Best Bed Rail for Toddler

When we converted our daughter's crib to the toddler bed I wanted to buy a rail for this reason, too. When shopping I found that all the guards and rails could only be used with a regular mattress and boxspring and were not recommended for convertable cribs. I think there is an inflatable bedrail out there but I am not sure if it is short enough for a convertable crib. Our daughter did fall out of the bed one time and that was it. It scared her more than anything.

Shortly after we converted her crib it was recalled so we ended up going to Walmart and buying one of their toddler beds. It has little rails and she never had a problem with falling out.

What an exciting experience to move your "baby" to a bigger bed. I moved my daughter into a Full size bed when she was 2 1/2. We moved her from her crib to the toddler bed when she was 1 1/2 and then to the full size bed ("big girl bed") when she was 2 1/2. In my experience, she did roll out of both her toddler bed and full size bed just once or twice. She did not get hurt at all, but the falling experince helped her train herself to feel the boundries of the bed. After one or two times it never happened in either bed. Trust me, I was nervouse about it as she is a major "toss and turn" style sleeper.

I know I am not addressing your question about which bed rails to use. I simply don't think you need them at his age.

I hope this helps! Best of luck!
M.

most bed rails are not for use with crib mattresses for the simple reason that they are too light to keep the rail on the bed if the child rolls into the rail. I'd recommend that you just go strait to a twin bed and put one side up against the wall and get a rain that will flip down. We had one of those cribs those "convertable" cribs are not worth what you pay for them. Unless your child has a big room they aren't going to need a full size bed for a long while and a twin works just fine. We tried the "toddler" bed that comes with these convertable beds and could not find a rail that would work with it. Even attaching the rail to the foundation that the crib has is not enough to keep it from tipping over. We took the whole thing down and went and got a twin bed from walmart with little drawers under it for like 200$. Besides that isn't your 3 yr old getting a little long for a crib matteress, being cramped and uncomfortable could be why he tosses and turns.

I never bought a bed railing. Instead we put the twin matress on the floor and then eventually raised it up on a frame. If my sons fell off the bed it was a very low fall onto the carpet.

If you do go with one of the bed rails, make sure the mesh on it is very firm/tight. Each night, make sure the bedrail is pushed in and secure against the mattress- they can come loose, especially with a child playing.

Aside from that, you can also put lots of (body) pillows on the side of the bed that is not up against the wall so if your 3 yr old does fall out of bed, it is a soft landing.

Ikea sells beds for kids with built in rails and low to the ground. They are economically priced and come in different sizes for different needs - and they are cute as heck! We plan on getting one when our daughter gets to that stage. Check them out online and taking a trip to an Ikea is well worth the time because they have so many great things!