What to Look for in Nursery Furniture

It's fun to pick out the color, shape and design of the nursery furniture you'll welcome your little one home to. Setting up the nursery is an important part of preparing for a new baby, and many women even find it therapeutic to pick out nursery furniture during the "nesting" period in their pregnancy. There's a lot more to picking out your nursery furniture, however, than just settling on something you like. While the aesthetic s of your nursery furniture really does make the nursery, you don't want to overlook your child's safety when you're shopping online for baby furniture. The following tips can help you make sure the nursery furniture you've fallen in love with will be safe for your baby.

Choosing Nursery Furniture:

1. Rounded corners: A sharp corner is an uninviting place to bang a little head. Looking for nursery furniture with rounded corners is one of the easiest ways to make your nursery safe for your baby. You'll be spared a few bruises, too, without all those jutting corners. Make sure that all your nursery furniture, especially places your baby will be, like the crib or the changing table, have smooth, rounded edges. Nursery furniture that's sold in sets will often have a similar design, so finding a complete set with rounded edges should be easy.

2. Sturdiness: To avoid injury, you'll want to make sure the nursery furniture you choose is good and sturdy. The crib is the most used piece of nursery furniture, so you'll want to make sure it is extra durable. Cribs are also often used until the child is about 2 years old, so it should be built sturdy enough to keep a young toddler safe as well as an infant. Avoid drop-side cribs, as they fail to provide adequate support and were banned by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

3. Safe finishes: Once your baby begins teething, he'll want to chew on everything -- including the nursery furniture. Even before this point, babies use oral sensation to learn about the world around them. For this reason, you'll want to make sure everything your baby can get his hands is safe to go in his mouth, too. Ensuring that the finishes, paints and varnishes on your nursery furniture are safe and nontoxic will help keep your baby safe.

4. Storage: Keeping your nursery free of clutter will help keep both you and your baby safe. Tripping over a toy while holding your little one is the last thing you want to do. Look for nursery furniture with plenty of storage to keep the nursery clutter-free. Some cribs have drawers underneath, and a changing table with either shelves or drawers offers a lot of storage as well. You may want to add a toy bin and hamper to your nursery furniture set to help keep the nursery clean and safe.