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View Full Version : Babi Italia cribs, etc.



haugerok
07-08-2001, 09:16 AM
We are considering purchasing a Babi Italia crib from the local Babies R Us. Most of the models I've seen have a built-in drawer, which I've decided is a must for me. I tried out the crib release mechanisms on all of them, and most were sticky and a bit clumsy. I don't know if this is just a result of them being display models (everybody and her sister tests the hardware), or if the BRU staff does a poor job of assembly, or what. Does anybody here have a BI crib, or at least consider buying one? Also, I'm wondering about the case pieces that match. Is there any satisfaction/dissatisfaction with those that you can share with me? Thanks!

venka
07-08-2001, 02:05 PM
I'm also curious about this as I just went to BRU yesterday. I found that some Babi Italia cribs had smooth releases and were sturdy, but others' siderails "caught" a bit. Also the underneath drawer on one of them was stuck altogether and wouldn't open past about 5 inches. That leads me to believe it's more to do with who happened to put them together and how much abuse they've had in the store than how well the crib parts themselves are manufactured. At least I hope so... we're looking at the Babi Italia "Grace" model.

Good luck!
Susan
www.susancourt.com

Monica
07-08-2001, 07:14 PM
We just bought the Babi Italia Victoria crib and my husband put it together last weekend with no problems (however, there was a page missing in the instructions regarding putting the mattress in, but he figured it out just fine). I believe the problem is with whoever put it together at the store, and the abuse of customers. So far the railing does not stick at all, and the drawer opens smoothly. As for the related pieces, we ordered a matching changing table, however, it has to be shipped from another location as it was not in stock. I would not hesitate to purchase the Babi Italia crib.

MommyMellie
07-08-2001, 07:34 PM
My husband and I purchased the Babi Italia Westgate Grace crib and finally put it up a few weeks ago. The rail goes up and down with ease and there are no problems with the drawer. It was actually pretty simple to put together as well. Although I don't have a baby yet to put in it (due 9/5/01) I'd recommend it based on my experience thus far.

I'm pretty sure that the stores have a combination of hastily put up cribs + the wear and tear of so many shoppers.

Good luck!

-Melissa

crAbbymom
07-09-2001, 10:20 AM
I have a Babi Italia crib and the drop side won't drop now that the mattress is in the lowest position. I've seen others mention that same problem,too. It worked just fine at the top position, but it doesn't really matter until you have to bend way over to put the baby down...at 20lbs, that makes a huge problem.

ShellyP
07-12-2001, 04:01 PM
I recently purchased and assembled the Gina crib from Babi Italia,at BabiesRUs, and so far we are very pleased (I too like the lower storage drawer). While I was shopping, I was given some information from the salesperson I wanted to pass along. She said the company had been having significant difficulties with the "hidden" rail release mechanisms, and they were recently redesigned. Her models since the redesign, issued over the last 3 months, were easier to operate, quieter, and no longer "sticking". She demonstrated the newer and the older models,and the differences were observable. I decided to buy a newer model because of this information, when they had a discontinued Babi Italia crib for half the price, but it had the "old" troublesome hardware, which annoyed me in the store. I cannot be sure if what she told me was true, but she was the most knowledgeable, well spoken, patient, and helpful employee I have run across in shopping at the chain (which apart from her has been a very frustrating experience). She also stated she had reservations about recommending their cribs until this new hardware came out. I thought perhaps if you do decide to purchase a Babi Italia crib, you might want to ask around about the hardware, and possibly get the newer release mechanism.
One last caveat, Babi Italia cribs come in a very large box compared to other cribs (~4'x5'x16") which proved to be a frustration for us. It doesn't not fit in a typical hatchback/small truck, but it does fit in a minivan. Thankfully, I was warned of this before my purchase. Hope you have good shopping experience.

haugerok
07-13-2001, 08:00 AM
Thank you very much for that helpful tidbit! I hope that our local BRU staff has someone knowledgeable enough to steer us toward newer hardware.

