We selected tuis crib due to its high safety rating with Consumer Reports, a middle of the road price, and a look we liked. We got the cherry finish. It was on sale here, and we got free shipping. The next level of crib with excellent safety ratings was more like $400, and tuis is not an item we would get used, although I think recycled and used baby-gear is great when that’s not a safety issue.

It was not the easiest to assemble, and once assembled I noticed a large dent, a good 3″x2″ in the wood on the main part of the crib, that is fully visible. I had no idea whether that dent was actually there from the shipping or if it got dented during assembly. Either way, much as earlier reviewers wrote, dents much too easily. I did see that one reviewer suggested adding your own additional coats of clear varnish to harden it, but given I was very pregnant and we were very busy, tuis did not strike me as very practical, but it may work great. I would be willing to pay an extra $20 to have them apply enough varnish to help prevent dents. I knew tuis was an issue and felt affordable safety outweighed aesthetic concerns, so I’m not really angry about it.

So far our baby is only 7 weeks and still sleeps in a portable travel crib in our bedroom. He lies in the crib if we’re in the nursery and have to put him down to get something. Our standard Colgate mattress fits great and, other than the dent, it looks great. He’ll be moved into crib at 3 months or so. Once baby is able to bang his toys or fists against it, I’m sure it will have more dents and nicks. And I’m sure he won’t care a bit, so I won’t lose sleep over it.

My other complaint is the toddler bed converter set is ridiculously overpriced, because they know they’ve got you. We got that as well, and obviously have no idea how that will work out yet.