Toddler Beds
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Toddler Beds
June 2004
Hi Everyone,
Would you give me advice on transitioning from crib to bed? Lily is 2 1/2 now.
We are considering getting an inexpensive fun toddler bed (with fun characters
or fun design) for Lily. We wonder the kid's bed might be too high for her even
though we can install rail. When she sleeps, she moves a lot. She can end up
at the bottom of the bed. Besides, when she wakes up in the middle of the
night, she might be a little disoriented and get off the bed on the wrong side
which does not have the rail guard. If we get her a toddler bed, how long will
she be able to sleep in it?
Any experience or wisdom to share.
Appreciate it very much.
Teresa
Hi, I was just looking at my 3.5 year old daughter last night
and thought she was getting too long for her toddler mattress.
She isn't especially tall for her age. Just my experience.
thinking about the twin bed
Why we just did this 3 weeks ago with our 26 month old! I
always thought the concept of a toddler bed was a waste of money
(we didn't have them when we were kids). Instead, for our
daughter, we bought rails for both sides of the bed we were
going to put my daughter in (since the bed was not flush against
the wall), to minimize her falling out. So far, so good. The
first night I laid in bed with her rubbing her back for about a
half hour while she scratched the mesh net the entire time (then
I gave up and put her back in her crib). The next night, my
husand laid in bed w/her for about 45 mins. doing the same.
That's all it took! After that she went to sleep alone in her
(as we keep calling it) ''big girl'' bed. Also, my sis-in-law has
been having a real tough time trying to get her 4 year old out
of his toddler bed and into a regular bed. So I say don't waste
the money on a toddler bed!
barbara
With a regular twin bed it is easier for you to lie down with your child and read
stories and cuddle. This makes the big bed even more attractive than the crib. You
can get fun characters on the sheets, comforter, pillows, etc. (BTW, when our
daughter moved to a twin bed at 2 1/2, we forgot to get the rail so we just put
chairs with their backs against the bed to prevent her from falling out. It turns out
she never even needed them as she somehow knew where the edge was, just as
grownups do. You can also put cushions or pillows around the bed until you are
sure she won't fall off.)
Good luck!
For what it's worth, we moved our 2 year old into a regular twin
mattress on the floor. He kind of fell out on his first night
in it - but it was no big deal. The transition was easy and he
loves it. Good luck!
anon
We moved our now almost 3-year-old into a twin bed in January.
I definitely am glad we skipped the toddler bed. The toddler
bed is not bigger than a crib, and our daughter is very tall and
was simply too big for a toddler bed. It would have been one
more thing to buy (and eventually get rid of), and I hear that
finding bedding for toddler beds is difficult. We have a twin
bed against the wall with an average-size bed rail and it has
been great. She has to climb to get into it, but if that is a
concern you can put the mattress on the floor until your child
is taller. I would say get a twin bed and place it against a
wall, get an extra-long bed rail (I've seen them online), and if
you need to, put something soft on the floor at the end of the
bed.
Liz O.
You might want to consider just a twin sized mattress on the
floor. That's what we did for my son. I was also concerned about
the chances of his falling out of a big bed. I didn't want to get
a toddler bed because I figured that he would grow out of it so
quickly. With a twin mattress, you can always buy the bed frame
for it later.
Ruth
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