What Size "Big Kid Bed" Did You Buy Your Toddler?

We transitioned to a full sized bed, but that was mostly because her crib converted into one. The upside is that once she went into the full sized bed, she slept through the night, which she NEVER did in the crib or toddler bed. It may have just been her time to sleep thru the night, but my mom swears it's because she finally had room to stretch out.

We bought twin and I totally REGRET it. Should have done full. Even just laying and reading books there's no room. I would not do bunks, maybe a trundle if you can swing it. Or you can add that later. I bought with the intention in 4 yrs. we'll replace it. I'd rather have spent the extra $100 it would have been worth it. Definately get the waterproof pad.

Good question!!! I plan on buying my three year old a 'forever" bed when she is COMPLETELY night time potty trained...meaning, no accidents. Until then, its just the toddler bed with the plastic mattress. As long as she fits, whats the hurry?
Good Luck!!

M:)

we bought a double-sized platform bed from ikea (no box spring & lower to the ground) then added bed rails on each side. We moved out 17 month old son there a few months before our daughter was born. works great. This isn't his "forever furniture" but we're happy with it.

Good luck to you

I read somewhere that you need to replace matresses every ten years or so anyway. (That goes for adults, too.) So I would get something "for now" to last until then. Then somewhere around her 13th birthday, make it a big deal that she gets to pick out her own bed/furniture. THAT'S when to go for the "something nice to last." She should be able to have it throughout college, then buy her own!

We put our then 2.5yr old right into a full sized bed. Granted it was her crib that converted...but when buying the crib we looked for a nice piece of furniture knowing it would be her bed for a long time. We knew when we had a 2nd we would either need a new crib or a bed for her. We LOVE the way it turned out. We have rails on both sides so we have never had to worry about her falling out...she loves the extra space for her dolls to sleep with her... she has a step stool at the side to help her crawl up and when we had our 2nd we lost our guest room so now we use her room when we have over night guests. She loves sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag when grandparents are in town to visit! We went all out right away and bought nice furniture this way we don't have to do it in the future. We have purchased the same type of crib for our son with matching dressers with the same scenerio in mind. Good luck with your search!

Funny we just went through the same thing. We went full size and bought the double rails at Babies R Us. We went full for several reasons...so we could also use as a guest bed (he went into our guest room and all our family is out of town) and so he would have longer. We looked and looked for furniture and it seemed to be either really really cheap or more expensive. That is your call to make. We opted for the nicer furniture so it would last but decided against a foot board for the bed which I am very glad I did now. He has a little step stool at the end of the bed that he uses to climb in because the rails block the sides. They also now make the option of a lower boxspring that we got too so the matress doesn't sit so high which I like too...except I haven't found a bedskirt yet to fit it. Hoep this helps!

I went w/ the toddler bed got for $50 on walmart.com and we use her crib mattress. i worried bc she is young started around 15 mo and thought toddler beds are too high. my bff did the toddler bed w/ rails bed and mattress about $150 but it will last longer than mine and she can sleep in it w/ her a lot better than i can as needed. good luck! xo

My 2 year old is in a toddler bed. Her room isn't very big and it's a cozy convert from a crib. I got mine on Craigslist for $25, so no biggie on the cost and I'll get her a bigger bed later on.

When we moved our older boys out of the crib they went straight to twin mattresses on the floor. My oldest was 18 months when we moved him, my middle kid was 19 months.

ANYTHING as long as it's not a toddler bed!!! (Seriously, how much of a marketing ploy are THOSE?) A simple waterproof matress cover (we have 2, for "flu" cases) takes care fo the whole potty training thing.

We chose to go with a full size bed so we can lay down with him (or make blanket tents, read in bed, etc.) and so that he'll be comfy in it over the next 10 years.

We went with a GOOD bed (beautyrest), under the theory that growing bones and muscles need good support (even though kiddo is a KID and therefore doesn't really care/notice)... but got it super cheap ($200 for bed and box, instead of $800) by going through an outlet & buying last year's model. We didn't bother to buy a frame for it for 2 years... just kept it on the floor. Once we got a frame we got one with a trundle... which has worked out like a dream for sleepovers now that he's 8.