JeffreyTCook
07-13-2001, 11:57 PM
Coming from a man's point of view...the Baby Italia Crib we purchased recently was extremely easy to put together...instructions were fine, all the pieces were there...looks very good!!

The changing table was another story...instuctions were weak, pieces didn't fit "perfectly", and I'm not feeling it was worth the money...the wife loves it, and I'm sure the baby will not care...

triangle
07-21-2001, 12:56 AM
I'm interested in the Baby Italia Victoria crib in white ($299). It is a special order item for Babies R Us and would take 12-16 weeks I would like to find it sooner. Does anyone know other chains that carry this? I live in Virginia but spend a lot of time in the RI/Boston area! Thanks.

kimberley
07-24-2001, 01:23 PM
Buy Buy Baby also sells Babi Italia-though I'm not sure if they're in the Boston area or not. You might try their web site though- or calling their store in Paramus, NJ. They could tell you how long it will take to arrive.
Good Luck.

princess
07-27-2001, 11:53 AM
I was at BRU yesterday and was surprised at how hard the crib sides were to lower. Especially because they were a pretty good pick in Baby Bargains. I thought I would never be able to handle holding a child in one arm and desperately trying raise my knee to get that side that would NOT go down. It's a bad sign when someone without a baby bangs her knee up trying to lower the side.

Monica
07-30-2001, 08:58 AM
It's me again. I posted before that the Babi Italia crib (Victoria) was pretty easily assembled by my husband. We finally got the changing table (Laurel sp?) and boy, was there cursing coming from the baby's room from my husband. He finally asked for my help. Beware - it took 4 hands to put this together and it was still tricky. The final outcome is very nice looking and sturdy. It was worth it (that may not be my husband's opinion however LOL).

jacquirapp
07-31-2001, 12:22 PM
We have also fallen in love with a Babi Italia crib... it's the barn door one in Amber... And the model we looked at in BRU was really easy to work with. So, we were also curious as to the ease of assembly and use at home.

Thanks for the information!

gingerbrown
07-31-2001, 01:04 PM
We just bought the Picket Fence Convertible crib -- putting it together was fairly easy until it came to putting the dropside rail in -- that was an ordeal! (Of the 1 1/2 hrs. we spent putting the crib together, over half that was on the dropside rail!) The dropside is fairly easy to work, though, and pretty quiet, too.

Ginger
edd 10/6/01

theiii
08-18-2001, 12:25 PM
LAST EDITED ON Aug-18-01 AT 11:28AM (Mountain)[p]Just tried putting together our Victoria Model crib and Laurel(sp) Model changing table. The bolts on the changing table were very hard to get lined up and several had problems threading. I found myself wanting to scream on several occasions. Finally got it together and it seems OK. The crib is a different story. The side rails on this model are supposed to be identical from what the directions are telling us; but they are not. Will have to call Monday to clarify because the drop and stationary sides have different bolting down configurations and our directions that came with the crib are not addressing the issue. So the crib is half put together and I am stuck now. Could have something to do with a change over in hardware which was mentioned by a previous poster on the board and I got a bad or old side rail. What a fun day!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck

theiii
09-09-2001, 07:07 AM
This is an update to my last message. Called Babies R Us and Babi Italia. BRU is not very helpful; we live 60 miles from the store and there answer to everything is bring it back. I know this is fair but it seems like from reading these message boards that lots of people have parts problems and they could work with you on this. Babi Italia has been helpful. You call them and leave a message on an answering machine and they call you back in 24-48 hours. (I do wish a person answered the phone there though) They agreed to ship us a whole new side rail. That was three weeks ago, will let you know when it gets here and if it solves the problem on the victoria crib. :'(

ecarley
02-14-2002, 10:03 PM
Wow, I had no idea that others had troubles putting together the Babi Italia changing table! I was in one room with our newborn patiently waiting for the husband to put it together in the other. It took over 2 hours, and he said it was quite difficult. The casters that came with it were flimsy, and we didn't even bother using them.

