From crib to a "real" bed--how did you do it?

Question

Today it seems like everywhere I look there are toddler beds. From a parental stand-point, I see a problem with falling with toddlers are usually active sleepers.

When I was growing up, my parents didn't waste money on getting a special bed. Instead they just put a matress on the floor.

So the question is: how did YOU make the switch from crib to bed? Did you invest in a toddler bed or did you just forgo the special bed and put the matress on the floor?

Our son is 18 months and not ready for a bed yet, but we're trying to prepare ourselves by getting ideas.

Answer 1

I start them off on a mattress on the floor that way if they roll out of bed they don't hurt themselves. When they learn the parameters of the mattress I put it back on the frame and they're fine.

Answer 2

Well, we moved our son to a bed when he climbed out of the crib, even with the matress all the way down, and the rails all the way up. He was about 13 months. He got a 'race car' toddler bed (not so much because it was a toddler bed, but mostly because it was fun and "cool") and is 3 and still has it. My daughter, who is 18 months now, would get put in her crib, and scream and scream. One night I picked her up out of the crib, asked what was wrong and she pointed at the bed. So, i put her down in the bed...no more screaming...no more crib. That was about 2 weeks ago.

It was pretty simple. We got the race car on eaby for cheap, and our daughter is in a twin less the frame - just the matress and box, just because it was recent and we have not decided what to get her yet.

Answer 3

We went on a three week vacation with our daughter when she was 2 1/2. During the vacation we repeatedly told her that she would sleep in a "big girl bed" when we got home. On our first night home, we put a twin size mattress on the floor where the crib had been, and she slept on it. We bought her a blanket with her favorite character (Thomas the Tank Engine) to help her enjoy bedtime. We just rolled the crib to the other side of the room for a few days until we took it apart, but you might have better luck if it disappears from sight immediately.

Answer 4

skip the toddler bed and go to a twin you dont need a amttress on the floor either they wont die if they fall off a time or two then they will know their boundaries, if it will make you feel better put some pillows on the floor a couple of nights. I did this with 2 of 3 kids and they both only fell out once, no harm done

Answer 5

We put up a twin bed in our daughter's room at 2 years 8 months and she got used to it, but never wanted to sleep in it. She also never jumped out of her crib. Not her style.

At two years and ten months, we took down her crib and told her it was time to use her big girl bed. She loves it! She tells everyone about her new bed.

There are all sorts of things you can buy as temporary add ons to prevent a kid from falling out. http://www.onestepahead.com/product/117/178758/117.html

No toddler bed for us bc our crib is not a convertible and it seemed like a waste of money. I would have let her sleep on a mattress on the floor, but we bought her a bed from Ikea with big huge drawers so there is tons of storage which is important for her small room.

Answer 6

Both my kids were tall very early on so by the time they were 2 1/2 they could throw their leg over the rail without assistance. They both got todd beds, and as soon as the oldest was tall enough for a real bed she slept on the bottom bunk. Two sides were butted up against a wall, one side had a larger dresser blocking it and the open side had a removable rail. The matresses are expensive at $40 a pop, may as well use them for as long as possible.

Answer 7

I took the side off of my son's crib and just put an extra mattress on the floor incase he rolled onto the floor then he would hit the matress instead of the floor. My son is now six and he still rolls off of a regular bed.

Answer 8

Neither. We bought a set of bunk beds. We stored the bottom bunk in the garage and used the top bunk for a beginner big kid bed since it has built in (yet removable for later) railings. Then when number 2 was ready for a big bed, we put number 1 in the "bottom" bunk (basically just a regular single bed) and moved the bed with the removable railings to the next kid's room. Now our third child is using the "top" bunk with the railings and the other kids have regular single beds.

Answer 9

all of my kids so far have been moved into regular sized twin beds at 12 months, i never bought a toddler bed, i felt they were a waste of money. We did have some guard rails that i picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents that worked like a charm. We never had any falls of any sort. We just switched them one night, no big issues or big deals made out of it.

Answer 10

I woke up late one Saturday to find my husband had torn apart my son's crib and re-made it into a toddler bed. A few hours later, I was putting away laundry in my son's room and he leaped from the bed to the floor, caught his foot on an edge of his new bed and banged his forehead against the dresser.

The dresser got moved, and he never jumped on his bed again, lol. We never really gave our son a chance to adjust; his crib was there one day, and not the next. He got a kick out of his 'big boy bed', though (his words, not ours).

Answer 11

I would not get a toddler bed. You will eventually have to get a regular bed. A few weeks ago I switch my twins over to beds and I just got them regular twin beds and got rails to go on the side so they do not fall out.