So there was a question earlier today where a 2 yr old was still in a crib. A few of those answers made me realize that maybe I'm NOT in the norm with my 3.5 yr old son still being in a toddler bed. He is going to out-grow it soon, as he is getting taller and taller each day. But funds aren't quite there to buy him a twin, so I guess that's why we haven't done so yet. Also, we don't have carpet, nor wood. Currently we have no flooring technically, and just have the hard cold concrete slab in which our house is built. I know there are bed rails, but I sleep better at night knowing my son would fall only 10 inches off the toddler bed instead of 2-3 feet off the adult bed.
So my question is: How old was your child when he/she started using an adult-sized bed? Am I way behind here?
Thanks a bunch!
Thank you ladies. I had not really even considered buying a thick rug. I guess b/c they can be expensive. Right now I have a hand-me-down toddler mattress on one side of his bed, so if he falls he lands onto another mattress. I do not think he falls out of bed ever, but I am so nervous to find out! Looks like the next few months to a year we'll get him a bigger mattress and bed. We have a queen that he naps on daily (I love cuddling with him. We'd nap in his bed, but I don't fit! like a lot of you said was your issue). I really want to reserve that queen I have already for guests. The in-laws live in California (We're in Texas) so when they come, they need that bed because they're here for over a week! I'll figure things out when the time comes. Oh but I could never put a mattress on the floor. In the warm season (Texas, that's 10 months out of the year) we have scorpions. I'd fear them crawling up the mattress onto his bed. But thanks for the suggestion!
@Anne: We have actualy considered a bunk bed with full/queen futon below and twin above. Thanks for reminding me of that idea!
@April: Thank you! Great insight!
@BP: Yes the toddler bed was given to me. My cousin gave it to me when my on was about 10 months old. I stored it till my son started climbing out of his crib at about 20 months. It's so cute, simple, and my husband hasn't even had to take it apart or put it together. I have done it all.
My daughter moved into a toddler bed at 2 years and 3 months.
She moved into a queen bed with railings at 2 years and 9 months. I was pregnant and I was going to reuse her bed and room for my newborn. I wanted to give her a good enough time in her new bed and room to make it feel like it was hers before my new one got here.
My first born went to a twin at 2 1/2 and my youngest went from toddler bed to twin right after her 4th birthday. She hasn't fallen out (it's been 2 months) and I agree with another poster that suggested a thick rug under the bed if you're worrried about that. If he's happy there though, let it be.
You are NOT behind. Everyone's situation is different. I chose to keep my daughter in her crib as long as possible. I had learned the hard way from my son when we switched him at 18m. She was comfortable in her crib, not trying to climb out, etc. The only reason we changed was because she was getting heavy to lift over the bar, and she had upgraded at preschool so she wanted to upgrade at home too.
My daughter has a 3-1 convertible crib.
Crib mode to toddler bed --> on her 3rd birthday.
Toddler bed --> full bed on her 5th birthdayIt was in toddler bed mod until this past Oct. on her 5th birthday.
When we changed over to the full bed I didn't want her to be extremely high off the ground. We bought a hollywood frame that connects to the long side of her crib, a bunkie board that was on sale for $50, and a medium firm, slight pillowtop full size mattress. The overall height is slightly taller than her toddler bed mattress.
Here is a similar bunkie board. We got ours from Mattress Warehouse for $50. The frame was also $50.
http://www.raymourflanigan.com/full-bunkie-board-50264377...
we never used a toddler bed with any of our kids. My daughter was 16 months old when she went from a crib to a twin size bed and my son was 2 years old. It would have been sooner for my son, but we were getting ready to move, so we just waited until we moved to switch him.
Every kid and family is different, so you can't possibly be 'behind.' We didn't bother with a toddler bed--with our son, it was straight to the twin bed around age 2, (can't really remember...) and straight to a double futon for his little sister around that age too. She had discovered the joys of co-sleeping from a summer living with my husband's family in Tanzania, and she wasn't going back into the crib if it meant she couldn't have an adult lie down with her while she went to sleep! We were moving the futon couch out of the living room at the time, so it made sense to just put it in her room and open it up into the bed version. There are several nice things about a futon+frame: it is low to the ground, which takes care of that concern about a small child having to climb up and down (or possibly falling out). Also, it is big enough that the child can keep using it up through the teen years, and it provides great flexibility for sleepovers or guests. Finally, it can convert into a couch if needed. I guess futons are kind of 1980s (dating myself here), however you might want to check into that option if it sounds interesting. Good luck!
