Should I or Shouldn't I? the Toddler Bed....

I think the younger you transition them to the "big bed" the better. My husband and I were living in NYC in a 1 bedroom so my son was also in a playpen until he was fifteen months in the same bedroom. When we moved here to boise, instead of buying him a crib we just moved him into a twin bed with a rail on it. He had a hard time adjusting for like a week, and then he finally started sleeping through the night for the first time and he took much better naps! I hope this helps & good luck!

Call me crazy, but I could swear that a crib is lots bigger than a playpen....anyway, he is going to sleep better with a real mattress. At his age, I would just put a crib mattress on the floor for him. A toddler bed is just a big waste of money.

I transitioned my daughter (due to a necessary move) at the same age. She did fine. Of course there were those days that I had to return her to bed many times before a nap actually occurred, but we all survived. Just make sure that he is safe should he get out of bed and you don't realize it for a while. Good luck.

Personally I think that toddler beds are a waste of money, and they are really not much roomier than a crib, they even use crib matresses! What I have done is to buy a twin sized matress and put it on the floor, buy some fun kids sheets that are his favorite color or have his favorite cartoon charactors on them. Tell him how special and nice his new big boy bed is. You can push it againt a wall and have a pillow or two on the floor in case he rolls off, but the nice part is that since the matress is on the floor it is not too far of a fall! When he is older you can buy (or borrow) a bed frame, try going to thrift stores to find a used bed frame for cheap, but NEVER buy a used matress because they are full of germs and may even have fleas or bed bugs or heaven knows what else! Good luck with your "big kid"!

I think the issue of space needs to be addressed - you mentioned that you rent an apt from your mother in her basement, and share a bedroom with your son. Would you even have the room for him to have a twin bed in that room?

I am with the other posters regarding my experience that the crib mattresses are bigger than the playpen or pack-n-plays. Perhaps you have a different type of crib than a standard size. Either way, you should figure out what you have room for (toddler bed or twin bed). The toddler beds are smaller, and may work better for your living space. I would not recommend getting a toddler bed regularly, but you may be limited to space therefore the toddler bed may be the perfect answer for you. Even in a toddler bed you can put up rails, even on all four sides if you want to, to simulate a larger crib. If you think he is ready for a big boy bed, then you can decide the amount of guard rail coverage you would require to keep him safe.

Good luck! Happy dreams...

At age 2, we moved our daughter to a double bed mattress on the floor (mostly because we had one in our guest room), and she has done well there. Because it is on the floor, and only a 4 inch drop, we don't have bed rails, and it works well for her. It is in the corner, so there is only one side she could roll off of. I would say go for the twin bed as a toddler bed mattress and a crib mattress are the same size. And just put it on the floor. It could even be slid under your bed during the day to make a bit more room, if needed.

Good Luck!

Don't get a toddler bed as those are a waste of money, they grow out of them so fast.
My son was is a large boy and was a pretty big baby!! :) I am surprised that your son is too big for the crib though. My son was in his until he was 26 mos. Have you thought of just putting the crib mattress on the floor?
A lot of little ones go into a big kid bed soon, try even getting a twin, put up a bedrail, make sure there isn't anything he can get into unsafe in his room and even baby gate his room if you keep the door open at night.
My daughter went into a twin at 23 months and she did great!
The twin allows them a lot of room to grown.
The playpen is fine as long as he is sleeping well, when we travelled that is what my kids slept in.
If you have the room though, go get a simple twin bed though and bedrails like at Target or Walmart, Babies R Us are very inexpensive and give them the security of staying in the bed.

Hi M., would it be possible to put him in a daybed in the living room that could be used as a couch as well or some kind of bed situation that could be used for more than just a bed, unless you have the room for a daybed. However they do have smaller beds I think.
My son build a small bedframe for my grandson and for a time just used a crib mattress till he was bigger.
Liz G

Go for it. I know a lot of people think toddler beds are a waste, but when you are tight on space, they are great. If you have room for a twin, I'd go that route, but we've had 3 toddler beds (at the same time) at one point because of our living space and our kids being too young for bunkbeds at that point. We've switched them over as soon as 16 months and they did great.

