I have a 3 year old who is currently in a toddler bed with the crib mattress but she is 37 inches long although the bed fits up to 50 inches she just looks so cramped in it. is there an alternative? she moves ALOT in her sleep so im not to sure she is ready for a twin yet. My other problem is my son he is one and though i dont think he is ready for a toddler bed he is 33 inches and can nearly climb out of the crib. Is there a safe alternative with out having him on the floor? thanks for the responses and advice.
thanks so far for all your posts i like the idea of a twin for my oldest but as i stated before my youngest i dont think is ready for a big bed i tryed him in hers and it was a huge hassel. further more i dont like the idea of him on the floor for various reasons to drafty, wont stay and more. Keep responding though i would like to hear some other alternatives if there are any
My older one went to a twin be with a rail at 2.5. It was hard to keep him in bed though and the nap was a real fight. My almost 3 year old is going to a twin bed after the holidays but she already gave up her nap.
Get her a twin bed. You can put up rails on the sides so she can't fall out. We never did toddler beds. Our kids transitioned out of a crib around three years old. We never had any problem going to a twin using side rails.
I put some of our kids, much younger than your daughter, in a twin bed on a bed frame with a mattress but no box spring and had a board cut at Lowe's or Home Depot who cut it for free if you buy the board. It's like a bunk bed board then but low so they can make the bed, sit on it and if they would fall out it's a short distance to the floor. Then when a bit older get the box spring. It work very well for us. You can also store pans with toys under the bed if need be and vacuum under the bed which is cleaner than placing a mattress on the floor.
Both of my daughters were moved to twin mattresses placed on the floor at 16 months due to me being pregnant with the next ones and needing the crib. They both have done so well. We moved the mattress onto an actual twin bed frame after the oldest turned 2, it was another smooth transition. My second child is still on the twin mattress on the floor until she gets closer to two. A lot of people think it's hard to switch when they're young, we've been lucky I guess.
Yep twin with side rails works for us too.
For your son - I keep my kids in a crib as long as I can. If they can climb out I use the crib tent. Otherwise, I end up loosing their nap. Others put them in a toddler bed as soon as they can climb out.
Our daughter was in a real bed at 1 year old.. she did just fine. We placed it in a corner and had a net rail.. The rail came down really fast because she did not really need it.
She only fell out of her bed about 2 times her whole childhood.. one time she cried the other, we just found her on the floor wrapped in her blanket the next morning.
I bet at 3 your child is ready for a twin, full or Queen sized bed.
I agree you can always start them with the mattresses on the floor so they di not have far to fall..
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tots-in-Mind-Crib-Tent-for-Conv...
I have one of those on my toddlers bed (she started climbing out at 1) and she loves it now, asks to be zipped up when its bed time.
as for feeling cramped...I don't think they feel cramped, and if you don't want her in a bigger bed like a twin, I'm not sure what you're after, there's either the toddler/junior bed that you have, or next step is a twin or full sized bed.
we moved my oldest to a twin from a toddler when she was almost 4 and she did really well, but she had been sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor at my moms for 2 years when we visited, so it wasn't totally new to her.
Put the one year old in the toddler bed and put the 3 yr. old in a bigger bed than a twin. Our 8 yr. old still falls out of bed and rolls around all over in her sleep. If she is in a full or Queen she stays on the bed.
Toddler beds are for toddlers, that is ages 12 months up to 24 months. After that they really need to do a regular bed. The baby bed mattress is not made to support bigger kids and the toddler beds are usually made out of lightweight materials that can't support a larger child either.
