One of the first purchases you’ll make when setting up a nursery is a baby crib.
A baby needs a safe place to sleep at night, and a crib can provide that experience.
Browsing through the various cribs available for sale, you’ll likely notice that many of them come at expensive prices.
Considering how essential baby cribs are to families, you may wonder what makes them so expensive.
Why Are Baby Cribs So Expensive? (10 Reasons)
The average price of a baby crib is $150, but some cribs can cost as much as $1,000 or more.
Baby cribs are expensive because of the material costs in their production, their durability, the brand name, and the additional features that the crib offers.
Let’s look at these factors in more detail.
1. Wooden Baby Cribs
A wooden baby crib is often one of the most expensive types of baby cribs.
In particular, it’s solid-wood baby cribs that are expensive.
You can find cheaper versions of baby cribs that also use wood.
However, those types of cribs either use wood like a veneer over plastic or some other material or use hollow wood.
Baby cribs made of real solid wood tend to be quite expensive.
That’s because wood is an expensive material.
Depending on the type of wood used, some wooden baby cribs may be more expensive than others.
Those made with rare or expensive types of wood are obviously going to be more expensive.
Wooden baby cribs also tend to look more luxurious.
They’re the ultimate material for a lush crib.
Some parents who want to give the very best to their babes don’t have a problem with paying higher prices for a wooden baby crib.
Baby cribs are expensive when they’re made of real solid wood.
2. Non-Toxic Materials
Exposure to toxins and other harmful chemicals is a real concern for new parents.
Babies are extremely vulnerable.
Being exposed to certain toxins early in life can affect a baby’s development.
They might not even display problems with their development until they’re older and no longer sleeping in a crib.
The problem with toxins is that unless you know what to look out for, you never know what baby furniture may have toxins and what ones don’t.
Unfortunately, some toxins are quite common in baby cribs and baby furniture.
Those toxins include the following:
- Parabens
- Flame retardant
- PVC
- Volatile Organic Compounds
A flame retardant may seem like an excellent chemical to have on your baby’s bed.
Should an accident occur, there’s a chance your baby will be safer for a longer period.
However, flame retardant is a toxic chemical.
It can get inside the body and cause damage.
Because babies will put anything into their mouths, they’re likely going to suck on their cribs, too.
Chemicals that leech through their materials could end up in your baby’s mouth.
As such, some companies spend extra money to ensure their products don’t contain any harmful toxins.
Because they’re taking on higher production costs to avoid using certain materials, they have to sell their cribs at higher prices.
Baby cribs are expensive when they don’t contain toxins because they’re more expensive to make.
3. Adjustable Mattress Heights
Some cribs have the benefit of being able to adjust the height of the mattress.
This has a few benefits.
For one, it allows you to lower the mattress as the baby grows bigger.
When the mattress is too high, there’s always a chance that a baby can use the height to crawl over the crib.
That can lead to some scary situations should the baby fall.
Being able to lower the mattress ensures that the baby is never tall enough to climb over the crib.
If you’re concerned about SIDS, you might also find an adjustable mattress beneficial.
Although an adjustable mattress won’t guarantee your child is safe from SIDS, it might give you some peace of mind.
You can potentially adjust the mattress to ensure your baby is sleeping comfortably.
An adjustable mattress makes a baby crib expensive because it requires more engineering and parts.
Because the cost of producing a crib with an adjustable mattress is more expensive, the company has to sell the crib at a higher price.
Baby cribs are expensive when they have adjustable mattresses because of the added costs to their production.
4. Durability
A baby crib needs to be durable.
Although they may be small, babies are cyclones of destruction.
They don’t have much of a sense of their own strength.
As such, it’s not uncommon for them to bite down on parts of the crib or even destroy the mattress.
Even their rolling around or rocking the crib back and forth can start to wear it down.
As such, a crib needs to be durable to outlast a baby’s damaging antics.
To make a crib durable, a company usually has to spend more money on high-quality materials.
Materials that are better in quality tend to last longer.
They’re able to withstand abuse for longer periods.
However, because sourcing those materials becomes more expensive, the company has to sell at higher prices, too.
The fact that cribs are durable also means that some families hold onto their cribs.
If they plan on having another baby, they can simply use the same crib.
Others might sell their cribs because they’re still in great shape.
