Transitioning from Crib - Toddler Bed or Twin Bed?

Hi C.,
I am the Mom of 3 and one on the way. I got the BEST advice from my next door neighbor......don't move them from the crib until they don't fit anymore. I followed this and ALL my kids still napped till 3-1/2 years old. I have done this with all my kids and they do great....all my friends are AMAZED that they sleep so well. This was the secret!
Otherwise yes I agree go to a twin with sides, what's the point of a toddler bed when it is the same size mattress as the crib just adds freedom to get in and out. Good Luck hope this helps.

Hi C.-

I would go with a twin bed. My twins made the switch from a crib to twin beds when they turned three and it worked out just fine. One side of the bed was up against the wall and the other side had guard rails. We also bought bed furniture that allowed us to select how high up we wanted the mattress from the floor. Now that they are 7 yrs. old, we have the mattresses raised to the second level which makes it higher from the floor.

J.

We put our then-20-month old son in our double fold-out futon. He loved it. Had a guard rail up for the first 2-3 months but it was clear that he wasnt going anywhere so we took it off. IMHO toddler beds are a waste of time/money.

I asked this same question almost a year ago and most of my replies were to go to the twin. If you have the room I say just make the transition to the twin bed. We ended up going to the toddler but because of space issues. Plus your then spending less money all together.

I would vote for the twin bed. A toddler bed is really no bigger than a crib. If you have a tall baby, they'll be out of the toddler bed sooner. If you go straight to a twin, it's only 1 move instead of 2.

We went right to a twin with a side rail for DD and she did great.
Good luck!
Jenny

My kids were in toddler beds at 2 years. We were given one and got another at a fantastic price so just went ahead and bought a third. We had no problem at all transitioning them to twin at 4 years old. Space was a premium-still is-so twin wasn't really an option for us at 24 months. You are not supposed to let a child at that age on the top bunk of a bunkbed set. They would have still fit in the toddler beds but one of my girls broke hers jumping on it every second she could.