Toddler Bed Recomendations

Hi N.,
I wouldnt even do a toddler bed, personaly not a big fan- only if you have a tiny room and need the space. Why do another transition into a full size bed? Mine went from crib to twin or queen sized beds.

I bought a secondhand toddler bed through CraigsList. My daughter has been suing it since she was about 17 months old(she is now over 25 months old) It's in like new condition and one of the best purchases I've ever made as I never would have been able to afford this quality or style of bed brand new. I paid $40 dollars for it and it is a beautiful natural birch sleigh bed. So cute and sophisticated in it's mini size. She loves it and loves the freedom of being able to go to bed on her own upon prompting.

N.,
I bought a second-hand toddler bed. It was just a plain white metal arch type frame. BUT if I had to do it over again, I would skip the toddler bed and go right to a single bed. My son was just over 2 when I removed his crib and he didn't like the toddler bed and ended up sleeping on his floor for a loooong time. What I didn't know is that you can't use bed rails on a toddler bed. I would advise you to keep your son in his crib as long as he doesn't climb out. I can't stress that enough. The I would move him into a regular bed with rails when he's done with the crib. I think toddler beds are just a waste of money. I wish I had kept my son in his crib longer--he wasn't climbing out at all & loved it. But when he turned 2, everyone was asking me "getting him out of the crib soon?" etc etc. As soon as I returned his crib to my SIL, I read an article that endoresed leaving in the crib til 3, as long as they weren't climbing! Too late for me--but not for you! :) Good luck whatever you decide.

We bought a nice wooden toddler bed at Walmart-it was under $100

Check there

I would recommend skipping the toddler bed and just buying a single bed mattress and boxspring. If you spend money on the toddler bed, it is just money down the drain, but the single bed can be used for years and years, for children and adults.

We skipped the toddler bed. We save when we can with all of the "have to haves" for children. Our son has his crib mattress on the floor in a corner with a rail on the outside. He moves the rail a bit when he gets going in the morning, but overall it stays put. He just got a "big boy" pillow last week and seems to do better laying down on his own. Good luck!

Before spending anything on a toddler bed, look into your local Freecycle group. Go to Freecycle.org and find your local group through that. I just gave away a bed that matches what you would want. There are plenty of parents that find it easier to just give some of the stuff away after the kids are done with it. Another option is your local Craigslist. Look up your group through the main Craigslist.org. They have a free stuff listing and also a for sale spot. Good luck!

I don't have a recommendation for a toddler bed but I'll tell you what other parents told me last year when Iwas pregnant with my second and was looking for a toddler bed.Everybody said it wasn'r worth the money and if you don't want to bring them in your bed when they are scared or sick its pretty uncomfortable laying in a toddler bed.So we just bought her amattress and boxspring(they sell frameslow for kids)We didn't spend tyhe money on a headboard or wood frame we just got her a canopy that hangs from the ceiling.It has worked well for us.Our daughter had some issues after our son was born and started waking during the night and I'm glad we spent the money for a twin.Good Luck

I'm with the freecycle or craigslist route. Or the "next bed" with rails if you are really concerned. They are in the toddler bed for about 3-6 months, then you realize that you need the "big boy" bed! Spend as little as possible!

We actually just used my old twin bed from when I lived with my parents. Works great. We have one side against the wall and the other side has a built in safety rail. Its his BIG BOY bed and he loved it from day one. We did have to give him prizes a few mornings in a row if he would stay in bed, but now it's easy breezy.

We also got the SLEIGH BED and it was from Wal-Mart. For us it made the most sense- we shopped for a bit for "big kid beds"... but none of them were what we were looking for. The bonus of the toddler bed is keeping the crib matress. Keep in mind that any other bed will need to have a new matress (and box spring). For us it made sense - and I have a VERY active son ... and although it is not permitted ... there is some JUMPING behind closed doors. The bed has held us so nicely - it is wooden and was simple to put together. I recall it also being right around $50.00. The only trick was the size of the box did not fit in our car - but did fit in the back of a friends' mini-van!

I bought my first son a race car toddler bed when he started climbing out of his crib at 22 months old. He absolutely loved it and had no problems transitioning to it. I really liked it because we could use a padded board as a safty rail to keep him from falling out of the low points in the bed and being plastic it is fairly indestructible, a real plus for my boy. I paid less than $70 for it at a consignment store and he stayed in it until his fourth birthday. By then he was pretty big but it didn't seem to bother him. My second son is still in his crib at 31 months old because he loves it and has not climbed out yet. We may move him directly to a single bed at three if we have the money to do it at the time (He's also a little bigger than his brother was at the same age) Either way it will work out, and I agree with the one person who suggested that you move your son well before the baby is born. We had our first switch to the room farther from our bedroom about 4 months before the baby was born.

N.,
My two have used the same toddler bed and its great. We actually got the one at Walmart, because we figured they wouldn't be in it forever, but we didn't yet want to spend the money on a whole twin bed. They have 3 colors a light wood, dark wood and white, they don't always show them all on line, but they had them at the store. and the best part was that it was only $40. It has held up just fine and even with the kids jumping on it on rare occasions. Both my kids loved it as a transition bed and it was great when my daughter finally got a "big" bed we were able to give my son the toddler bed and he felt just as special as her. I would totally recommend this bed even though its so cheap, the quality is not cheap at all!
Dorel Sleigh Toddler Bed is the name of the one we got, you can view it online. I just looked to double check the name and it looks like the price is up to $57 since we got ours but still a good price. Good luck, Jennifer

Hi N. -

We bought our toddler bed at USA Baby. They have one brand (i think). It's really nice quality and even has a large drawer underneath the bed. It's a little over $100 but worth it. I looked around a lot before purchasing this one and found it to be one of the best ones out there. The ones at Babies R US felt very cheaply made compared to this and the price was comparable. If you go to USA Baby ask if they have any sales coming up or any coupons - it can save you about $25.

Enjoy the new baby. By the way if you can transition beds before the new baby comes it helps. That way your older one won't feel as if the new baby is taking away "his bed." We recently went through the transition from one to two in the past year and this worked well for us. Also, our nearly 3 year old is outgrowing her toddler bed quickly. If we could do it over we would likely just have put the money towards a full size bed and skipped toddler all together. Just a thought...good luck and have fun!