Baby furniture Q: Babi Italia?

[Jill123]

I was going to post this on the Pregnancy Thread, but thought I'd get more responses from those of you who aren't currently expecting...

Have you had any experience (or know of anyone who's had any experience) with Babi Italia baby furniture?

DH and I are looking at purchasing some of their furniture but we've never heard of this brand before. Granted, it's sold at Babies R Us, so it can't be awful, but I was hoping someone on the BB could provide us with some testimonials (or warnings!) on Babi Italia furniture.

Can anyone help?

[AnnaSue]

Do you have the book Baby Bargains? It is a book that compares different brands and features of a whole bunch of baby items and gives recommendations etc. I remember reading a lot about that brand when we were looking for a crib, but I can't remember specifically what they said about them. If I remember right, they got pretty good ratings. I thought that book was extremely helpful in helping to give me an idea of what to look for etc., but I didn't always necessarily agree with their top choices. You may find some good information though on the products you are considering, and find the book helpful as a guideline in making your choices.

[Julia1Pin]

We have a Baby Italia crib and a matching changind table. I love it. It's really simple and elegant and the wood is a nice light maple. It fits our tastes and definately our budget.

The crib is multi functional and has an attached dresser, drawers underneath the bad and converts into a full size bed.

I read Baby Bargains also and they recommended this brand (one of the reasons, other than aesthetics) that I got it.

If oyu go on www.BabyBargains.com and go to their community page there may be more people who have opinions on this.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[paula]

I bought Babi Italia from BRU based largely on the recommendation of Baby Bargains. I have been hugely disappointed in the quality of the furniture.

I bought a combo dresser, a regular tall 4-drawer dresser, and two cribs, and have had quality issues with every piece. One drawer on the combo did not align such that it has to be lifted slightly to close the drawer beneath. We still hassle with this daily. The dresser arrived cracked, and was replaced by BRU, but not without a ton of hassle and a hugh delay. The replacement piece was delivered weeks late and literally the day that I was in labor (fortunately my sister could meet the truck...) It arrived with two (out of four) drawers that were about 1/4 inch too narrow for the glides. As a result, they regularly and violently fell off the glides. Due to the horrible timing issues, I was in no position to fight with BRU, so we removed the glides and inserted a 1/4 inch wooden "spacer" between the wall of the unit and the glide. The drawers on my cribs also fall off the gliders on a regular basis, but we can't fix them without completely disassembling the crib. Now, they tend to live on the floor instead of on the glides. (I have posted before that these drawers are a very inefficient use of space and I don't recommend under crib drawers.) I have also had issues with the drop sides. Occassionally, when I drop the side, the pin the hold the side into a groove falls out of the groove and requires 15 min and a screwdriver to replace.

Overall, although the Babi Italia furniture looks nice, I have been very disappointed with the quality. I expected much better for what I paid.

Paula

[Luv to Cook]

We have Babi Italia and are happy with it. We have the combo unit and a crib. So far no problems.

Anita