Kidsline Malawi Bedding Baby Crib Bedding

When I saw the 6-Piece Malawi Infant Bedding Set by Kids Line, I knew I found the perfect bedding set for my child. I had specific criteria for my child's first bedding set: it had to be gender-neutral, it had to have interesting pictures for my child to look at, and it had to be colorful but not too bright. The Malawi Infant Bedding Set met my requirements 100 percent.

This set consists of the following: a comforter, crib bumper, dust ruffle, fitted sheet, diaper stacker, and a valance. The theme is a Malawi jungle theme, featuring smiling, baby animals such as an alligator, lion, giraffe, elephant, alligator, zebra, and hippo. The colors are slightly darker than your typical "baby" or pastel colors, including a celery green, cornflower blue, and a yellow as the 3 main colors, with accents in orange, pink, and purple. I ended up having a boy, but the color combination would work well for either a girl or a boy. When we painted the room, we had so many options; we could have painted the room a neutral tan shade, or light green, blue, yellow, etc. We opted to paint the bottom of the walls blue and the top yellow, separated by the Malawi wallpaper border (not included as part of this set).

Comforter: The comforter measures approximately 36 inches by 45 inches. It is a soft, quilted cotton and is machine washable, cold cycle with like colors (do not bleach). You can tumble dry and iron on low as needed. Due to SIDS concerns and the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics, we did not use this comforter in our son's crib as a blanket. Instead, we draped it over a chair just as decoration. When we wanted his crib to look "made up" for visitors, we laid the comforter on top of his mattress; it was a perfect fit. I have also seen photos of rooms where the parents have hung the comforter on the wall, or used it as a rug.

Crib Bumper: The crib bumper fits standard size cribs. It features ties every few inches on both the top and bottom; simply secure the ties around a crib rail and make a bow. I liked how the crib bumper was reversible. One side had the cute animals, and the other was the coordinating, fun plaid print accented throughout the other pieces in this set. For the most part, I had the animals face into the crib to give my baby something to look at when his head was turned to the side. The bumper is washable just like the comforter. I should note that I had some problems with this bumper:

First, I was insistent that the bumper be securely fastened at all times. This meant that I was constantly tying and re-tying the strings. Over time, 3 of the ties ripped off of the bumper. I had to hand sew them back into place.

Second, the bumper is very padded. I thought this would be a good feature, in case my son rolled into the corner of the crib (he would not bang his head on the rails). But, I learned that as soon as an infant can pull themselves up with the rails, they can also step on the padded crib bumper and use it as a tool to hoist themselves out of the crib. A thinner crib bumper probably would have been a safer option.

I will not get into whether you should or should not have a crib bumper in the crib in the first place. Since I purchased this bedding set in 2005, I read that due to SIDS concerns it is now recommended that parents not use a crib bumper at all. The fact is, the crib bumper is part of this set, and anyone who buys this set must then decide whether to use the bumper or not.

Dust Ruffle: The dust ruffle is designed to lay underneath the crib mattress. The portion that lays underneath the mattress is a flat, white sheet; the part that drapes from the mattress to the floor is approximately 13 inches in length and is decorated in the Malawi print to match the rest of the set. The material is washable (see details under comforter section above). It can be ironed, although I found this somewhat difficult. The material is gathered together to create a ruffled look, which in turn makes it hard to iron. I found that the 13 inch length was perfect for my crib, and the ruffle did indeed cover the entire length and width of my crib. Crib heights may vary depending on the manufacturer; at one point we removed the wheels from our crib which dropped the crib about an inch or two in height. So, depending on your exact crib the ruffle may touch the floor, or it may rest an inch or so above it.

Fitted Sheet: The sheet is a yellow and blue plaid pattern, with an elasticized bottom to secure under the crib mattress. After multiple washings, the sheet held its size and shape. I must say, however, that I was least impressed by this portion of the set. The sheet is 100 percent cotton, but it must have a low thread count as it is rather rough to the touch. I felt bad putting my son to rest against this sheet. On the good side, though, you will certainly need more than one sheet for the inevitable bed time diaper leaks and spit ups. So, I simply purchased Gerber brand sheets in coordinating colors; they had a pale yellow, green and blue, and they all matched very well with the set. Plus, the solid color was less "busy" than the printed plaid sheet, so I actually preferred my substitute sheet to the one provided with this set.

Diaper Stacker: The diaper stacker measures approximately 26 inches by 12 inches. It has a hanger at the top so that it can be hung from a door knob, furniture handle, or closet rod. It also has a cardboard bottom to help retain its triangular shape. This cardboard can be removed for washing and ironing. We did not use or diaper stacker for diapers, but we did use it for storage within the bedroom. Most recently, we used it to hold socks. I have heard other parents say that that used theirs to store onesies.

Valance: The Kids Line 6-Piece Malawi Infant Bedding Set comes with one valance, measuring approximately 60.5 inches by 15 inches. Depending on your set up you may need to purchase additional valances; these valances are for sale individually. One valance should cover a standard size window. This is a tab top valance that can be hung straight across a window without bunching, so one valances does go almost the whole 60 inches. We have a double window that measures approximately 100 inches, and 2 valances were perfect. Like the rest of the set, the valance is machine washable, can go in the dryer, and can be ironed.

In terms of 6-piece bedding sets in general, they are really a waste of money. If you think about it, you won't use the comforter in the crib; it is just for decoration. Depending on how you feel about them, you may not use the crib bumper either. I personally did not need the diaper stacker, nor did I like the crib sheet. From this set, I mainly used the dust ruffle and the valance. I would have been better off buying everything I needed ala cart. In fact, I did buy additional items not needed in the set such as the mobile, wallpaper border, light switch cover and lamp shade.

But, as a mother to be, no one could convince me not to buy this 6-piece set. If, like me, you have to have a bedding set, this is a great one for either a girl or a boy. My older son is 3 now, and while we are finally ready to give him a "big boy" room, I must say I always enjoyed the time I spent in his room with the Malawi decor. I cannot count how many times I changed his diaper, and he pointed to an animal and made a "grrr" sound. As he grew older he started naming the animals and the colors. I feel that this bedding set is comforting and pleasing to both parents and kids, and it has the added benefit of being educational as well.

We are moving soon and I have decided to part with this bedding set. Luckily, the set looks as new today as it did when we first purchased it, even after countless washings. Therefore, I am going to find a new home for this bedding set, whether I sell it privately or donate it to charity. If we thought we'd have any more children I would hold onto it, because regardless of gender this is a great set that can be passed down from child to child. I recommend the Malawi 6-Piece Bedding Set for anyone looking for an infant bedding set.