Gerber vs. Carters knit crib sheets

[daisymommy]

FYI...
I bought several of the Gerber Everyday Basics knit sheets that were rated pretty well in the Good Housekeeping crib sheet study. They fit my 5" thick Sealy mattress well when I bought them, they were super soft, and had elastic all the way around for safety. BUT THEN...I washed them on the delicate cycle in cold water and dried them on low/delicate as instructed in teh package, and they shrunk so much I couldn't even get them on the mattress anymore!
I exchanged the Gerber sheets for Carter's Starters knit crib sheet (soft like your favorite tee-shirt) with elastic all around, and washed and dried them. They fit wonderfully, with enough fabric to cover that I'm sure they won't be popping off. You can find these at BRU or the Carter's outlet.

[kathsmom]

Thank you so much for letting us know this!! My mom is helping us buy necessities for our new baby (DD is 6!). She had checked out the Carters crib sheets at an outlet, but they did not have elastic all the way around the sheet as recommended. I told her about the Gerber ones that were rated highly in the Good Housekeeping study. I hope that she has not gone out and bought them!

Did the Carter sheets that you bought have elastic all the way around them? Did you check out any of the other sheets that scored well in the GH test? I was really interested in the highest rated one - the Stay-Put sheet. Have you considered the Lands End sheets? I am still interested in these, even though they didn't score as well.

Thank you so very much for sharing this information.
Toni - mom to Katherine(5/19/96) and baby boy on the way (9/30/02)

[daisymommy]

Glad this was of use to you! Yes, the Carter's crib sheets I bought (2 at BRU and 1 at an outlet...all exactly the same) had elastic all the around. I would have loved to have bought some higher end sheets, but I was really trying to stick with a budget. The Carter's sheets seemed so nice and safe, I felt good about sticking with them. Keep in mind I only tried the knit sheets (not the regular cotton ones) so that's all I can really reccomend. They are as soft as my favorite broken in tee shirts, and a beautiful robin's egg blue!

[kathsmom]

Amy,

Thanks for the information on the Carter's sheets. I prefer the knit ones too. I don't know why the ones my mom looked at (at the outlet)did not have elastic all around. Maybe they were an older "model". I believe my mom said that she bought Nojo sheets at BRU for my brother and his wife and they seemed to like them and have good luck with those.

I may go ahead and get the Carter's Starters. I have not decided on whether or not I am getting the bumper or dust ruffle for the crib, so maybe I can "splurge" a little on getting some of the higher end sheets. Did you get a crib bedding set? If so, did you find one for a reasonable price? I am on a limited budget too and don't want to spend a fortune on crib bedding.

Thanks again, and good luck with your new baby!

Toni -mom to Katherine (5/19/96) and baby boy on the way (9/30/02)

[Tondi G]

Hi! I am a mommy to a One year old boy and was basically in the same position as you last year... I wanted good soft sheets and decent bedding but didn't want all the frills of a complete bedding set and didn't want to pay a fortune either! This is what I did... I knew I didn't need a crib comforter but I wanted a bumper... so I bought a Pottery Barn kids Seahorses quilted bumper off of E-bay for less than 40 dollars if I remember correctly... e-bay has great buys on PBK stuff and it is brand new in the packaging! Then I bought a gerber Knit sheet... YUCK.... So unhappy once it was washed and dried! I ended up splurging and going into a PBK store...and bought some sheets that were on sale.... now the elastic doesn't go all the way around but it is very secure on my mattress almost hard to get on they are so tight but once they are on they are NOT coming off (nice deep corners for my coil mattress)! I think I payed 15 dollars or less for each fitted crib sheet.... so far I have only bought 2 sheets and rotated them when one needed to be washed and they have held up beautifully! Thanks for the info on the Carters sheets.... I'll have to check them out when we head to the outlets again!!! Good Luck!

~Tondi

[daisymommy]

Yes, I did get a crib bedding set. I bought the Classic Pooh set and classic (old fashioned looking) accessories. I don't even want to think about how much I spent on it ($165 cringe) at Baby Depot. It is normally almost $200 in other stores however. It was a 4 piece set with the comforter, dust ruffle, bumper pad, and fitted sheet. I have the quilt hanging on the wall behind the crib (on a quilt rack). Normally I wouldn't have spent the money for a set like this, but my husband and I have kind of a "history" with Classic Pooh. He bought me an antique Winnie the Pooh bear for my first birthday when we got together, and each birthday after that another Pooh character (Tiger, Piglet, etc.). So, when I saw this bedding set I had to have it! :D

[kathsmom]

Amy,

Totally understand about the sentiment regarding the Classic Pooh. Actually, I think $165 is not bad compared to some of the sets I have seen while surfing the web.

I just printed the Good Housekeeping list out and I believe that Riegal makes Carters sheets. They did not score well at all on the pull test. Do they seem really secure on your crib mattress?

Tondi,

Thanks for the information about the PBK sheets. They seem to be holding up OK? They did not score well on the GH pull test either. BTW, thanks for the decorating information on my "Does Your Crib Look Naked?" post.

I know I am probably being a paranoid 2nd time mother, but I did not have any of this information when DD was born. I am surprised my daughter made it out of infanthood with all the mistakes I made!

Thanks for posting!

Toni

[daisymommy]

The Carters crib sheets fit our crib mattress snug, but not so tight that you can bearly get them on and off. There is enough "extra" fabric that it wraps around to beneath the mattress (only 1-2 inches). When you combine a snug fitting mattress with our crib, and then bumper, it doesn't seem like you could get the sheet off without undoing the whole bumper/mattress set-up. It seemed safer to me to have enough fabric to wrap to beneath the mattress, than to only have enough to cover the corners and sides. When a sheet is that tight, it more easily pops off from the tension (IMO).