Solid nursery furniture?

[UncomfortableBadger]

It feels a bit early but we’re starting to tentatively look at nursery furniture as most stockists seem to have a several weeks lead time on each range…

I’d assumed that the big brands like Mamas & Papas, Silver Cross etc would have more sturdy, solid nursery furniture but my experience so far is that they feel no better than IKEA flat pack (at which point I can’t help but think that we’d be best off just paying for IKEA!).

Would love some really sturdy, solid furniture but everywhere seems a bit flimsy so far. Does anybody have any recommendations?

Thank you all!

Not sure what’s covered by nursery furniture…

Cot/cot bed? Ikea really are fantastic, you absolutely can’t go wrong and properly assembled they are solid. I’ve had one cheap ikea cot, one pricier John Lewis cot and honestly the ikea was better.

Chest of drawers? Get this from anywhere, go for good quality it will out last the baby years, no need to buy from a baby range.

Changing table? You don’t even need one, they’re not all that safe once baby is rolling but if you do insist go cheap since you won’t be using it for long or put a mat on your chest of drawers.

Nursing chair? It’s just a comfortable armchair, again avoid nursery ranges and get what you like so it will outlast feeding at bedtime.

I bought Nursery Furniture from a local independent baby shop. It cost ££££'s
It was sturdy but a complete waste of money. Should have gone to Ikea.

Ikea cots are great, ours lasted 2 children and was still is great condition and we passed it on to someone else,

I personally found the mamas and papas atlas set very sturdy and a lot better than the ikea drawers we built for our room.

Defintely go for ikea. Nursery specific ranges are a massive waste of money

Thanks all - we were looking for a changing dresser and cot bed and thinking that spending a little bit more would give us something longer lasting, but we’re not so sure now!

Mokee

I bought a beautiful sleigh cot bed from ebay if you don't mind second hand! Cot beds tend to last 3 years before they outgrow them. Changing tables around 2 years before they stop using daytime nappies. Do you really want to spend £1k on items that will last less than 3 years?

We got a Stokke Sleepi, made from solid beach wood, and it goes from newborn to age ten with the expansion packs. It's really lovely. Stokke also does great high chairs/chairs, which adapt from newborn through childhood. We wanted sustainable stuff and it's beautiful as well

I got a Boori wardrobe and draw/changing table set second hand on ebay, very sturdy and great value. I bought the matching Boori toy chest new. All still great for three year old. I bought an Eva Sleigh cot new. The cot tones well with everything in the Boori set and converts to a cot bed. Hopefully I will be able to sell the wardrobe and draw/changing table on ebay for a similar price to what I paid when I update the furniture in that room. Am not planning on selling the toy box though, we are keeping that.

Mokke

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7

We got a Stokke Sleepi, made from solid beach wood, and it goes from newborn to age ten with the expansion packs. It's really lovely. Stokke also does great high chairs/chairs, which adapt from newborn through childhood. We wanted sustainable stuff and it's beautiful as well

Came here to say Stokke Sleepi. Mine's now gone on to it's third family!

We got the Mamas and Papas Atlas range and we're really happy with it.
It is good quality and easy to put together. The wait times on it are long though.
We didnt buy from Mamas and Papas but used a small independant company and it came in at not much more than Ikea furniture. Its worth shopping around.

The IKEA stuff is fine. Cots don't convert into real beds so you don't need one that will last decades and for all other furniture you're better off just buying ordinary furniture rather than nursery specific stuff which has a massive mark up and tends to be lower quality anyway. Also it is never kept in stock so you have to order weeks in advance and pay a ridiculous delivery fee.

The problem with a set of drawers that is also a changing table is that it needs to be impractically deep. You are better off either getting a separate changing table or just putting a changing mat on the floor, or you can do what the Germans do and get a drawer top changer which converts a set of drawers into a changing table by making it jut out from the wall and adding sides.

We bought a beautiful set of Mamas and Papas nursery furniture (cot bed, wardrobe and changing table/drawers) from Facebook Marketplace for an absolute bargain. Just gave them a good clean and they've been going strong for 2 years now! We've tried where possible to buy everything second hand (except car seats, mattresses, etc) as we've found we can get good quality things practically new but much cheaper. Also a bit better for the environment. Having said that, we have also bought a few bits new from IKEA and they have been excellent.

I have a cotbed from obaby, the Stamford range. Absolutely love it, looks really expensive but was only mid range, much less than mamas and papas etc. They do matching stuff too but we just have an IKEA chest of drawers and then have a changing mat on the double bed that is still in our nursery for now.

Also had the Boori cotbed - it was beautiful and sturdy and I loved the under-cot drawer, but in reality I wish I’d gone for second-hand or even ikea. I was completely overwhelmed by choice and “wanting the very best for pfb and dc2”
As it was, DC2 barely even used it as we landed up co-sleeping most of the time in the spare room, when older they just climbed out the whole damn time (unhelpfully encouraged by DC1 “come on DC2, you can do it!” )

Tbh I wouldn't want anything too flimsy for the cot as they tend to whack their heads into it (often on purpose).

DC1 is 3.5, she has a Mothercare set. We'll move her into a full single bed this summer when she's 4, but other than that it's all still going strong. Changing tables aren't popular on here but we find them very useful. Once she was out of nappies we just took the top off and it's a normal chest of drawers. I've no intention of changing that or the wardrobe for years to come.

DD2 has a mamas and papas set, same plan - the bed will go when she's school age but the chest of drawers should last years.

I wouldn't be bothered with buying specific nursery furniture though - we just bought the sets because the rooms had nothing in them and it was easiest.

Don't get mini "nursery" furniture. Yes it looks all cute and lovely for insta photos but you will end up buying it all twice as when they get older you need bigger furniture. Just get normal furniture, save your money!

For a cot bed I have had ikea and mamas and papas. They were both great but I would stick to ikea for the price.

Thanks all - very intrigued by the Stokke Sleepi as it seems to have the longevity that we’re after. If I can nab a used one, then all the better

I picked up a 2nd hand set of boori furniture which is all solid wood. I think I paid 600 quid so maybe not that much cheaper than new and flimsy. The original owner paid 4.5k though. I resold it for 400 quid 4 children later and because it’s so solid it was still in really good condition..

@UncomfortableBadger

Thanks all - very intrigued by the Stokke Sleepi as it seems to have the longevity that we’re after. If I can nab a used one, then all the better

Up to you but a proprietary mattress and sheets seem like a nightmare tbh. My youngest had reflux when and we could easily get through 4 sheet charges a day. I was pretty glad that they cost £3-4 from Ikea and we could order extra on Amazon when struggling to keep up with the washing! Not to mention potty training and sickness bugs in the toddler years…

We had a Boori cotbed which lasted until my DS was 5. Thinking about it, I need to get on and sell it!

Apart from that we just went to IKEA.

Oh sorry should say on the Stokke you can find generic cotton sheets on Amazon Etsy etc. We did the same for our Bugaboo Stardust travel cot - not paying £24 per set of sheets

We've gone for ikea Hemnes drawers I think the changing tables are a waste of time and only 3 drawers. Undecided on
A cot yet