When Should You Buy a Crib During Pregnancy – A New Parents Guide

Pregnancy can be a really confusing time for a first-time mom. You may seem to be getting advice from every source possible, but, it all can be completely confusing and conflicting. It can be really hard to keep all of the information straight between doctor’s appointments, reorganizing your life for a baby, and the dreaded pregnancy brain.

To begin with, you have to arrange a new space for your new baby within your home. But, buying a crib shouldn’t have to be the big challenge that many people turn it into! People choose to buy cribs at several different points during their pregnancies, which makes it hard to know when you should be buying a baby bed for your new little bundle of joy!

In this article, we are going to answer when you should be buying a crib during your pregnancy and give you a few helpful hints to get started!

When Do I Need A Crib?

This question is widely debated by parents and would-be parents. Some parents rush out and buy the crib the moment they find out they’re having a child…while others tend to put it off a little more…or even wait until after the baby has arrived. The simplest answer to this question is this: there is an ideal time to buy a crib for your soon to be born baby.

The truth is, some parents hold off on the crib because you can get away with not having one initially. Bassinets and Moses baskets are handy, inexpensive beds for a newborn to rest in. But, unless you want your child to share your bed (which, you don’t for multiple reasons), you’re going to want to get a crib and a crib mattress.

During the second trimester, you should be doing your crib shopping. This means from four months of pregnancy to six months of pregnancy, you have the best window. These three months give you plenty of time to shop and set up your new crib before your due date. It also helps because, often during your third trimester, you are too tired to want to spend all of your time in maternity stores.

Why Should I Purchase My Crib This Early?

There are a few reasons that a crib should be purchased so early in your pregnancy. The first reason is that many cribs become discontinued quickly as they go out of season or fashion. If you find something that you truly like and want to use in your nursery, you should jump on the deal before your choice gets discontinued by the company.

Another reason that the purchase of a crib early is important is that many companies produce cribs in different ways, depending on their market. Manufacturers of cribs will often only manufacture what their customers order, which means that many parents are left waiting for a crib to arrive. Some orders take between four and twelve weeks to arrive in-store or at your home. This puts you waiting one to three months of your pregnancy for a crib to set up in the nursery! No one likes waiting and no expectant mom should have to set up a crib in the third trimester.

What Questions Should I Consider When I’m Ordering a Crib?

When you want to buy your crib, you should carefully ask yourself a few questions. This will help you consider whether your crib choice is the best.

First, ask yourself this: How long will my furniture take to arrive?

If you’re already in your sixth month of pregnancy, waiting three months for your crib to arrive may not be convenient, while seven days may not be as big of a time frame for expectant parents. This also leads to the next question you should ask.

Will I be able to help move furniture around when it arrives, or will I be too big? The later you wait in your pregnancy, the harder it will be for you to move around. This makes assembling a crib more of a hassle than an exciting activity. It can also make it harder to move the crib, if you want to rearrange your nursery furniture.

Overall, make sure that you ask, am I leaving enough time to get things ready if the baby decides to come early? This is why the second trimester is so important. Most premature children are born between six and nine months. The earlier that you are able to get your crib and have it set up for your newborn, the better!

There is also another unfortunate thing that should be considered when buying a crib. Have we waited long enough to make sure everything has gone smoothly with the pregnancy? Within the first trimester, many women find out that their pregnancy is not viable. The unfortunate truth is that, waiting until the second trimester, no matter how excited you are to shop for nursery furniture, the less chance you will face the heartbreak of an empty crib.

Many special needs can also be identified during your second trimester. If you have a child with certain disabilities, it is also possible that you may need a specialized crib to make sure that your infant is able to sleep comfortably! There’s nothing worse than a baby staying up all night for any new parent!

At the end of the day, waiting just makes sense!

Buying a crib during your pregnancy can be a difficult, though rewarding challenge. With families and friends all offering advice and many as excited as you are to welcome your bundle of joy, the feedback that you get from all angles can be confusing. Waiting to buy your crib until month four, five, or six will curb some of your stress and help you to spread tasks out during your pregnancy. Not only this, it will ensure that you can help to set up the crib, has plenty of time if it needs to be ordered, and ensure that your pregnancy is going smoothly.

Buying furniture for your baby should be a fun experience for any new mom! Don’t let the crib take the fun out of shopping!