…

Next we found this crib. At $490 the maple finish was the only one that we could *nearly* afford (it was still nearly $100 over budget). Since the tone of the maple is a bit shy of the deep chocolate color that we lean towards, the white finish would have been our preference… but at $700 that option was out of our price range. And although the maple coloring did not truly work with our ever-evolving nursery scheme, there was something intensely charming about this guy. He’s in fact the cream of the eco crop (Argington is one of those fancy top-of-the-line green companies) and is made entirely of solid wood, touted as one of the most eco-friendly options out there, and constructed with all materials (glues, stains, and finishes) that are 100% non-toxic. Too bad it was not the color we were looking for and the price was ultimately still a bit cost prohibitive for two savers like us. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

This crib was also especially appealing thanks to the eco-advantages that it boasted (made entirely from sustainably grown wood with non toxic finishes). But the $700 price tag was simply too steep for us, and the rounded corners would not fit our lovely new mattress. So we gave it one last look and clicked that window closed as a single tear slipped silently down my cheek (ok so I am exaggerating, but this whole exercise was kind of an ooh-this-might-be-it-nope-keep-looking roller coaster ride).

Then we found this write-up which honestly helped A TON (update: we have since unlinked to the write-up because the site was hacked and then took out so it was a dead link). It reinforced that affordable eco cribs were few and far between (especially in the white coloring and clean-lined styling that we were looking for) but there were a few non-budget-breaking options that were still a bit “greener” than the average crib in that price range.

Ahhhhhhhhmmmmmmm.

Yes, that is the sound of us breathing a long, deep sigh of relief. The affordable reasonably-green-crib-roundup that we had tracked down was insanely helpful! And the last crib they featured not only met all of our initial criteria but also checked off all of our bonus “would be pleasant” boxes too. And at $299 it was certainly within our budget. Were pigs flying? Could it truly be? Oh sweet victory. It was described as “made from New Zealand pinewood with a non-toxic finish” and “the solid wood and wood veneer construction means no toxic VOCs or formaldehyde associated with pressed wood.” It also met or exceeded all US safety standards and received one of the highest user ratings we’d seen (over 85 people had weighed in after purchasing it and it earned nearly five full stars out of five). Plus the $299 price tag even includes the rail to convert it to a toddler bed or daybed, there was free to-the-store shipping, it came in white and had a splash of darker wood, it was clean-lined and sleek looking and it even had a handy little storage drawer (talk about a few pleasant little bonuses).

It truly was one of those miracle moments. Perhaps it’ll be up there with in fact meeting our baby girl for the first time in May. Ok so that is likely pushing it, but after hours (literally at least four solid ones) spent looking for something that consistently eluded us it seriously felt like a major coup to click the “buy” button and exchange a few nerdy high fives that we save for special occasions like these.

We could hardly wait to get it home, put it together, add our excellent new mattress, and test it all out with The Burgette. And about a week later we found ourselves doing simply that. Pleasant, right?

Oh, perhaps we should stop to explain who Burgette is. She got her name because she’s sort of a hybrid between Burger + The Beanette (we whipped her up thanks to this Burger zoonie and a lately gifted newborn sleeper… simply so someone could take our new nursery addition for a spin). Look… she likes it!

And although we luckily were able to assemble things fairly swiftly, we sped things up even more for your viewing pleasure (watch it below or over here on YouTube):

So there you have it. The mind-numbingly exhaustive play by play of how we ended up with an remarkable organic mattress and a solid clean-lined white wood crib without any pressed wood or MDF and a non-toxic finish. Of course we realize that one comes from a small Virginia based company and the other comes from a giant big box store (and yes, that it could be even greener if we had twice to three times as much to spend on it). But one thing we have already learned about impending parenthood is that it is all about balance. And we enjoy that we were able to add a thrift store nursery chair to the mix (stay tuned for those details). Balance truly feels like it is the key. We will not be able to keep our little one away from certain things (like boys for instance) or feed her a fully organic diet until she’s 25, so we did the best we could and set out with a few plain “goals” for the bean’s sleeping situation. And we lived to tell the tale. Whew. Now there are only 579,088,989 more dire decisions that we will have to make before she graduates college. This should be interesting…

Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the quite beginning? Here is our painting post and here are a bunch of accessory-hunting details.