Does the new bundle of joy need a space of his or her own…but you don’t have a lot of space? Maybe, like me, you don’t want to be the person who just uses the crib as a new storage unit once you find out the child is not interested in sleeping alone. Well Korea has two quite amazing options.
Purchasing: Petitlapin (www.petitlapin.co.kr, 032.767.1394 or petitlapin@petitlapin@co.kr) This company sells very nice wooden, cribs, toddler beds and nursery furniture. The cribs range from 356,000 to 498,000won. Toddler beds from 132,00 to 299,000won and specialty car/designer or bunk beds from 430,000~1,200,00o won. It seems these beds are made in Korea and only available for purchase.
Rental/Purchase: I have never thought about renting a crib but the freedom to do so (and not have to worry about what I’d do with the crib when I want to leave Korea…is tempting) . The Ange Company (www.angeco.kr, 02.333.4650) imports cribs from Italy and Japan and gives you the option to rent or purchase the item as you need. The most expensive crib for purchase cost 2,010,000won to buy or you can rent it for 270,000(1month)~450,000(1 year) depending on your need. They don’t sell beds but they do have a few co sleeping options in addition to the cribs.
I recently purchased a Petitlapin baby crib and it was a very bad crib. Not only did it fail to meet a few basic crib safety regulations, it had a terrible smell that cause my wife and I to sleep in her Mom’s house while we waited for the company to come a remove the crib. After talking to them, they told us they had no control over quality or paint and that it was all made in China. What a sham!