Toddler Beds - Jacksonville Beach,FL

With my two kids we skipped the toddler bed transition and instead just bought a twin mattress and placed it on the floor. Since our bedrooms are carpeted it worked great for two reasons; if they fall off the bed the drop is only like 6-8 inches (thickness of the mattress) and they will land on the carpet. There is no more transition once they get use to their new bed. My son was 21 months when we introduced his new bed. He has always loved it and slept well. I would still recommend getting the "fence" for the side of the mattress. Sams Club or Costco have great prices on new mattresses. Best of luck! :)

I would go with a twin bed and bedrails. It will be easier on you and save you money in the end. There will be many nights that you will find yourself snuggled up along side your son and the twin will allow that. (Like reading bedtime stories, caring for him while he is sick or comforting him after a nightmare...) Good luck!

It truly is more cost effective to go ahead and get a twin mattress and just put it on the floor. You can get a railing to put up if you want, but my almost 2 year old did nothing but play on it til he flipped over it. So we took it down. We left his crib up and started him out on the mattress at naptime til he was used to it. Then we added on nighttime too. But it is helpful to keep the crib up. When you start to try to get them to stay in their bed, they realize they can get out!! So we kept the crib up for those 2am wakeup calls when my boys didn't want to stay in their bed. Best of luck!!
Jen

M.,
After doing a lot of research on this same issue. I choose to get my boys twin beds. Sure you have the spend a little more money, but I plan on having the beds for ever. They are bunk beds, but we don't have them bunked b/c the boys are too young. However, if you are set on the toddler bed don't buy pine. Stick with a stong wood like teak. You have look online for a list of strong woods. Consider looking at yard sales for something b/c he isn't going to be in the bed but for about 3 years maybe less.
Good Luck,
R.

I got a racecar toddler bed on craigslist with the plywood already in it. I had to buy a new crib mattress for the new baby, but the older one had already broken in his own mattress anyway. If you can find a cheaper toddler bed, I would go that route. I don't think I would spend the money to buy a new one since they are only in it for a few years.
Be prepared, as soon as they figure out that they can get out, you will have about a week or so of having to constantly put them back in the bed at all hours.

We moved our two-year-old into a twin size bed in January (we were expecting Baby #2 in May). I was going to go the toddler bed route until I realized that meant the cost of the bed plus another crib mattress plus bedding... and when she outgrew it in a year or two I'd have to buy the twin size stuff anyway! So we just went straight to the twin. I did put bed rails on it so she'd feel more secure, and it took her about 3 weeks to adjust to it, but she did great and she LOVES her "big-girl bed" now! Good luck whatever you decide.

Just my two cents, but I don't think there is any need to spend a ton of money on one. You just will need a 2nd crib mattress (one for the new baby and one for the toddler bed). We bought ours at a 2nd hand sore and bleached it down really well. We only needed it for 18 months or so and then got her a regular sized bed. They can be tough on them. If you want to go the "fancy" route and get a boat or car or princess bed, go for it... but just a plain one made of plastic melamine stuff worked well for us. (Using clorox spray to clean it is fine).
Enjoy the transition... this is an exciting time.

Hi M.,
I would try to keep your boy in his crib as long as possible or until he starts climbing out on his own. My son was into things and walking around when we switched him to a bed at three. With a new baby coming, you'll need the time for the baby not wondering what your son is doing.
Also if I could do it over I would just put a twin mattress on the floor in the corner. Our son rolls off his toddler bed, even though it has the two rails on each side at the top. I put pillows on the floor on the one side where he falls out and have a blanket in the opening like a gate to help stop him from rolling out. A mattress on the floor whould of been much safer and probaly more fun for him to jump on.
Well good luck, and congrats on the new baby. L. Z

Does your son's crib "convert" to a true toddler bed? By this, I mean, can you change it so that you still use the crib mattress and yet, take the drop rail off to leave that side open? That's what my daughter's crib does (Pottery Barn) and it's great! :) It's not such a huge transition to start... and so you don't have to spend much to make the gradual change and yet, have the babe closer to the ground so that they are not so high up off the ground that if they fell out it would be a big drop. My little girl didn't even "realize" she could get up and out for over a month after we made the transition and she's 28 months!

This idea has worked so well for us and is such a great middle-point transition for us, until a twin or double bed is the answer.

Good luck!
K.

I wanted to go straight to a twin bed, but my husband thought that toddler beds were so cute so we went with one of those instead. We transitioned my baby at 22 months and we had no problem. It really depends on the child. She has never fallen out of bed and she rarely gets out of her toddler bed, so we have had a very easy transition. I have found that unless you are going for one of those plastic theme beds or going with something really high end, that they are all pretty much the same quality. Look on some of the websites and if you find something you like, shop around. I found a great selection on RosenberryRooms.com and pearlekids.com. We got the Tiffany bed and it's very good quality and very inexpensive (around $100) so maybe you can look for other styles from the same manufacturer. Good luck!

When my oldest son was 19 months old he kept climbing out of his crib and falling to the floor. We bought him the Little Tikes racecar bed. I like that the side on it are little higher to help prevent him from falling out of bed when he's sleeping. He moves ALOT when he sleeps and he has NEVER fallen out of his racecar bed even when he was so little/young.

Since the toddler bed does use the crib matress we just bought a new crib matress when our second son was born 10 months ago. I HIGHLY RECCOMMEND THE LITTLE TIKES RACECAR BED! They are a little pricey brand new but I've seen several on Craigslist lately for a lot less $$$.

I know most people have recommended against a toddler bed and to go straight for the twin bed, but...

That is the advice I got from EVERYBODY when I was ready to buy a toddler bed, so I didn't get one, and now wish I had. We went for the big boy bunk beds (un-bunked at this point, of course) because we had a another boy on the way at the time, and felt that was the most economical way to go. My son does not like the twin bed, becasue it is just too big and too high for him. He is a restless sleeper and moves a lot, so I feel like a smaller bed, closer to the ground would have been the ideal choice for him. Even with the rails, he fell once because they don't go all the way to the end of the bed, and he ended up scooting down that way in his sleep. We did get him to continue sleeping in the bed after that, but it was a continuous struggle, so has been sleeping on the floor next to his bed for three months. We let it go and will try again in a month or so.

I say do what you think is best for your child. You know his sleep habits and personality the best, so maybe a toddler bed is a better choice for him than a twin bed. Anyway, don't let everyone talk you out of it, like I did. Hope this helped, and good luck with your bed search (sorry I couldn't be more helpful with that).

With both our sons, we went staight to a twin bed placed against a wall and used a bed rail on the open side. It worked great and saved the cost of a toddler bed, mattress and bedding.