Best Cribs of 2025, Lab-Tested and Reviewed
Consumer Reports tested 22 cribs, including convertible cribs and popular models from Delta, Ikea, Nestig, Pottery Barn Kids, and other brands
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Newborns sleep for up to 16 hours a day, so a crib is one of the most important—and possibly stressful—purchases you’ll make for your baby. New cribs sold in the U.S. must conform to safety standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, so your primary criteria should come down to budget, aesthetics, construction quality, and ease of assembly. In our tests, we bought, assembled, and examined over 20 popular models to find the best baby cribs.
Best Cribs
We tested a number of other cribs, including the Ikea Sniglar, the Graco Hadley, and the Namesake Nantucket cribs. You can check out our full crib test results.
How CR Tests Cribs
When testing baby cribs, we focus on three main criteria: ease of assembly, construction quality, and how easy it is to change the height of the mattress.
Ease of assembly: Is it simple to put the crib together, or is it so complicated that you might find yourself in tears before the crib’s ready to go? Muratore is pretty adept at putting things together—she’s been doing it for nearly 30 years here at Consumer Reports. She used a methodology known as the Consumer Assembly Friendliness (CAF) score. The CAF considers the total number of parts, how many actions it takes to assemble, and the number of different types of parts to reach a total score. The fewer parts, the better for each. Assembling the crib should be straightforward enough that you would not need to hire a professional.
Construction quality: Our testers looked at the primary crib material, the type of mattress support (slats or platform), and how the support is attached to the crib itself. They also looked at the placement of the required safety label—parents may be tempted to remove obtrusively placed safety warning labels, such as those that would be visible above the sleeping baby’s head—as well as how easy the label is to remove. (Hint: Don’t remove the label!) Muratore’s team also looked at any flaws or defects in the construction of the crib, such as dents or nicks that were painted over rather than repaired, parts that didn’t fit together perfectly, or inconsistent colors.
Ease of changing mattress support height: Young infants should sleep in a crib at the crib mattress’ highest support height. As the baby gets older, you should lower the mattress, decreasing the likelihood that the baby will be able to lift themselves or climb out. Typically, parents need to change the crib mattress height only a handful of times, so this made up a small fraction of the total score of each crib. However, the ease of this essential task nevertheless adds to the overall experience a parent will have with their baby’s crib. We looked at how easy or difficult it was to accomplish this task, and whether it requires two adults or one.
A note on convertibility: Many of the cribs we tested are convertible, which means you can modify them into toddler beds, daybeds, and even full-sized beds. Consumer Reports refers to the convertibility listed in each crib’s manual, which may occasionally differ from what the company advertises.
@consumerreports When looking for a crib, avoid borrowing or buying used. But not all new cribs are perfect. We just tested nine in our labs, including the $750 Nestig Cloud, which may not be the best for your money. Learn more through the link in our bio. #babytok #cribs #nestig #nestigcrib #nursery #pregnancytiktok
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FAQs About Cribs
Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions about cribs from parents and parents-to-be—keep these factors in mind as you stroll your local department store or scroll through an online baby gear shop.
Is It Safe to Buy a Used or Secondhand Crib?
For safety’s sake, you should use a new crib. If for any reason you must buy (or borrow) a used crib, make sure it’s a stationary-side crib manufactured after 2013, because federal safety standards for stationary-side cribs went into effect in 2011. Check the crib for a label that includes the model number and the manufacturing date or lot code, as well as contact info for the manufacturer. Typically, these codes appear in a discreet spot on the crib frame, or underneath the mattress support. If you can’t decipher the manufacturing date from the lot number or lot code, call the manufacturer and ask. If there’s no clear label, don’t use the crib.
“Sometimes a used crib may be passed on to you disassembled,” says Muratore. “I’d be very nervous about that because you won’t know if there’s missing hardware unless you have the assembly instructions.” The same goes for “open box” cribs that were previously bought and returned; they could be missing parts, so it’s best to avoid purchasing these.
Do not use drop-side cribs, which allow for one side of the crib to temporarily lower to provide easier access to the baby. These are dangerous and have been banned since 2011.
What Height Should Your Crib Be?
Cribs that are too high off the ground make it difficult for shorter parents to comfortably access their child. “If a store has a floor model of the crib you’re considering, lean over the rail as if you’re picking a baby up from inside the crib to see whether the crib’s rail height is a good fit for your height,” Muratore says.
How Do You Find a Right-Sized Crib Mattress?
The crib mattress should fit snugly into the crib, without any gaps at the edges. If the crib is too big for the mattress, the baby could become trapped and suffocate. “If you can fit more than two fingers between the crib frame and the mattress, the mattress is too small,” says Muratore. If that’s the case, it’s time for a new mattress.
When Should You Switch Your Baby From a Bassinet to a Crib?
You should move your baby into their own crib when they reach the weight and height limit of their bassinet, can push up on hands and knees, or can pull themselves up on the bassinet’s sides—whichever comes first. This means that compared with a bassinet, which your baby will outgrow within the first year, your baby’s crib is the sleep environment they’ll spend the most time in during their first few years of life. A crib that converts to a toddler bed and then to a twin bed is a nursery essential that your family should be able to use for many years to come.