Mini Cribs

Hi. This is my first pregnancy and we're expecting twin girls. They will share a nursery but we live in a 1920's house that has space limitations. We're considering buying 2 mini cribs instead of standard cribs to save space. The only drawback I've read about for the mini cribs are that they may outgrow them before they're ready for beds. Do any of you have experience with mini cribs and would you recommend them? Thank you!

 

:welcome: to Twinstuff! I don't know anything about mini-cribs. What will you do if they out grow the cribs before they are ready for a bed? I guess for me, if I'd have to buy a standard crib anyway (eventually) I would just get the standard cribs now. Do you have space for the standard cribs?

 

I'm going to guess that your name is your zipcode? If so, please hook up with the TBMoM's group!! They're a great group of girls.

Okay, as for the minicrib, I know of a person that had minicribs that broke (!!) with her twins. I'm not sure how bouncy they were though.

 

We went with the mini cribs because we knew we would have no room for 2 full size beds (which most cribs convert to). The mini cribs we got converted to twin sized beds. My boys grew out of them around 20 months and we went right to twin beds for them. It actually worked out well, but many days I wished they could have been in cribs longer! My biggest regret with the mini cribs was that they couldn't sleep together. By the time they were on a schedule and sleeping in their own room they were too big to sleep together. Before that they shared a crib in the NICU and then slept in the top portion of the pack n play together. I wouldn't get them again, but they did wind up working okay for us.

 

Does this help?

We have space limitations, too (1950's ranch, here) and we have our cribs end-to-end across a bedroom wall. Considerations for space- we have never (not once!) used our changing table. We always lay the girls down on our bed, on the floor, on the couch, etc when changing them so you may be able to skip that instead and maybe have more room to work with. Also, we bought a glider and never used it, either. Some people swear by them, but maybe it could go in a different room?

You could always start with one crib and get a second one later? You may never need the second crib and then you've really saved on space and money!

There are some CRAZY space savers out there, too. Try these:
barrier
crib bunkbeds!

 

It depends on when you move them to beds.... Mine were in their standard cribs till just past age 3, and they would certainly have been too big for mini cribs, but if you were OK with moving them sooner, they might still fit.

But I guess I'd say if you can possibly fit the standard cribs, go with that -- don't put yourself in the position of having to either buy standard cribs later or move them to beds before they're really ready.

 

no experience here preggo as well! We live in a 2 bedroom apartment, our plan is one crib as long as we can and the pack n play if they need to be separated! Congrats and you will find an unlimited resource of help and advice here! My local twin mothers club's forum is also a little slow, but they too are very helpful!

 

I'm not sure about mini cribs, but we decided to go with just one crib and have them share. They shared perfectly fine for 17 months, then suddenly one of my boys became a drama queen, seriously, and can't stand to sleep with his brother. For the time being we rotate them between the 1 crib we bought (not buying a 2nd one at this point!) and 1 of our pack n plays. So every Sunday they're swapped and the other kid gets the crib for the week. I plan to continue this until around their 2nd birthday this summer and then swap them over to toddler beds. However, I've seen others on here say their kids lasted much longer than my 17 months of sharing just 1 crib.

ETA: I second the fact that our glider really never ever got used, it was a waste of space in the beginning. My hubby loves our changing table and will always change them on there if I don't have stuff piled up on it However, I like to sit down on their floor and change them. Maybe I'm lazy

 

I don't have a changing table either, and I live in a 2 bed apt. What we started with was 1 crib in our room, 1 in theirs. We also used a PNP in the living room if they were napping when they were really little. We have 2 regular cribs on one wall, the short side of the crib on the wall. It's not the ideal setup, but uses the room more effectively than having cribs all along the walls.

 

I'm still pregnant but we decided on minicribs due to space limitations as well. I am keeping a queen bed in the twins' room for various reasons. That limits our space considerably. I really dont mind getting the mini cribs. They look good, are made just as well. Its literally a 'mini' crib as opposed to a portable crib that rolls or folds up (even tho they are called that alot). They are relatively inexpensive so if they outgrow them soon, we wouldve already gotten good use out of them. The bedding selection is sort of limited and the mattresses that come with them suck. But we just bought our own mattresses and are getting rid of the one inch pads lol.

 

Vinthelandboys - Glad to know someone else out there is getting them also Where did you find the new mattress you bought for the mini cribs? I know the ones they come with are pretty crappy.