((BTW... to be completely honest... we had an IKEA bunkbed as a temporary solution while in the middle of moving... bed was 4' off the ground and the bottom was a "fort". It was for while we were in between houses and had NO spare room whatsoever. Made night time potty training, um, interesting. We'd intended him to sleep on the bottom, but he wouldn NOT. He just loooooooved the top, and would melt down if required to sleep on the bottom, and not sleep (although he slept fine up top). So I'd avoid a bunk.))

If I could go back and do this over (we got a toddler bed), I would have gotten a twin bed with side rails (only because their room would not accommodate a full sized bed). If I were you, I'd go with the largest you can afford. Because this bed will grow with them and you will not need to upgrade later. If you do not want to spend a lot of money on the furniture, simply get a nice mattress/box springs and metal frame and you can get a headboard/foot board sometime in the future.

We purchased a Queen sized bed when she came out of her crib.
What is funny is that once she left for college we purchased a trundle..

We bought a twin boxspring and mattress with a toddler guardrail when our oldest was 2.5. Once we were confident she woudn't fall out of the bed, she had just turned 4, we bought her a nice sleigh bed with a trundle and she loves it. Now our 2nd child is on a twin boxspring and mattess and she too wiill get her "big girl" bed once she's done falling out. I definitley woulnd't waste the money on a toddler bed, either. Good luck!

We put our daughter in a bed that she will probably use for about 10 years. It's an extendible bed from IKEA. Its sturdy, low to the ground, has built in head/footrails and has 3 different lengths depending on the size of your child (we moved our daughter in her own bed when she was 1 and its on the smallest length). We love it and so does she (going on 5 months of using it). Good Luck.

My son went from a crib to a twin.
He still sleeps in that twin and he is now 17.
I don't buy things twice. Why waste a single dime. Purchase something that will take him right into college. All you need is a twin bed, a dresser, and maybe a desk. My son doesn't have a desk - both children do their homework at the dining room table. I did get my son a book case that he used until last year when I found him a wall unit that is all squares at IKEA. He has boxes in some of the squares for his "junque". He uses some of the squares for display and the rest for books. (I'd wait on that until your child is a little older because it really looks like it would be fun to climb!!)
Whatever you decide to purchase, make sure it's not trendy - classic works best and is timeless.
YMMV
LBC

i got my daughter a queen sized............so it last into her teen years, its worked nicely when i wanted to lay with her

We got a twin bed for our daughter around the age 3. It is not a "forever" bed because there is no space for anything bigger then a twin. When we move in 6-8 years our daughter will be 10/12 years old and it will be nice to have her shop with us for her "forever" bed, something she likes (maybe queen size) and will want to move out of house into her first apartment after college.

Have to mention we did have a crib that transitioned into a toddler bed, well by age 3 she seemed too big for that size of bed, we changed the crib to the toddler bed around 24 months so she used it for only a year. We switched her to the twin around age 3 (one side against the wall, the other side has a railing) and she loves it, still the comfort of being "enclosed" but the freedom of a big girl bed.

A trundle is a good option to have a friend over and you just pull that second bed out OR if the two kids will be sharing a room you will not need to buy another bed.

Go to this website http://www.trendwood..com to find a retailer of Trendwood products. We bought the upper bunk of the Bunkhouse collection, Ft. Apache Loft set for our boy when he went to a big boy bed. Our boy moves around in his bed like a pinball all night long, so we wanted something that would keep him in bed! This bed has rails at just the right height. Our boy can get in and out on his own just fine, and he enjoys playing on his bed with his stuffed toys.

The furniture store here in Denver sold it to us as a single piece so we didn't have to buy the entire loft set, just the top bunk part. We bought this because it is made of solid pine and is sturdy. We figure that when he gets to be a teenager, he'll need a larger bed, maybe a twin extra long, or a queen bed (if it will fit in his room) and investing a small amount now made the most sense. Also, because it is made of wood, if our boy decides he wants to paint his room red with orange stripes, he can paint his bed too! LOL.

My son slept in his crib till 3 1/2 yrs. Well, he did when he didn't sneak into our room and tuck himself in at the bottom of our bed in the middle of the night. In his room was the bedroom set I had as a teenager (twin bed) and when we switched him, we put extra long guards on both sides of the twin bed and he was fine. That bedroom set is over 30 yrs old and it's battered a bit from at least 3 moves and everything we've put it through. I used it myself till I got married. When he turns 13, I might think about getting him a bedroom set of his own (teen/young adult - and he might need something that will be comfortable for a tall guy - if he does hit 6'4", the twin he's sleeping in now is not going to be long enough).