Toddler Big Girl Bed

We got a toddler bed for free, my son is almost 5 and still using it. So they can be used for a while. And I have another son to pass it along to.

That said, it is something you only use for a couple of years, so if money is at all an issue, I'd go straight for the regular bed, although you may need bed rails.

(Yard sale season is now, you might be able to find someone unloading a toddler bed cheap- another option but you would want to get another mattress).

my personal opinion is that toddler beds are a waste of money. Why not buy something she will grow into. My almost 3 year old sleeps in a full bed. I have it in the corner of the room and she has never fallen out. She sleeps on the side closest to the wall. My daughter's doctor told me not to waste money on bed rails either. Both of my daughter's matress sets are on the floor. I have the frames but have yet to use them. My older daughter has fallen out of bed one or two times but she is very close to the floor.

Hope I have helped.

Toddler Beds aren't terribly expensive (we just bought a Thomas The Tank Toddler bed for our son this weekend and it's only $250, and you can get other toddler bed for much less than that) so if you are planning on moving soon and think there is a possibility that the furniture you buy for your current house might not work for a new house, you may want to hold off on getting the BIG big girl bed as those frames cost quite a bit more. Also... if she has any sort of attachment to her crib (like my son does), going with a fun toddler bed might help with the transition.

We love the benefits of a toddler bed-my daughter is transitioning to it now, and she can climb in on her own. She'll stand up on her bed (so does my 4 yr old son) and we don't worry about her falling a long ways, which is comforting to me. It's easier to move (we're moving in just a couple weeks)and she doesn't get "lost" in the bed. That being said, my son was 2 when we transitioned him to his "big boy bed" without the box springs, so he could climb up. He loved it and was defiantely ready for it. I really liked the nice transition from crib to toddler bed to regular bed, but some people don't-it's not for everyone. Good luck with whatever you choose! (and with moving!)

depends on how long you plan to have her and then the new baby in a toddler bed. you can get these cheaper on craigslist.org or a baby thrift store and such if that helps. my 4 year old is still in her toddler bed and i'll keep her in it until she's too big for it. she sleeps in a ball most of the time so she only takes up half. but if your kids sleep sprawled out or are tall then moving them into a twin sooner might be the best choice. when the next baby gets older he/she will also get use out of it. one other reason i like the toddler bed as apposed to the twin is it doesnt take up as much room. i'd have to get rid of a few things in my girls room if i got her a twin.

My son went from crib to toddler bed. Every night we had to sleep in there on the floor so that he'd stay in it. Then in the morning, he was either half in/half out, or on the floor completely. We went straight to a queen size bed. That let us at least sleep in a bed!

My advice to you is to just place the mattress on the floor. Even if you go up to a twin bed, just place the mattress on the floor, don't by a frame yet. Then when you are in your new house, you can determine what will work best and if you decide on something different, you've only lot a mattress.
M.

you can always buy only a mattress and put in on the floor and decide on the bed for it at a later date. that is essentially, a toddler's bed. or if you know you want to purchase a trundle bed.. that would work too..it doesn't take long before they want the "big" bed.
good luck

I'd go for the twin bed! thats what we did, toddler bed....just a waste of $$$$
Good luck!

Just shop around, don't make a big commitment. When I moved my daughter out of her crib, I didn't know what I wanted either. But I went to the CHKD thrift store and found a beautiful twin hardwood bed, headborad, foodboard, rails, box spring, and matteress. for $25. So she got a nice bed, and becuase I spent so little, I woulndn't feel guilty when we also move to a bigger place if she ends up with something else. also, the toddler beds just seem like a waste of money. A twin bed can in theory be used forever, but a toddler bed only a year or two. And depending on what you get, they can cost about the same.

I also had your same dilema. To or not to get a toddler bed. You could find a toddler bed really cheap, like around 100 bucks, and then later transition her to a twin bed, but my thought was "then I would have to make two transitions" one into the toddler bed then in a year her twin bed. So my ultimate decision was to just buy her a nice twin bed. I bought the bed in white so it would match anything or anywhere we moved to. Probably much eaiser to just transition her once into one bed that will last a long time, rather then getting her used to her toddler bed then making anouther transition in a year. Also, to keep the bed lower we didn't buy a boxspring. She is only 2years old and was 20 months when we transitioned her to her big girl bed.

Good morning M.. Here are my thoughts on this:
1) She is going to eventually have to get a bigger bed so unless money is no problem, I wouldn't waste it on a bed that you know you will have to replace in a few years. Spend the money on a quality bed that will last and go with the railing like you mentioned. And 2) if for some reason she has a nightmare or wants Mommy to be with her one night, a toddler bed will NOT fit an adult and child where a twin bed would! Good luck!