Although as someone else mentioned-the toddler bed is the same size mattress as the crib, so if he's too big for a full size crib, I'm not sure how well he'd fit in a toddler bed. Go to the store and check it out with him, see how he is with it. Then if you do decide to get one, check out a second hand place like Kid to Kid, or even craigslist or freecycle. You can usually get them used for around $20-30, or often can get one free with freecycle.

If you have room in your place, I would really suggest you move him to a twin bed. I moved all of my kids to a twin before they were two. People were shocked, saying that it's too young. But, if they like it and don't roam in the night then I don't know what the big deal is. I suggest getting a day bed since there is a frame on three sides and then one of those cheap removable bed sides from Wal-Mart for the 4th side, to prevent rolling out. It always took my kids several months to realize that they could get out of bed themselves, and by then they were already used to their beds so even when they did get out, they would get back in to sleep. So, moving your son to a twin bed will be a little more freedom for him, but I also think it will be more comfortable and he will probably love it! Oh, you could put a twin mattress on the floor, but I do think you will get more "roaming" since a kid will intuitively escape from a mattress on the floor! But, he will adjust either way and be fine in a few weeks!

Did you have a minicrib or something? Because my son is off the charts big, and he's 27 months old, and he still fits fine in his crib. Playpens are much smaller than regular-sized cribs. My son has outgrown playpens, but not a crib.
And a toddler bed wouldn't help, anyway. The mattress for toddler beds is a crib mattress.
The only time we have "toddler beds" is when we take the side off of a crib. Otherwise, they're very expensive for the amount of time they'll use it.
It will also depend on the temperament of your son. Because I still don't want my 27 month old to be able to get out of his bed at will. He's a little wilder than my first son, who was in a big bed (we had an extra queen) by this age and did fine staying in bed when he should.

We moved my daughter to a toddler bed (since we were having a newborn and need the extra space in the room I got a toddler bed off of Craig'slist)to have ready for her, we mover her to the bed when she was 15 months. She had gotten her leg stuck 3 times in one day- so we moved her in the middle of the night to a toddler bed.
I did move the used crib sheet to the bed so it had her smell and left the crib empty- she tried twice to climb into the crib the next day for nap.
I use a kid gate so she can not leave the room- our house is baby proof but.....to keep her safe.
Our son would climb out of the crib and sleep on the guest bed that was in his room, so he sleeps in a full size bed- no transition to speak of he was about 2 years old.
As far as when it is time for your child to get a bed is up to you. I have a friend has kept each of her kids in a crib until they were 3 years old then bought then a twin....

I think you should put him in a twin bed,if hes too big for a crib,im sure hes getting too big for a play pen.I have a 4 yr old son,he was out of his crib at 12 months,he started climbing out,so that was the end of the crib.He should transition well,just make him feel like a big boy,and invest in baby gates.

If he's tired, he'll sleep anywhere. My daughter slept in the playpen till she was 2 1/2 because we lived seasonally in Yellowstone Park and she was in our room in a tiny apt there. The real crib and real bed were at our house 120 miles away. She slept fine either place.

I put my baby in a toddler bed at fourteen months and he did awesome. He loves it it plays on it all the time. He does sleep all night in it. The bed he is in has rails so he can't just roll out. Good luck

My youngest was in a toddler bed at just over a year. We never had any problems. Also, after 18 months, we put him on the top bunk of the bunk beds. My oldest refused to sleep with the ceiling so close to his head. You shouldn't have any problems. Except, he may crawl into your bed sometimes if he wakes at night since you share a room with him. Good luck!!!

Hiya

My son is just over a year and when he was 11 months, we converted his cot into a mini toddler bed (becuase he loved climbing and also becuase our backs were aching from scooping him out of a very deep cot). His bed now is only about a foot off the floor. We also taught him that everytime he wants to get out of bed he has to do it "legs first" i.e. turn around so his tummy is on the bed and then stick his legs off the bed and onto the floor (so that he doesn't hurt himself climbing out of bed). I'm guessing that from our experience, your son's probably not too young to be in a bed on his own and taught how to get in and out safely. You could also put some (nursury) rubber matting under and around the bed so that if there is a fall, it'll be cushioned.

Hope this helps!:)
J.