Probably the most important item of baby furniture in the nusery is the baby's crib. All the decor and furniture plays its part, of course, but much of that is for the convenience and visual pleasure of the parents, plus an element of teaching baby. While the crib can fulfil both those roles, it is also a place where your baby will be spending a great deal of time, and do much of her early growing up.

It is quite easy to make a baby comfortable lying down when first born, but as she grows you need to think beyond that. As she becomes mobile, safety becomes a major issue. She will also be tempted to chew the crib when she starts teething. For those reasons, you want to choose a design that prevents her getting out of the crib too easily, and also one that uses a non toxic paint.

It is difficult to imagine, when you first bring a newborn baby home, that before long they will be mobile, and if you have not had a baby before, then you may be taken by surprise. Even if she is not your first baby, a surprise or two may be in store.

When our baby daughter was born, I had to share her room during the day, as it was the only place I could have my computer for working. I was very lucky, as I saw an awful lot of her growing up, as she would spend much time in the crib, and when a bit older, would chat to me after each time she woke.

I will never forget one day when she was standing up in the crib, chatting to me in the usual way. I was expecting someone from the telephone company to come because of internet problems. A knock at the door sent me scurrying downstairs; our baby had never shown any inclination to climb out of the crib. As I reached the front door, I did hear a small thud upstairs, and assumed it was a toy thrust from the crib by Saffron. I led the two technicians back to the baby's room, but when I went in the room I was totally dumbfounded. Standing in front of me, on the floor, was a bemused baby, as still as a statue, staring up at me, with a very strange what's happened to me Dad? smile on her face.

It took a moment for the whole scene to actually register, but I picked her up, and put her back in the crib. She remained remarkably quiet for a long, long time, and she never did that again, so obviously did not find the "thud" part of the experience one she wanted to repeat. Incidentally, that was a well designed crib, but with an adventurous baby who is a born climber, there is not so much you can do to stop them once they reach a certain age. She was unharmed, but could so easily have hurt herself. Another thing to bear in mind as baby grows, is that toys left in the crib can become a hazard, as the baby will soon figure out that larger toys can be used as a step to make it easier to escape from the crib.

In choosing a crib, also be sure to buy one with easy access for you as parents. A drop side is very helpful, to make it easy to put the baby in, and get her out again. Some cribs can be very deep, so reaching down too far may not be appreciated in the middle of the night, when you just want to get baby fed and back to sleep; it is far easier to drop the side of the crib, and pick her out comfortably. With some cribs, you can also save money long term by choosing one that converts to a bed, so that is worth bearing in mind when working out your baby furniture budget.