I love hearing reviews of ikea products, especially since I’ve looked at this before and wondered if its worth it. Thanks! Also it makes me wish I had older sisters or siblings. When we start a family we will have zero hand me downs. Les sigh.

Love IKEA!! Was going to head down yesterday and glad we didn’t know because of that awful accident in Middletown. You can see from my email address that we’re close to y’all. Actually in Huber where you did part of your ‘staycation’. :) Reason for this comment… Just drowning in Mabry’s eyes in the very last picture. She gets more beautiful every day…

Though we’re not looking to start a family anytime soon, I’m glad I read this! I had been wondering if Ikea cribs fit a standard crib mattress, and about the stability.

We have the Gulliver crib as well and it’s on it’s second use. My older daughter used it until she was 2 years 3 months and now my younger daughter is using it (3 months). We converted it to a toddler bed just before my oldest turned 2 when she started escaping. I has held up so well! If my older daughter was still using it as a crib when her little sister came along we were planning on just buying another one!

We have the Ikea Sundvik crib….baby’s only 5 days old, but so far so good. When I see super expensive (or even moderately more expensive than Ikea) cribs online, I just….don’t get what’s so much better about them. My first three kids all slept in a $30 Jenny Lind garage sale find; it was cute and held up great (then I sold it for as much as I paid for it when I thought we were done with babies). I’m glad to hear dropping the mattress down is pretty easy; that’s the only thing I was a bit worried about.

Great to know! I was just thinking the other day I’m glad I didn’t splurge on the crib I initially wanted as my little guy is now EATING the sides. Not a great look! Great to know for #2 for sure.

I just wanted to say that I love Mabrey pictures. She had got to be one of the cutest babies I have EVER seen! And she is so photogenic! :)

We have an Ikea dresser for our youngest. It doubles as a changing table on top. So much easier having everything right there in one space, versus havign a changing table and dresser. Love Ikea!

This review could not have been more timely! It’s rather difficult (I think) to find reviews on IKEA products. We just went to IKEA yesterday to check out cribs and decided on the Sundvik model, which we liked a bit more (just aesthetically because of the front/back solid boards) than the Gulliver. I’m so glad to hear that it’s held up well and hopefully, the Sundvik model has the same durability. I’ll be sure to post a review once we actually use it. Thanks again! :)

I am, thankfully, out of the crib stage and only have older siblings, so no one to pass one along to anyway. I just wanted to say that you and HH have super cute kids!! ;-)

I’m happy to hear there is a clean-lined, neutral crib out there that isn’t outrageously expensive. I always loved this one, so it’s great to hear that it passed all of your tests. When we start a family in the future, I’ll have to keep it in mind.

PS-how is Mabrey so big already?!?! I feel like time is flying! She is gorgeous, just like her Mama.

dana, i have twin girls and am the proud owner of two of these cribs! i, too, love them. my two older boys had the traditional (i.e. expensive) wooden cribs with the storage below but we needed to fit two cribs into one small nursery so we went with this one. turns out my girls are climbers, so having a crib so low to the ground has been a blessing. we’re just about to convert to the toddler beds as my “babies” are now two and ready. for anyone looking for a modern, inexpensive crib, this one is a sure thing.

I have an IKEA crib for my son and I love it! Easy to assemble and lower the mattress. Soon I will be converting it, but I’m not at all worried.

Thanks for this review. I want to have a baby soon and this crib is excatly what I need.

We have a Gulliver and I have no complaints! It is really sturdy and highly rated for safety. It does the job well. Great for homes with small bedrooms.

I got a little freaky about the crib and spent close to $1000 with mattress/shipping/full bed conversion kit. My kid was out of that thing and into a twin bed by 18 months. Expensive mistake. I was able to sell it (so much for that never used conversion kit) but it was still an unnecessary cash outlay. My friends had kids who stayed in cribs until 3+ so I was trying to get a solid tank of a crib to take major temper tantrums etc. I would never recommend that anyone follow in my footsteps but it’s really hard on your first kid not to get scared. I say spend the money on the car seat and just check the recall lists to make sure the crib you are using (especially second hand) is considered safe.

We had a Gulliver crib way back in 1989 when my daughter was born. It was smaller then, and had a little mattress. We used it for her and the next 2 babies, and then passed it to a friend, it was a wonderful crib.

I love seeing pictures of Mabrey. My little one is almost 9 months too and we’re loving the simplicity of the crib!

it’s pretty unfair for her to be so stinking adorable. It makes it hard for other baby girls to not get insecure. you need a sign in her room that says ‘don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.’ so not kidding :)

first, mabrey is so adorable. second, we also use the gulliver for our 20 month old daughter, hadley. it has held up beautifully. we plan to convert to the toddler bed in a few months. the clean lines, solid white, and price were the reasons we went with the gulliver.

