Today’s value-conscious parents are furnishing the nursery with quality pieces that will serve many purposes in their lifetime.

“Good furniture is an investment for the future,” says Lisa Rae Oshesbaby furniture cribky, owner of Organic Bebe, a catalog and Internet retailer. That’s on many new parents’ minds these days, since September is the month with the most births in the United States, followed by August and July, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

This season, traditional styles in cherry, maple, poplar and oak are big sellers. Cribs that convert to beds or settees and dressers that can temporarily serve as changing tables are especially popular.

“Parents are looking for multifunctional items for the nursery,” says Pam O’Hallaron, lead interior designer for PoshTots.com, an on-line boutique of children’s furnishings.

One of the company’s best-selling lines features a cherry crib that converts to a toddler’s bed or a settee. The dresser features a removable top for changing the baby, and the book case can become a secretary desk that’s perfect for a lap top computer. The armoire can hold baby clothes and accessories now. Later it can be transformed into an entertainment center housing a television and other electronic equipment.

Cribs that can become full-size bed frames are another practical choice. One side of the crib serves as the headboard, and the other side becomes the foot board. Slats are added to support the bed.

Oshesky says the maple crib, armoire, dresser and bunk beds she bought for her three boys still looks beautiful eight years later. “This type of furniture is timeless,” she says. “It’s kind of like a first teddy bear. As the years pass, the children become attached to it. You can buy these things and pass them down.”