My oldest son is now 5. He was right at 18 months old when we got him his race car toddler bed, because we were moved and thought why not set up his new room in his new house with the new bed? He loved it, and stayed in it until he was 4 1/2 actually. Maybe he's shorter than some? Or maybe because the race car bed doesn't have rails it's not as "confining"? I dunno....because he was just fine sleeping in it. We could tell the day was coming, but he hadn't outgrown it yet, at 4 1/2.
We moved into our new house at the end of June and our youngest son was almost 19 months old and was getting too big for his crib, so that's why we moved them to new beds. I bought my 4 1/2 year old a great bunk bed and set up his room cowboy stuff so he was amped about his new room and new bed again. I painted and decorated my 18 month old's room and gave him the race car bed which made him very proud. I think that putting an age on something is a little bit of a mistake, especially if money is an issue. I would definately start saving and preparing for a real bed now, but your child doesn't "need" a "big bed" until he's "needing" it, if that makes any sense? When your son is too tall for the bed, he needs another one.
As for fear of the "what ifs" on if he falls, I would suggest a couple things: first you can get a rug at Target for pretty cheap to put by his bed, and that might be more pleasant anyway so his feet aren't so cold when he first gets out of bed. What I did for my guys when they first started sleeping on the toddler bed was lay out the stuffed animals on the floor beside the bed (I was thinking that if he fell and landed on Tigger, Bob the Builder, and a few bears it'd be nicer than landing on the floor). Babies R Us (MAYBE Target and Walmart, but for sure Babies R Us) sells safety rails so it's like a toddler bed, for real beds. You stick it under the mattress and pull the thing up and lock it. I didn't do that though, since my son's twin bed is actually a bunk bed shaped like a T, so there's the back of his dresser on one side, and the book shelves on the other side, so he'd be "held in". I was really happy with that arrangement, and I bought this bunkbed, with a dresser, bookshelves, headboard, 3 drawers under the bottom bed, a desk with drawers, a built in bulletin board for his desk, and a removable ladder, with mattresses, for $200 on craigslist. Craigslist can hook you up with some great deals! Of course we threw away the mattresses because I didn't want a used mattress, but we got an inexpensive one during the Memorial Day sale and he slept on that for nearly half a year before we gave him another mattress for the top bunk and put the ladder on the bed.
Well, to me 2 in a crib is absurd.. But anyhow.. To each is own.. But my oldest was out if crib into a toddler at 11 months, Youngest about the same. They are a year apart. We just got twin beds this year about October. They are 3 and 4. So I personally wouldn't say your behind. I just had to buy 2 beds, and k didn't want to get just anything, so I made sure I saved to where I could buy the captain beds with bookshelf headboard. They are great. But we were to the point where we had to buy big beds. The bars on the bottom of the toddler beds were falling apart and one day j caught my kids sword fighting with then pretending to be pirates... Yea I know. Lol. But I will have yet another girl in may, so I will this time around buy a convertible crib, so I don't have to worry about buying another bed 3 years from now, maybe just get the fill size to my oldest and give re twin to the baby... IDK haven't really thought that far till now.. Now you have me thinking..
We went straight from crib to queen (actually we were also in a bunkbed for awhile, but that was a moving thing)... at about age 3.5 when he outgrew his crib. Granted, this was in the days of dropside cribs, so he could get in and out of it just fine as long as I left the side down, it acted as a side rail and he just popped out of it in the morning.
We didn't, but what a lot of people do is just put the mattress on the floor, or put the mattress and boxspring on the floor. Then they raise it up on a frame later.
Alternatively, a side rail is a pretty inexpensive thing that might save you a few grey hairs.
Around two years old, a couple a little earlier because their younger sibs needed the bed back. I never did rails and they never fell off. Well other than horseplay but they were older then. I don't know how they do it but they really do get not to fall off.
My kids never used a toddler bed. They both went from the crib to a twin bed, with a brief period of just the mattress on the floor. My youngest is 3 and sleeps on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed that has rails on it. I think she would still fall out of bed if she didn't have the rails. My oldest was in a twin with no rails at age 2. I don't think there is a right age to transition. If a child is happy in a crib or toddler bed, then leave him/her there! I think you only need to make the move if the child outgrows the bed or is uncomfortable. In your case, you could just buy a twin mattress and put it on the floor. Your son would still only have a short fall to the floor if he were to roll off. If you go right to the twin bed and are nervous about him falling, use rails and put pillows or something soft on the floor to break his fall. Good luck!
My son went to a twin bed at 13 months. His room is not big enough for a queen, so he will be in that for a long time.
Have you thought of buying a thick rug to go under his bed?
My (also very tall) son was in his crib till age 3...he loved it, never climbed out! Moved him to toddler bed until age 4, then finally to full-size (bottom of bunk bed when we could afford it). My little one is 2.5, still in crib....no rushing again!!!