Thanks for such a quick response on my question Dana! Very helpful

Where did you get your crib bumper and do you like it? We have a different crib and my little one will inevitably get her feet stuck in the bars and I am on the hunt for a plush bumper.

So glad to see this post as we’re about to buy a new crib for baby #2 and I’ve been looking at the Ikea cribs. Two questions…did you use an Ikea crib mattress? And did you have to get a special bumper made since the crib is smaller? Thanks! :)

Nope and nope. I used the same crib mattress we had with our boys when they were babies. It was one of the only baby things I still had on hand when we found out we were expecting #3. I think I originally got it at Target. It’s over 8 years old and still going strong. The bumper pad is a standard size as well.

It’s Carters super soft bumper in white. I really like it. I was looking for something neutral with no pattern. In my dream world, I would have loved a linen bumper pad but they are too expensive for something we won’t use that long. This cushy white one is great and was a steal at $30.

I think she’s pretty cute too but I thought maybe I was biased ;)

I know! She is growing so fast. It seemed like the first six months were long and difficult but since then time has flown. I’m trying to soak up her babyness while it lasts.

Hear, hear! We have the gulliver too, and it’s still going strong. The frame is compact but sturdy and our biiiiig 2y4mth son still fits without a problem. And (at least here in Australia) it has consistently received one of the highest safety ratings. Win-win.

Thanks for replying so quick!!! :) LOVE Mabrey’s nursery! And she’s adorable!

I have the same crib for my little guy (21 months). It’s been amazing. He actually attemped to climb out when he was just 13 months old and obviously went crashing to the floor, but was totally fine thanks to the smaller distance from rail to floor than a more standard crib has. I honestly think that if he hadn’t scared his sister into screaming her head off for me to “Get in here!!! He felled out ‘da crib! He felled out ‘da crib!” which in turn terrified him, that we would have had to convert to a toddler bed the next night. Can you imagine a 13 month old in a toddler bed? Terrible…anyway, long way of saying, I couldn’t agree more, great crib, love the look, function and price tag. Just wish I’d thought of Ikea when I was buying my first crib!

I like the gulliver. Since we don’t live close to an IKEA, we purchased the Storkcraft Sheffield from Walmart. It was $99 and has similar, clean lines. We love it and plan to use it for our next few little ones, too.

Thanks so much for this review! I am due in May with our first so we are shopping for a crib and everything else. I couldn’t believe the price on this after shopping Target and BabiesRus with prices in the $300-$500 range!! Glad to know it is also a sturdy reliable piece. So glad to hear others chime in as well about it. Thank you Dana and everyone!

This crib looks great, and Mabrey is adorable! We just bought and assembled the Baby Mod Modena crib in the cool grey for $200, from Wal-Mart of all places (baby isn’t due until April). We love the clean lines, that it has a non-toxic finish, and price tag, but $100 would have been even better!

Lots of love for our two gulliver cribs! Our first daughter was using her gulliver as a toddler bed when we were expecting our 2nd (and she still is!) so we bought another one for the new baby- that’s how much we love it. super sturdy, clean lines, convertible…cheap! what’s not to love!?

Our nursery is about the same size as yours ( just 102 sq. ft.), and we bought the IKEA Sundvik crib, although I’m pretty sure we would have made the same choice even if the room were larger. Our little guy is 7 weeks old, but we haven’t used the crib yet, since his room is in the final stages of construction. Hopefully I’ll have good things to say about it soon! :)

I had commented on another post of yours a few months ago asking how you liked it. Based partially on your glowing review we picked up two nearly identical cribs – the Hensvik – at Ikea. Our twins are not here yet, but they look darling in the room! Of course we still need another mattress, bedding, and a rug but we’ll get there!

We have a 10’x10′ room and we are squeezing the twins AND my four year old daughter in there. Yikes! But it all fits and everyone who has been in there says it looks big. Gosh actually I’m so giddy about it that I posted a quick post on my blog with some photos if you want to see them. (pardon my horrible cell phone pics, I’m not a pro blogger, haha).

If you have a Flickr or blog I’d LOVE to see how you’re managing to squeeze 3 kids in a room so small and make it look spacious — I definitely need some help in that department! (Though I’ve only got 2).

I’m way past the crib years but I just wanted to tell you I love the last picture, she looks so beautiful.
Mabrey, not the crib :-)

Hey mama, spacious is probably an overstatement! It does look bigger than 10′ x 10′ in my opinion though :) My name above should be linked, but here is a direct url to the post: http://homewithcatherine.blogspot.com/2013/01/we-are-waiting.html

We just got the Gulliver for our second child who is 7 months. We put it up in our room for now, till he moves in with his older sister later, and he’s been sleeping in it for the past twoish months. I love it! We put the mattress from my daughter’s old crib we sold when we moved her to a toddler bed in it. I have a question though. Does your mattress leave a gap on one end when pushed all the way to one end? The first mattress we put in there left a pretty large gap and its a standard size mattress so we put another one on there (also standard size) and the gap isn’t so bad but its still there. I’m not too worried about it, its more of an eyesore to me than anything.

