No matter how old your child gets, you’re going to want to make sure that they have the best sleeping arrangements possible. Some parents believe in having their child sleep with them, but this poses some safety risks that other parents would like to avoid. It’s one thing if you really do want your child to sleep with you for a while. However, there will come a time where it’s better to get them a crib for their own needs. If you look at it from the right perspective, you’re actually planting the initial seeds of independence that your child will need later down the line. You might not realize this, but your child actually does do a lot of learning about the world through these initial moments. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s actually much more important than you think.

So, if your child is ready for the crib, how do you actually go about getting a great crib? You might not realize it at first, but the crib that you choose for your child really does matter.

If you’re not sure what type of crib to get or what points that you need to consider, here’s a few things that you need to know.

First and foremost, you will need to make sure that you are thinking about space considerations. We don’t want to down anyone’s living situation, but you might have a more cramped space than you realize…until the crib is delivered. You want to at least measure the space where the crib will go. If you’re ordering online, then this is actually the best thing that you can do. If you don’t measure, you will always worry that you actually wont’ have enough space for your baby to sleep soundly through the night. Of course, you will want to pick a section of the house that doesn’t have a lot of noise pollution. Babies are easily awakened, which means that you’ll have to minimize noise from every angle.

As far as the actual considerations for the crib, you need to put safety above everything else. This means that those cribs with the big decorative cutouts really aren’t safe for your baby. It’s too easy for your child to get their head caught. In addition, you might think about getting an antique crib or even accepting the crib that your parents saved from the days when you were a small child, but this is a bad idea. There is the possibility of lead paint, and even if you paint over it with safe paint it’s still a bad idea. The child can chew on the paint and cause it to flake away. Lead paint is very dangerous, as it can cause a host of different problems with your child. It’s just smarter to make sure that you really avoid this by getting a new crib.

Don’t forget that when you purchase the crib, you will also need to make sure that you purchase a crib mattress. These are not usually included with the crib, which can be a shock when parents are used to having everything put together in one package.

No matter if you’re going to order online or offline, you really want to make sure that you’re going to be able to return the crib if it doesn’t work out for you.

If this guide sounds straightforward, then it’s definitely meant to — go out there and get a great crib for your baby!