We bought this when i was pregnant with my first child. I had never liked the drop side cribs because the ones I had seen before were either noisy or were to hard to open close without waking the baby. Glad I chose this crib instead with the drop gate since drop side cribs have been recalled. This is a nice looking crib without feeling too big for a baby's room. We got the black color and it has looked very nice in both my son's and daughter's room, so gender neutral in my opinion. One thing I really like is the fact that it is symetrical. For both my kids, at some point I had the crib in the middle of the room or with the short side against the wall and it didn't look out of place. The open/close mechanism for the drop gate can only be opened by an adult since you have to pull a lever on each side but that is good for safety. Not good if you have to try and operate with a baby in arms, but that shouldn't really happen much/at all. Will probably buy the rails to convert into a double bed once the baby is out of the crib. Only cons I can see are that it is a little expensive and some crib toys/mobiles do not attach easily to this crib because of the style. But I was able to find a way around that (the toys thing, not the price :) )

figtree1

Reston, VA