I recently bought a Pali crib - the Sabrina - for our first baby, Paula. After spending a long time looking at various brands we settled on the Pali Sabrina because of its simple styling and because of the reputation of the company. On the whole, I'm happy with it although it does have some drawbacks.

We chose a Pali because of a number of things. Firstly, I liked the styling of the Pali Sabrina crib. It's very simple and modern looking; not fussy or ornate. We chose a plain finish as the blond wood goes with a lot of stuff in our house. I wanted a crib with a drawer as we're limited on space and putting baby blankets and bedding right under the crib is an excellent idea. One feature that I wanted was to be able to convert the crib to a toddler bed; you get this with the Pali Sabrina, though you do have to pay extra for the toddler rail.

Also, I read somewhere about the history of Pali cribs. It's an Italian company and uses beech wood in all its cribs. It was also the first manufacturer to produce the "one-hand" drop side feature with no exposed hardware. So, I kind of figured the company knows what it's about.

What finally clinched it though was that the Pali crib has a good rating in the Baby Bargains book. Another brand I thought of buying was a Bellini crib but the Pali scored higher, so that settled it.

Well, my first criticism of the Pali crib was within half an hour of it being delivered. We paid the store extra to deliver and assemble it. It took two guys over twenty minutes to put it together! I'm glad I paid the extra - trying to assemble it would have driven me nuts; having said that, the Sabrina looked really good when assembled.

The crib feels sturdy and it's easy to use. But here comes another gripe. You have to use a tool to adjust the mattress; we haven't needed to do this yet - a job for hubby, I think.

The Pali crib comes with one drop side, which is perfectly fine for my requirements, but you should consider another brand of crib if you want a double drop side. I found the side rail operated quite smoothly.

Here's my biggest gripe. The Pali crib is made from solid beech and feels as though it will last for years, but the bottom of the drawer is a cheap looking laminate. I can't see it lasting as long as the rest of the crib. The storage drawer is the biggest let down about the Sabrina. Although a minor point; there is also no cover on the top of the drawer. Dust isn't too much of a problem in our home but it still looks unsightly to see everything that's in the drawer when the mattress height is set high.

Enough griping. Overall, I'm pleased with my purchase of the Pali Sabrina crib. I like its modern looking, understated styling and I give it a good rating as a baby crib.