My wife and I, like every other parent, want the best for our child. We are outfitting our nursery in anticipation of our little one’s arrival. Our latest quest involves all things crib. More specifically my wife is on a kick about finding just the right baby crib bedding sets. There are the usual considerations to ponder: style, function and price.
Style
My wife figures we need at least a few sets and with her meticulousness wants them to match the décor of the nursery. There are plenty of blue and pink sets for a boy or girl but we want something a little different. The design of the bedding in the crib, if it is nice enough, will accent the look and feel of the room. I don’t think this will matter much to the baby but it will make a difference for us. A nice looking and nice feeling room could help soothe me and my wife during those middle of the night times when we have to spend time in the nursery.
It turns out we have plenty of choices. There are even designer baby bedding sets. Some of the big companies include Laura Ashley, Lambs & Ivy and CoCaLo, OshKosh Baby, No Jo Bedding, Blue Moon Bedding, Kimberly Grant and others. Some of these companies I never heard of and in an effort to (waste time on the internet) find out all I could, I did some research to satisfy my own curiosity.
Kimberly Grant
This line is named after an artist that first began painting as a way to make a gift for a friend. She is inspired by children and is fascinated by their perspective and outlook on the world. Her creations are meant to be a wonder to a child as seen through their eyes, not through our perspective of what we simply think a child might like. Her line of award winning baby bedding sets are now sold and marketed through CoCaLo.
CoCaLo
This company’s primary focus is on producing nursery products. They make bedding sets and other products to decorate a baby room, including accessories that match the look and style of their bedding designs. If you are really into putting together a nice looking nursery you should take a look at their products. I am not that worried that everything is that snazzy in my baby’s room but some people can be. One really cool thing about CoCaLo is they are heavily involved in K.I.D.S (Kids In Distressed Situations, Inc http://www.kidsdonations.org/). This organization was set up to help families with children that are challenged by poverty. K.I.D.S. is a non-profit that strives to keep their overhead costs low, at a a low single digit percentage in fact, and has distributed many millions of dollars of children’s merchandise to needy families.
Function
Our baby will spend a lot of time sleeping in the crib so we want to be sure that it is a comfortable place to be. It seems to make sense to us to have a nice set of bedding, in terms of a nice looking cover and other accessories for the crib, and also have a number of changes of the crib mattress cover and mattress sheet. We may also opt to get a few mattress protectors, which is just the covering that goes between the mattress cover and the mattress.
Cost
Raising a child is expensive and all parents have to make decisions about how much they can afford to spend on things that go beyond functional needs. My wife and I are fortunate enough to be able to afford things that not only serve their purpose but also look pretty nice too. Even so, we cannot spend an unlimited amount of money. There is some middle ground between being practical and going overboard in terms of what we can afford. Your middle ground is probably slightly different than ours, as everyone is different.
Part of how we can not go crazy spending a lot of money is to do like I wrote about in the function section above. Have a nice spread and other matching, stylish accessories but have a few sets of sheets so we can keep the bedding clean and fresh. The sheets can be fancy, in terms of quality and comfort, but really do not need to have a Kimberly Grant watercolor reproduction printed on them. A basic solid color will do for these items.
Our baby will spend a lot of time sleeping in the crib so we want to be sure that it is a comfortable place to be. It seems to make sense to us to have a nice set of bedding, in terms of a nice looking cover and other accessories for the crib, and also have a number of changes of the crib mattress cover and mattress sheet. We may also opt to get a few mattress protectors, which is just the covering that goes between the mattress cover and the mattress.
Cost
Raising a child is expensive and all parents have to make decisions about how much they can afford to spend on things that go beyond functional needs. My wife and I are fortunate enough to be able to afford things that not only serve their purpose but also look pretty nice too. Even so, we cannot spend an unlimited amount of money. There is some middle ground between being practical and going overboard in terms of what we can afford. Your middle ground is probably slightly different than ours, as everyone is different.
Part of how we can not go crazy spending a lot of money is to do like I wrote about in the function section above. Have a nice spread and other matching, stylish accessories but have a few sets of sheets so we can keep the bedding clean and fresh. The sheets can be fancy, in terms of quality and comfort, but really do not need to have a Kimberly Grant watercolor reproduction printed on them. A basic solid color will do for these items.