Our daughter could get out of her crib so fast right before she turned 1 year old. Nothing could keep her in it,. No crib tents anything.. She could unzip from the inside.. Yikes!
I just knew she was going to break her neck.. She had been walking unassisted since she was 6 months old so she was really strong and agile.. it was hard to explain the dangers of climbing out.
So she was in a Queen sized bed right after she turned 1 year old. We had a twin for a few weeks on the floor in the corner for the room, but since we only had 2 bedrooms and knew we would all 3 be reading books together each night, we purchased a queen bed. She only fell out of it a few times the entire she had that bed, . The first time she cried the other times, we just found her in the morning asleep with her pillow and blankets.
Funny now she has a daybed,. She saw it and wanted it so we got rid of the Queen when she decided she wanted a Pappason chair in her room.. Long story..
We just put our 3.25 year old son in a twin bed, straight from his crib, so I don't think you're too far off age-wise. We picked an Ikea bed that is close to the ground - as close as a toddler bed - and that can be adjusted higher as he grows.
I think the message conveyed in all these posts is that the answer is whatever best suits your family and your son individually. A good friend of mine still has her huge-for-her-age 3.5 yr old in a crib and they both seem perfectly happy with it. My own almost 3 year old son shares a queen sized bed with his dad and I. If I had the space and money for a king, we'd all be more comfortable but I love sleeping next to my son. Forgot to add: we have a rail on his side. I think I am going to post my own question soon about how do I transition him into his own bed because I think he will be ready in the next 6 mo - a year, but in fact, Mom's not ready :( I feel like I could sleep next to him forever I love this closeness so much. But back to your post ...
If I had exactly what I wanted, I'd begin the transition now at 3 yrs old by setting up a mattress on the floor in his room. For us there would be no reason for a toddler mattress, I can only see their use if there are space constraints or perhaps their appeal to the child because they are shaped like Lightening McQueen or something cool. I would want the mattress to be big enough that I could could comfortably doze there with him while putting him to bed. Because we occasionally have centipedes in our apartment (haven't seen one in months since last extermination thank God!) I would not sleep at night with any one of us on the floor. So we'd need to use a frame very low to the ground, like a futon would be ideal. And I would surround the bed with heavy rugs if I didn't have carpet, I'd highly recommend that for you since your floor is so hard. Might even throw some pillow down there! Hope this helps and good luck ...
They all went to a twin bed when around 2 to 2 1/2. Never bothered with a
toddler bed.
I am big supporter of going from a crib to a full or twin bed and skipping the todder bed. But since you already have it (I don't know if it was given to you, but you could have saved the money and used it towards a full or twin...just something to keep in mind), keep your son where he is until he starts sleeping poorly. 3 and 1/2 is still ok to be in a toddler bed as long as he is sleeping well. Our niece did not get out of a toddler bed until she was past 5! I think that is too old!
My son LOVED his crib. NEVER tried to climb out of it... He stayed in his "crib" until 3.... He went into a toddler bed until 4. At 4, we got him a full size bed :)
Baby #1 moved from crib to twin mattress on the floor at age 2 1/2 because baby #2 was going to need the crib. We moved her to an actual bed (in a frame) at age 3.75 when we moved. She hasn't had a problem falling out.....and we got a memory foam mattress from Walmart.com, so the bed doesn't have a box spring....it sits very low to the ground.
Baby #2 is 20 months old and will stay in that crib until she can climb out. She is tiny and she needs a cage! At that point, her bed turns into a toddler bed and we'll use that as long as possible. Then, maybe we'll put them in the same room and/or bed together. Depends on the situation at the time.
When he actually outgrows it, I would get a platform bed or put the bed on the floor until you know he is able to navigate it without falling out.
both of my sons were around 18 months....one before & one shortly after.
We went straight to twin beds for both boys. I used couch cushions &/or bed pillows for the landing pad!
Well I may be to old for this but here goes. My kids were 18 and 16 months apart in age. My kids were 16 months, 14 months, and 18 months old when they moved to twin beds. We did not have toddler beds back then. We also had a 2 bedroom house until my third as 3 yrs. old. We also figured if they fell out it was part of growing up. My children are now 29, 30, and 31. Our son and his wife had our 2nd grandchild in Nov. Today we learned our 19 month granddaughter has moved to a bottom bunk twin bed so her younger sister can have the crib instead of the bassinet. As for a twin bed you might try freecycle. It is a yahoo group. You can ask for things or offer items. The only stipulation is that it is free.
I don't know anyone who still had their child in a toddler bed at age 3. All of them were in twin, full, or queen sized beds but then, usually around 2 1/2. If you want your child to be in a toddler bed then so be it.