This means that fewer people are buying new baby cribs.
As a result, the company has to put a high price on the crib to earn as much money from the sale as possible.
Baby cribs are expensive because the cost of making them durable is expensive.
5. Convertible Baby Cribs
Some baby cribs have the added bonus of being convertible.
This usually means that the baby crib can transition into a toddler bed.
There’s an obvious benefit to this type of crib.
It saves you from having to buy a toddler bed down the line.
You don’t have to worry about going shopping for a toddler bed later.
You simply make a couple of adjustments to the crib, and your toddler has a new bed waiting for them.
While a convertible bed has its benefits, it’s also quite expensive.
That’s because you’re buying two beds in one.
Manufacturers have to spend more money on the bed since it needs to convert from one to the other.
They might put in some parts that you can remove and change to restructure the crib into the bed.
The design might be even more advanced than that.
Either way, it costs the company more money.
To offset that cost, they sell the crib at a higher price.
Baby cribs are expensive when they can convert into toddler beds.
6. Certified Baby Cribs
When buying a crib, you’ll sometimes see some companies state that their cribs have ASTM certification or JPMA certification.
You might not be sure what that means, but you may notice that the price of those cribs tends to be quite high.
Essentially, one of these certifications will indicate that the manufacturer followed several different safety regulations during the production of their baby cribs.
The cribs are safe for babies to use.
Each certification tests for a certain thing or has a certain standard that the product must meet to receive the certification.
One of the more important certifications to look for is JPMA or Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association certification.
This certification indicates that the product adheres to both federal and state regulations.
It’s also worth seeing if the crib has the Greenguard Gold Certification
This certification indicates that the crib possesses a negligible or permissible amount of VOCs.
Without the certification, it means the crib might be exposing your baby to VOCs.
Certifications make baby cribs more expensive because the manufacturer has to use certain materials and follow certain protocols to comply with those certifications.
The certification proves that the crib is among the best in terms of safety.
Production costs are higher, but parents are also more likely to be willing to spend more money on cribs that receive safety certifications.
Baby cribs are expensive because those with certifications tend to be of higher quality.
7. Custom-Made
Another big factor that can make a baby crib expensive is when you have one customized for you.
A custom-made baby crib is expensive because you’re essentially hiring a manufacturer to make a crib specifically for your needs.
You have to pay all the costs they accrue in making your crib.
You’re not sharing those costs with others.
You’re also paying their labor costs.
If you want expensive materials or make your baby crib complex, that’s also going to add to the price.
The benefit of a custom-made baby crib is that it fits your needs exactly.
Its aesthetics may even match your nursery perfectly.
Since someone is making a baby crib from scratch exactly to your wishes, it comes at an expensive price.
Baby cribs are expensive when you have them custom-made.
8. Changing Table Additions
Some baby cribs also come with a changing table attached to them.
The benefit of having a changing table attached to your baby’s crib is that it’s easier to move your baby around.
You can simply pick up the baby and put them right on the changing table and vice versa.
The changing table station also usually comes with some shelves and drawers to make storage easier.
The problem with having a changing table attached to your baby’s crib is that it makes it more expensive.
Manufacturers have to spend more money on materials, labor, and other expenses to make it.
Since production costs are higher, the price of the baby crib is going to be higher.
Baby cribs are expensive because some have changing tables attached to them which increases production costs.
9. Only Use It A Few Times
Another reason baby cribs are expensive is that they have limited use.
Your baby only needs to use a crib for a year or two.
After that, they’re old enough to sleep in a toddler bed.
This means that you might spend a lot of money on a crib only to no longer have a use for it in a year or so.
You can’t really use the crib for anything else, so it ends up being a bit of a waste of money.
It makes the crib all the more expensive because you only use it a few times.
Baby cribs are expensive because you don’t get a lot of use out of them despite the high price.
10. Brand Name
Finally, baby cribs are expensive because of the brand name.
Some brands are more expensive than others.
They may produce luxury cribs or high-quality cribs.
Brand names also spend a lot of money building up a reputation for themselves.
They sell the idea that their products are ones that you can trust.
Some people are willing to pay the extra price for that trust rather than spend their money on a brand they know nothing about.
That only reinforces the expensive price.
Baby cribs are expensive when they come from certain brands.
Leave a Reply