No mattress gaps here!

Thanks for the updates. We too have that crib for our third baby and I didn’t realize it was so popular.

Just wondering, did you have a hard time getting the ikea stickers off the railings? I really should get them all off, but it’s been really hard. Any advice on this or is it just time and elbow grease. ;)

Yes! Those stickers were a pain. I used a bunch of Goo Gone and it took forever but all of the stickers came off. I guess IKEA wants to make sure consumers see those warnings before putting a baby in the crib.

You have a great model! :-) Thanks for your reviews of IKEA products; it’s really helpful for me, since we don’t live quite as close to one of their stores. I like to know others’ opinions before I buy something from them.

I went to Ikea over the weekend to look at this crib after reading your review. I was very surprised when I saw it in person because it practically look like it was on the floor instead of on legs. Are there different heights that you can set it up besides just make the mattress higher?

Only the mattress moves up and down…not the legs. I’m on the short side so I prefer a lower crib. It’s really difficult to lift a 20 lb baby up and over the side rail when the crib sits up even higher.

Hi,
I have the sniglar from ikea and its very similar to the gulliver. The carters bumper works perfectly with it. I wanted to ask where you purchased the sheets? Thanks for the review.

Sheets are from Amazon!

Hi there,

My question relates to the last one posted. I’m curious which sheets, specifically, you got on Amazon.

I have the Vyssa Sloa mattress and both the sheets I purchased from Wal-Mart and Target are now too small after washing and drying them – and this mattress is only 3″ thick!

I’m considering trying out the sheets from Ikea – but I’ve heard they are jersey cotton and I really don’t like jersey cotton. Hoping I can find something else that works and soon. Baby is due in a month!

Thanks!

Our crib mattress doesn’t hail from Ikea. It’s from Target {9 years ago!} and was the one we used with our older kids that somehow didn’t get purged over the years. I have two fitted sheets {one dirty, one clean} and a mattress pad/protector. I haven’t had any experience with Ikea crib sheets. Sorry, that probably doesn’t help much!

I had been eyeing this crib at ikea even before I was pregnant. I just over the look and how sturdy it felt. However, my sister convinced me NOT to buy a crib and gave me a play yard instead. BIG mistake! Baby hated the play yard and therefore we ended up co sleeping instead. Not that I minded though I lived having baby so close, but like all babies do, he grew! and soon enough we knew he needed his own bed. So….. To ikea we went and to our surprise it was SOLD OUT! Had to make several different trips before finally getting it. I absolutely love it. It looks beautiful in our bedroom and because we saved so much money we were able to splurge on an organic mattress and now we all get to sleep like babies :)

Hi there,

Not sure if you are still checking this post, but thank you for the wonderful review!

We are thinking of getting this crib, but were worried after seeing various reviews online that said the fiberboard base of the crib grew mold. Has this been a problem for you? I’m guessing not, but thought I’d ask!

Thanks!

Hmmmm…I’m guessing if there was a mold issue in other households it was probably from leaky diapers or baby vomit seeping below the mattress??? I’m not really sure how else fiberboard could grow mold. This is NOT an issue for us. We do have the occasional diaper leak – not often – but I use an absorbent mattress pad, a waterproof crib mattress from Target and I change the sheet as soon as possible after a leak. Again, mold has never been an issue.

Thanks so much for the reply! This has given me the peace of mind to go out and get the crib.

Thank you again, and I love your blog!

Everything is beautiful. Can you explain why you use bumpers? I feel like it is not good to share this on the internet where people will see the pic, want it, and not realize the dangers of a bumper. Thank you.

[…] ^There’s nothing boring about a streamlined crib against dark walls and being surrounded by accessories with pops of colour and texture.  Image from Housetweeking. […]

For future readers and commenters: I bought an Ikea Sundvik cot for my son and experienced the mold growth issue on the bottom of the fibreboard base. There were no leaky diapers or vomit issues with my son (thank goodness). The mold was not between the mattress and the base, it was only on the underside of the base. It was simply from increased moisture in the house during the winter when we weren’t able to open the windows as frequently. There was a huge difference between the warm, moist, heated air inside and the cold wooden floorboards (this was a rental, it was our first year living in it, the floor was probably poorly insulated), resulting in condensation. If a person wants to buy one of these cots, they need to take into account the way their home is built and whether they’ve had any previous moisture problems. A house with no problems, most likely won’t cause problems for the fiberboard base.