Children's Bedroom Furniture and How it Differs From Baby Furniture

By Diana K Nielsen

Children's bedroom baby furniture cribs items are often the first furniture pieces that your kids can have a say on. After all, they already have strong color and thematic preferences, which cannot be said when they were still infants lying in their parent-approved, parent-selected cribs. Thus, there are differences between children's bedroom furniture and baby furniture cribs, in part to accommodate this developmental change. The differences can be subtle, such as age-adapted safety features, or noticeable, like sizing considerations.

Safety Features

Word of advice for new parents: Neither buy nor accept a secondhand crib without thoroughly inspecting it for missing and loose parts as well as chipped components. Many infants have been critically injured due to these factors, which often mean that it is almost always safer to purchase brand new cribs.

Baby furniture pieces often have more safety specifications than children's bedroom baby furniture cribs. Not only are infants prone to entanglements and suffocation due to their limited range of movement, they are also helpless if trapped. After all, most toddler and pre-school age children have control over their physical movements. This does not mean, however, that parents can ease up on safety features, but does mean there are greater differences between the two.

For example, baby furniture must have slats placed no more than 2 3/8 inches apart to prevent any part of the baby's extremities being trapped. In toddler beds, the spaces between railings can be varied.

Size and Strength Features

Obviously, children's bedroom baby furniture cribs pieces are larger than baby furniture. This is an important differentiation because toddlers and pre-school children are vigorously discovering their physical capacities, which necessitate furniture able to withstand their activities, not to mention their growing bodies. With size comes strength. Children's bedroom furniture is generally constructed to hold more weight than baby furniture. This is especially true for bunk beds and double beds where two children will share the furniture, not to mention have the parents occasionally sit on them for bedtime storytelling sessions.

Size and strength are important safety features in both types of furniture simply because infants and young children have varying needs in these areas. It is always essential to accommodate their needs than it is the pockets of parents. Ultimately, the avoidance of unintentional injuries in children will prove more desirable.

Adaptability Features

Both children's bedroom furniture and baby furniture can be adapted to the growing needs of the individuals they cater to. However, the former can be adapted in more ways than the latter can. While there are many types of cribs - sleigh, convertible, mini and rocking, to name a few - once the infant outgrows it, no other viable uses can be found for it. On the other hand, kids' beds can be transformed into mini-sofas once the children grow out of it. Indeed, with a little imagination, many other bedroom furniture pieces in the kids' bedrooms can be recycled. For example, toy chests can be made into foot rests while drawers can be used as knickknack holders.

In conclusion, always choose the appropriate furniture for your children. Not only will you make them happy by respecting their independence, you will also assure their safety while sleeping through age-appropriate children's bedroom furniture.