My husband and I recently got a toddler bed that turns into a twin bed from Ikea. It's a really nice wooden frame that is very sturdy. As we assembled it, we decided to make it the twin size and it's worked out great. We did take the bumper from our son's crib and wrapped it around the headboard for extra padding. Our son loves his big boy bed.
we found Diego bedding and made it up really nice. I would recommend this bed to anyone.

my daughter moved into a twin when she was just under 2.5 yo. we did not use a box spring so she'd be lower to the ground. unless your crib converts to one as many do i'd say skip the toddler bed. as far as the bed frame goes are you saying you'd put her in a full or queen bed if you had more room? i'd bet she'd rather have the extra floor space for playing unless it would double as a spare bed for company. just my thoughts.

We debated over that same issue just recently and I'm happy we decided on a toddler bed. The big and most important reason... it's the perfect size! We took Victoria shopping for single beds and there was zero interest. We then went over to the toddler furniture section at Buy Buy Baby and she was taken almost immediately.

That was the only sign I needed to know we made the right decision. Okay, so she only sleeps in it half the night, but I don't think it would've gone that far with a twin bed.

Lots of luck,

Liz

Hi M.,
My advice would be not to get the toddler bed-they are cute and fun, but kids grow out of them VERY quickly and then you have to get the twin-sized bed anyway. I recommend getting a twin-sized bed and as you mentioned, putting the bed railings on the side to keep your daughter from falling out. Twin beds are not too big anyway, so it should fit into the room of your new house. Plus you can make it fun and get her special sheets and matching comforter, make a big deal out of it eing a "big girl bed" and ideally, it will not be a difficult transition!
Good luck to you and your family.
T..

I have two girls who have made the crib to bed transition. I used toddler beds only because their crib converted into one. However, they were unnecessary. They moved to toddler beds at age two-and-a-half and into double beds (their cribs also converted into doubles) at age 3 with a side rail. We removed the side rail at age 4 and have had no problems. The only issue you might have is if you have a child who likes to get up at night in the dark, they may have trouble getting down from such a high bed. We have a little step stool beside each bed and they have always done fine with that- but they don't get up in the middle of the night. So, unless you find a great deal on a toddler bed on Craigslist or something, I would skip it and go for the bed that will last longer.

If you can swing it, toddler beds are an easy transition because they are cute, have adorable bedding that the kids really like and they are small enough that the child doesn't feel lost in there. They aren't terribly expensive - I think I paid about $35 for ours - and my sons were in it for about 2 years. You are able to use the crib mattress. Our local thrift store always has them along with the mattress in most cases and some look brand new.

we put a mattress on the floor for a while. I was tempted to use a toddler bed but I couldn't justify the money vs how much use we would get out of it (my daughter was always tall). If you can get a hand me down that is a different story.

I will tell you from personal experience, I REALLY wish we had gotten the twin bed!

My daughters went right to twin beds with little or no problems but with my son, we went to a toddler bed first. We did it for economic reasons. The toddler bed was only about $30.00 at WalMart. He used it for about 3 years. he loved his own little bed. Once he was 5, we got him his own twin bed. It really is your preference. If you are going to move soon, then a toddler bed would probably be easier to move without having to take it apart.

We moved our daughter into her big girl room and put the twin mattress on the floor to start with. Toddler beds seemed to be a waste for us. Since you are expecting another, you'd have to buy another crib mattress for the toddler bed which she wouldn't be in that long anyway. If she isn't that active of a sleeper then a twin bed with a guardrail is probably fine. We have our daughter on the mattress on the floor because she is all over the place and we didn't want her to have far to fall. Good luck!

My 2 yr old sleeps on a full size mattress on the floor. Her crib converted to a toddler bed and she doesn't use it. When your daughter is older, she can choose a regular bed that the mattress can fit into. The only catch is that she can get in and out of bed any time she wants so you may have some late night visits! A child safety gate on her bedroom door may help if you want to keep her in her room.

I see no reason for a toddler bed. I think it is a waste of money. My daughter slept in a twin after her crib starting at about 2.5. I had dual rails that we were able ot take on trips so that she could sleep anywhere. Make sure if you push the bed up against a wall, that you still use two rails, because she could strangle if sshe fell between the bed and the wall.

However, from an aesthetic/decotrating perspective... I wish I had just used the matresson the floor for awhile. A twin bed takes up a lot of room, and if I had whish I had gotten a daybed. But now I am stuck with a twin that I don't llike the position of in the room. If I had lived with the matress for awhil, I would have madea netter decision.