Ariel Stages Crib - Cognac

This bed has served its purpose very well for the last year and a half of our daughter's life! My only regret by buying this bed is the fact that she's old enough to convert the bed (being that she climbed out today!), and my only option without buying a NEW bed is to convert this one to a full size and buy new mattresses.....

My husband put this together over the weekend. There was a bit of damage to it here and there but nothing major. The main issue was with the screws. The screws holding the decorative bar in the front and the back of the crib, screw in from the inside of the crib, so it is open and visible to the baby. We contacted Storkcraft about getting something to cover this up, however we were told that anything placed in the screw holes would be a choking hazard...definitely something we don't want! However, its just a strange place to put the screws. Everything else is pretty and the screws are hidden except at the top part of the crib in the front and back. There is no way to cover these up with the baby bumper or anything like that as it is at the top of the crib. Additionally, at the bottom of the crib, where the mattress is, it is pretty flimsy, there are only two "reinforcement" bars on the front and back of the area that holds up the mattress, other than that it is a flimsy piece of MDF screwed in at the sides. ~The old metal white cribs were more sturdy than this, just not as pretty.

This crib looks better in the picture than in person. If the construction was more solid it would be a better value. The cam locks don't secure the top rails very tightly and they wobble a little. The way its packaged is another issue-we have 3 pieces being replaced because of the way it banged around in the box during shipment. It matches 2 other pieces we purchased-for the most part-but seems to scratch easily. I was expecting a metal mattress support, but the one that came w/ it is a very thick composite board of some type. We selected this w/ the anticipation of it lasting into the teen years, but w/ a boy using it, I'm not so sure

We were very happy with this crib! After looking in many baby stores and seeing how much one similar to this costs, we were glad we didn't spend the extra money on the expensive cribs. Site to store was fast and easy. It was easy to assemble, about an hour with both my husband and myself. All parts and pieces were included as well. We were concerned after reading reviews about the directions going on the bottom of the bed. Once we got the crib and read the directions ourselves, it says that the instructions go on top, which will be covered by a mattress anyway. Overall, we were very satistfied.

Crib looks great all put together... Keep in mind, this is not a drop front crib. That was something that I over-looked. The matress raises high enough that it dosent appear to be a problem. The wood is a beautiful color and very sturdy. I was impressed for the price. I also purchaed the glider/rocker combo and the changing table the colors matched perfectly. The only thing that the manufacturer could improve on is including the little wood inserts to cover the screws. But still WAY WORTH THE MONEY!