GreenIZ1971
02-15-2002, 01:23 PM
Hi, we got a Babi Italia from BRU at the end of Dec. Putting it together was pretty easy - no real problems.

I think it's an ok crib. I have a harder time lowering/raising the side than my husband, but I think it's my height (5 ft 6) and where I hit it with my knee. With practice, it's getting easier. He has no problem... I also have a harder time making both top sides latch, but again, my husband has no problem.

It does feel better put together in our home than it did on the BRU floor.

I like the drawer underneath, and I honestly would have gotten a Childcraft or Simmons, but the Childcrafts couldn't convert to a daybed (unless you bought the most expensive model) and the Simmons only converted with a "natural" colored conversion kit... so we felt like we didn't have many options for the money.

All in all, I think they're all about even, unless your heart is set on a certain one.

Good luck,

Alanabeth
02-25-2002, 05:58 PM
We have been looking at the Picket Fences convertible Babi Italia crib. Does anyone know how easy it is to convert to the toddler and full size bed and if it requires a conversion kit? Any other input about the crib would be helpful!

GreenIZ1971
02-25-2002, 11:32 PM
We bought one from the same group, but not that EXACT one and it had the toddler conversion kit with it. Doesn't look hard to do... just a piece of wood you put on the side after you remove the drop side. I don't think ours converts into a full size bed. I know there was one (of the 3 Babi Italias) that did.

We didn't find the crib hard to put together at all... haven't gotten to converting it yet :).

Good luck,

jojo2324
02-26-2002, 12:45 PM
I was at BRU yesterday, and we are pretty sold on the Victoria-Carlisle-sleigh-style crib. My only frustration with it is that there really doesn't seem to be a knee-release, which was to me a major selling point. My husband and I finally figured out that you have to lift up then pull out. Once I got that figured out it didn't seem to difficult. But I don't know how well that will work while holding an infant. Also, the crib was not against a wall; it was sitting parallel to another crib, so obviously it was not as steady as it would be if it was against a wall. We tried another BI crib (I think the Tiffany? It had a dresser built into it.) and that rail moved very easily, and it was against the wall. Did anyone else find that the whole knee-release concept was missing on their BI crib? I'm pretty sure it's the crib we want, so we'll end up with it anyway, and I just figured that with time and practice it would get easier.

GreenIZ1971
02-26-2002, 01:20 PM
I know the demos at BRU are abused and poorly assembled. Ours is much sturdier in our home than the demo. Plus, they don't always lock the wheels...

I have had a harder time with the knee release than my husband. He gets it easily. Sometimes I bang it all over the place, and our baby isn't even here yet... I can only imagine how clumsy I'll be later. I also noticed I was equally inept with all the other cribs... at all the other baby stores.

I think it's his height - his knee hits it in the right place. My knee is lower so I have to remember to hit it higher.

Good luck,

Alanabeth
02-26-2002, 08:29 PM
Thanks for the helpful information. I'm pretty sure that's the crib we want.

wpainter
07-25-2002, 09:10 PM
I was having a very hard time with some of the cribs and a very easy time with others. At first I thought it was horrible quality on the cribs, until I realized that some of them had gotten turned around, and the non-droppable side was facing out. Funny how easy it was to lower the sides when I found the side with the drop hardware. :)

SloanOutlaw
08-14-2002, 01:50 PM
Yes, I noticed that the original post was last year but thought I could add some information about the crib. We have a BI crib and found out that even though the quality is good, many items have left us disappointed about the crib:

1. Pain in the @#$% to put together.

2. Really hard to put together after discovering parts missing.

3. Called BI and informed them parts were missing and other broke during install (Drawer items)

4. Received replacement parts and installed them. Shoddy fit.

Now after using the crib the side rail has become easier to raise and lower. We used about everthing possible to make it slide easier.

The drawer under the crib is useful but fit is horrible, most parts have broken pieces and I have found that many miracles can be performed with drywall screws and a Milwalkee cordless drill.

Would I buy the BI crib again? Maybe, BIG maybe.