Best Nursery Rocking Chair (and other nursery furniture)?

August 21, 2014 3:48 PM

My husband and I are expecting a baby in December and we've realized it's time to get serious about getting furniture for the nursery. We're specifically looking for a great rocking chair, but we're also looking for recommendations for cribs, dressers, strollers, car seats, etc.

Basically, we're looking for a great rocking chair for our nursery. I like the look of a glider rather than a traditional rocker. I love something like this.

My husband is a bigger guy (6'3") so we need something on the bigger side.

My in-laws have offered to buy us the rocking chair for the nursery, but I'm not sure exactly how much they're thinking about spending. I'm guessing probably under $400. But for an amazing chair, we may be willing to kick in extra.

People of Mefi, do you have any amazing chair recommendations for us?

Bonus points for recommendations for cribs, dressers, strollers, or car seats that you've loved.

posted by McPuppington the Third to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Our mother-in-law got us this crib from Land of Nod. It is, by far, the best furniture in the apartment. It's clean-looking, sturdy, and easy-to-clean. Land of Nod seems to make good, albeit pricey, stuff in general.

If you get a dresser, I think it's worth installing a changing tray on top of it. It's super handy to have a concave surface in which to put the baby while changing them.

For car seats, the NTHSA has a list of safe car seats, sorted by installation difficulty. Installation difficulty is not something to sneeze at, especially if you have an older car. To get ours installed, we each spent about an hour failing to get it snug, then went to the police station, where a guy that had been installing car seats for years spent an hour getting it in. He eventually had to stuff foam cylinders in between the car seat and car's seat to get it snug.
posted by ignignokt at 4:03 PM on August 21, 2014

my recommendation is to get a plush comfy recliner chair - rocking optional, but the real advantage is the ability to recline as far as possible, have your elbows supported, and also to have your feet up. Why? Because often baby will require holding when you are very very sleepy, and the ability to comfortably hold baby while nodding off yourself will be critical to everyone's happiness.

I never once successfully used the "glider" we originally had in Baby #1's nursery because it didn't have these features and my kid wasn't interested in being rocked, she was interested in eating constantly and sleeping in my arms. I threw the chair out after the first time I tried to use it to nurse her.
posted by fingersandtoes at 4:04 PM on August 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

We splurged on a cozy swivel/rocker recliner, and it has been amazing for the reasons fingersandtoes gave.

For a crib, we went with a convertible one that can be a toddler daybed & eventually a full sized frame. The dresser is an IKEA EXPEDIT on its side, with feet, and some drawers and doors. Having a room that would transition through childhood seemed like a good idea.
posted by bizzyb at 5:21 PM on August 21, 2014

I love our Britax B-Safe car seat and B-Agile stroller. The car seat snaps super easily into the stroller or the car seat base, and is pretty easy to use without the base if you have to switch cars with it. The stroller is easy to maneuver in tight spaces (even if you don't go with the Britax, I strongly recommend a 3-wheeled stroller) and doesn't have an axle connecting the rear wheels, so you don't end up kicking it. The storage space underneath isn't great, but it's okay and I've found we can hang most diaper bags on the handle without too much hassle. We also have the stroller organizer, which is basically two cup holders and a little pocket.
posted by Night_owl at 5:50 PM on August 21, 2014

Uppababy uppababy uppababy uppababy. We have the Mesa car seat and the Vista stroller and they work like a dream. I mean it. Worth every penny. If I had to pay double for the stroller I would.

We used our changing table exactly once and that was the day we got home from the hospital and our baby proceeded to spray poop on the wall. We change her on the couch or in her crib, the changing table is a complete and utter waste of space.
posted by lydhre at 7:40 PM on August 21, 2014

oh, lydhre reminded me. I'm in a tiny minority on this in this country, but I find changing tables and diaper pails full of dirty diapers in bedrooms to be unacceptable. If you have room in your bathroom, this is a much much better solution - much cleaner all around, feces can go straight into the toilet and not rot in the pail, you can use running water to clean your baby's bottom and avoid diaper rash, and have the soap and water handy for all the times that you'll need it. Plus the bath setup is useful.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:47 PM on August 21, 2014

Dutlier glider for the rocking chair. Best thing ever.
posted by k8t at 5:30 AM on August 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Lucieslist.com is a great resource for understanding and evaluating baby gear. I don't remember seeing rockers there though.

The x for that sign up page is in the you left corner, but it's a great little newsletter.
posted by SLC Mom at 6:26 AM on August 22, 2014

Highly recommend Storytime rockers over Dutailier. Much more comfortable and 60% of the price, $399 vs $699. And the ottoman is included with the Storytime, not sure on Dutailier. Storytime is the only wood rocker that I found to be as comfortable as an upholstered chair rocker (~$1000 for upholstered chair with ottoman).

Also, via my sit tests, none of these will be tall enough for your husband to rest his head back, not even Dutailier tall, so I would just get what is tall enough for you. And you'll probably be the one passing out with exhaustion in the rocker the most. Hard to compensate for being the one with the boobs. ;)

Link: http://www.besthf.com/best/Storytime/Glider-Rockers/items

Also, this is an amazing book for helping sift through the mountain of options for baby products. I don't know how we would've outfitted ourselves without it. (Well, it would've just been more expensive and with worse options.) Book, 'Baby Bargains, 2013': http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Bargains-furniture-strollers-maternity/dp/1889392448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409061385&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+bargains

For cribs, we have the Jenny Lind crib in white. Beautiful crib and amazing price, ~$175. http://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Lind-Baby-Crib-Color/dp/B00GZ6K7FG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1409061483&sr=8-6&keywords=jenny+lind+crib
posted by mirabelle at 6:59 AM on August 26, 2014