Domusindo cribs at JC Penney

[californiamom]

Hi everybody,

I am new here. I am expecting my first baby (due December 19).

I was wondering if any of you has any experience with the Domusindo cribs/furniture sold through JC Penney catalog? I know Baby Bargains give a pretty good rate to their cribs (A-) but DH and I are still hesitant about buying a crib that we've never seen or touched before.

Are they sturdy enough? Is the drop side easy enough to handle with one hand only or is it one of those that always get stuck and is so hard to operate?

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

PS: Oh, here's the link to the crib I am considering:
http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/Products.aspx?DeptID=327&CatID=8133&CatTyp=DEP&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=STY&ItemID=077c726&ProdSeq=16&OffSet=16&ProdCount=18&Cat=cribs-beds&Dep=children%27s&PCat=furniture&PCatID=4242&RefPage=ProductList&Sale=&NumMatches=18&RecPtr=&SearchIn=0&ShowMenu=&TTYP=&ShopBy=0&PersistenceID=&RecordID=&SearchString=

[BroncoGuy]

We have a very similar one to yours. From the picture, yours is the one with spindles and our has the slats. Both are the convertible sleigh crib, though.

Our son is due in November, so we have not used it yet, but I have done the things one would be able to do in a store when making a decision on a crib.

The crib is very sturdy and the wood quite heavy. I was impressed with its strength and density. The drop side is operational with one hand, but does require you to push it down...it does not drop on its own. Putting it back in position works well and is reasonably quiet as well. (I found many cribs, even pretty expensive ones, would snap back into position and create a noise that certainly seemed like it would wake a light sleeping newborn.

My only complaint with the crib is the sleeping platform. I was really hoping for a spring support, but this crib uses plywood. Now, that plywood is 3/4", I believe, and would hold as many kids as you could fit on it all jumping up and down at the same time. It is not going to break or fail to provide support. Just get a good mattress, I guess.

We did buy the drawer kit, but have not yet put it together. We have almost completed a pretty small remodeling project on the house and I still need to get the crib back together (had to take it apart to remove it from the room and store it in the garage) and put the rest of the stuff together too (we also got the armoire and the changing tower with hutch.)

As far as I know, JCPenney is the only place to get this crib.

I did run into some trouble putting the changing tower together. One of the pieces was damaged and could not be used. JCPenney customer service gave me the right number to call and I was able to get a replacement piece (that is perfect), but it did take just over a week to get it.

Our big issue with getting the stuff from JCPenney was the unrefundable shipping costs. To have it shipped to our home would have been over $250. Having it shipped to a local catalog desk cost only $99, but that was still more than we were willing to spend to just find out if we liked the furniture. Someone on the Baby Bargains message board mentioned that www.currentcodes.com may have some help. I went there and found a jcpenney.com coupon code for free shipping. We went with that. I checked yesterday and there are some coupons that may help you out on that site.

We did wind up with one other problem. The crib we ordered and selected on the website was the sleigh crib with slats, but the item# included on the shopping cart however was for the crib you are looking at...the one with spindles. I did not even think to check it when I placed the order, but when we picked the stuff up, my wife had the catalog and was checking the item#'s on the boxes. She noticed the crib was incorrect and we had to re-order it. Just be careful, I guess. It would have really been tough to get the boxes home (the crib box is about 4'x5'x1', so be sure to not expect to fit it into a car) and realize the error there and have to return it after removing it from the packaging.

Good luck.