We are expecting our second baby in May, and may even be sooner, depends on how things go. Anyways, we are looking into getting a toddler bed for our oldest who is going to be around 23 months when our baby comes. We are worried about him getting out of the toddler bed and getting into things while we are sleeping. I am wondering what anyone has done to keep their child in their beds with out getting out to get into things. I see that the toddler beds already come with a railing on each side, but I am wondering if you can put on added railing to keep them from getting out of their beds or falling out of their beds. Any ideas would be greatly appreated. :)
We went straight to a regular twin bed with rails on both sides. My daughter never had any issues with falling out. Or some people put a mattress on the floor so there isn't far to fall.
As far as getting into things while you're sleeping, put a gate on his bedroom door so he can't get out.
We just ordered our son the Step 2 lifestyles bed. It needs a twin matress but has higher sides on both ends. We bought him a toddler bed and sold it to a friend after a month. He kept falling out of it. We also use a baby gate to keep him in his room during sleeping times.
I agree with everything the other moms have suggested; I also used the gate in the doorway and the child-proof door knob on the inside so my children didn't leave their room at night.
As far as getting out of bed goes, it's going to happen for a while. When your child gets tired, he'll eventually go to bed. It just takes a little time.
I have a toddler bed for you if you don't want to buy one.
You are welcome to it!
We moved my son from his crib to a twin bed a little while ago. He has the guard rail on one side and the bed is pushed up against a wall. He'll get out of bed to get a book or toy and get back in bed. Keep inforcing that your son needs to sleep and beds are for sleeping. A couple of times, I put a safety gate in the doorframe of his room to prevent him for leaving his room so he learned to stay in his bed. After doing this twice, he learned. Be persistant! Good luck with this and with this pregnancy!
We did a Montessori approach and had a "floor bed" when she was very young. We just put a twin-sized mattress on the floor, no boxspring, and put pillows around the edges to soften things when she rolled off (body pillows work well). For the first weeks, she indeed would roll off the bed, or sleep with her head on the bed and body on one of the floor pillows. (This did not wake her up, and she always slept though the night.) But she soon learned to stay on the mattress and we could take away the floor pillows. And she never got any injury whatsoever, nor "fell" out of bed.
Good luck and congrats on the new baby!
T.
we were pleasantly surprised at the transition from crib to bed for both of our girls...for my littlest one, we put a safety knob on the inside of the door so she couldnt get out and then we close the door every night...the other one, never got out of bed! she went from a crib to a pack -n-play right to a queen size bed...she did not like the toddler bed, but had a good transition as well.
one tip...they are not in a toddler bed for too long. unless you have the money, try to get a nice used one or a cheaper one at walmart, kmart etc. you may want to invest in a nice twin bed as they will use that for years!
