Sorelle Rita or Simmons Matino?

[GonzoPippi]

Okay, I've been tearing my hair out for months, but I think I've narrowed it down to these two cribs. The Rita has a drawer underneath, which is nice, but I've been told (by a 12 year old Babies 'R Us employee) that the wood shrinks in dry climates (I live in Colorado). I've seen the Rita in disrepair at several stores, but I don't know if it's the stores or the crib that's the problem. I don't like the look of the Matino as much, but it seems a little sturdier. Also, it appears that the Rita does not have locking casters, but the Matino appears to. I have carpet, so I don't know how much that matters. I've heard complaints about lowering the mattress height on the Simmons, that the screws are flimsy. But I've heard similar problems about the Rita. Can anybody give me an opinion on these two? Do you have one? Are you happy? I am determined to make a decision this week, so help me g-d.

TIA for any advice. (:
Laura

[amp]

Do a search in this forum for Sorelle Rita and you will find several threads, some of them recent, discussing both the good and the bad of this company and crib. (I know, because I contributed to some of them).

[GonzoPippi]

Okay, maybe you can help me. How many different mattress heights does the Rita have? They never tell you in the ads.

(:
Laura

[booboo1]

We purchased the Rita and put it together last weekend - it took only a half hour and the directions were very clear. I believe, if memory serves me correctly, that is has 3 different mattress heights.

Also - the one we saw in the store was in good shape - we're pleased with ours - it seems really sturdy.

I don't know about the casters - we have hardwood floors, so we didn't put the rollers on.

Good luck with your decision

[amp]

We aren't using the castors on our Sorelle crib either and it's on carpet. We didn't see any need to move it too much, and if we really need to, we can lift it fairly easily.

[kozachka]

We have ordered a different Sorelle crib but they are all very similar in design. I was also considering a Simmons crib but decided against it. So maybe my thought process will help you. Sorelle cribs that we saw had hidden hardware vs. plastic sliders on Simmons and Child Craft. And their mattress support looked sturdier, in my opinion. Otherwise they are the same.

Kozachka

[jmofarrill]

We have the Rita, but dd sleeps with us right now. We are going to move the crib into our room soon and start trying to get dd to sleep part of the night in the crib before coming to our bed. It has 3 mattress height adjustments, and all of our casters do lock. I'm in a humid climate (SoFL), so I don't know about the wood shrinking. It's really sturdy, esp. with the drawer underneath.

HTH,

[sarsah]

I have a Simmons Matino II crib which I got from BRU 3 1/2 years ago. DS #1 used it for just over 2 years (he was a very tall child and could flip over the rail very easily so we moved him to a big bed). DS #2 has been sleeping in it for the past 5 months.

It's been a great crib for us -- no problems and seems very sturdy. DS #1 used to jump in it quite a bit and we never had a problem. DS #2 is only 5 months old, so no jumping yet <lol>. The crib has been taken apart and reassembled several times with no problem, even without using the instructions. We haven't moved the matterss for DS #2 yet, but I moved it by myself several times for DS#1 without any problem.

Sarah.......Jason & Devin's Mommie