Why a Todder Bed? Why Not Just Transition to a Twin Bed?

around 2 or 2 1/2 years old, I put my daughter in a twin bed. I did not want to waste money on a toddler bed just to use it for a few months. If you don't have to take her out of the crib yet, I would not. My daughter was old enough then to understand it was fun to sleep in a big girl bed. I had the bed against one wall and a bed rail on the other. After a few nights of reading books, getting all the stuffed animals and familiar things she wanted in the bed, she was fine. Just a suggestion :-)

here's what we did and I think it's the BEST idea...buy a twin bed and put a monkey board on it with a mattress on top. that way it'll be as low to the floor as a toddler bed and when you're ready, you can buy the boxspring for it, or if you have space, just store the boxspring until you need it. we just rose my daugters bed at 4 yrs old.

Toddler beds are lower to the ground and easier for little ones to get in and out of. Also if they roll off the bed there's not as much distance to fall. It sounds like she may not be ready to make the transition yet. If she's not climbing out (or in my daughter's case trying to climb into) bed, leave her in her crib for awhile longer.

Hi B.,
My Daughter didn't start sleeping in her toddler bed till she was about 27mos.
She didn't want to sleep in anything but her crib.
We put the rails down for a while, then I put the toddler bed together and made it so she could sleep if she wanted to. [We didn't want her in a bigger bed b/c she is such a climber and has a tendency to Jump if unsupervised]
During November I told her before Santa comes we are going to take the crib and give it back (we'd borrowed it from a friend). Then I told her we are going to take the crib out Tomorrow-the next day I took the mattress out and Daddy took the crib apart.
She slept in her "gig gurl bed" ever since.
If your daughter is NOT a climber I'd guess a twin would be just fine (or if she doesn't like to jump as ours does).
BTW-you can get toddler beds Used-we got one from a friend who was putting her 5 yr old in a twin. :-)
You can also (if you want to go Toddler) look on Freecycle.org or craigslist or someplace like that.
You can also request on both those sites (Wanted; Toddler bed with mattress (or if you are using the crib mattress) with OUT mattress)...someone might have one they don't need anymore.
If she won't sleep on a bigger bed, you could always put the crib mattress on the floor...
Depends on how highly strung your daughter is-ours is pretty up there so I took about 3 weeks of telling her we were getting rid of her crib SOON, then in 3,2 more days then Tomorrow then that morning Today....then I did it and she didn't whimper. She asked where the crib was and I told her we were giving it back to Ms. Whitney for Christmas and she was a big girl and didn't need it anymore. She said "Oh, OK" and that was it.
In any event, I'd have a gate there so she won't wander during the night and get into something you DON'T want her to find.
Good Luck!
C.

I would keep her in the crib as long as possible - my oldest quit taking naps when he got in this big boy bed - so anyway with our second boy we have a crib tent on the crib (because he started climbing out at around 18 months - way to early in my opinion to sleep in a big bed). So anyway, the crib tent is awesome if you are worried about her climbing out of the crib. I am going to keep our 2nd son in his crib as long as possible because of what I went through with the 1st one - (no more naps, destroying his room when put in there for a nap, including smearing poop on the wall - breaking a lightbulb and cutting his finger - emptying all the clothes out of the drawers - all of this when I had a vidio monitor on him - I will say he is a bit more difficult than most children but I just wanted to warn you of all this mischief they can get into once they are not safely confined in their cribs. Good luck!!

we never did toddler beds. we went straight to a twin as well, but a little earlier than you. my son was 14 months and my daughter 16 months. we used a twin so that we could lay down with them if they were sick, had a nightmare, needed help sleeping, and to help them transition to sleeping alone. we used a mattress on a box spring on the floor, with no frame so that it is lower and easy for them to get in and out of on their own, and put a rail on the side so that they wouldn't fall. we don't shut our kids into their rooms, because we want them to be able to come get us, or go to the bathroom if they need us. --plus I personally don't think it is right-- we do have a gate at the top of the stairs, tho (all of our bedrooms are upstairs)

since your daughter is older, i would just tell her about what you are going to do. talk to her before, like maybe thursday tell her that on saturday (show her a calendar) she will move to her big bed out of the crib, then remind her like crazy on friday, then saturday, include her on taking it apart, cleaning and putting in the twin bed. with both of mine, if i spring something on them, they freak out but if we talk about it beforehand for a few days, they transition smoothly. we even do it months in advance for big stuff, like them spending the night away from us in june, and giving up her paci in july. it has always worked for us.

we have always tried to treat them with respect, as if they were just little humans, not little kids, or less than.

I wouldn't bother with a toddler bed, personally. I never had one, I don't know anyone my age who had one, I think it's just another way for the companies to make money! I'd just go straight to a twin bed. Maybe start by putting the twin mattress directly on the floor until you are over the fear that they could fall out of the bed. That's what I plan on doing. Sorry, no advice for how to transition, I'm not there yet!

I have not transitioned my 2 year old yet, but I will transition her to a toddler bed. Since they are low to the ground, but still have the safety feature of half a rail at the head of the bed, it acts as a training device to help the child stay in bed without rolling out. It also helps train the child to learn good bedtime habits of being a "big kid" to get in bed on their own, get themselves to sleep, selfdiscipline to stay in bed when they wake, etc. At least this is what I have read.... I only hope it is true when I transition my little one. Good luck!

I have a two year old son and we bought a bunk bed and are currently using only the top. My husband and I set up the mattress in our son's room about a week before we made the switch. He got used to playing in it on the floor and would often ask mommy or daddy to come to his room and "go sleep" on his bed during the day. He had a blast "waking" us up. When his bed came we just took out the crib completly and have only had two rough nap times, we haven't had any problems at night with escape attempts. The bunk bed is a little higher off the floor, but he has a step to get in. Sometimes I'll find him in his room looking at books on his bed during normal waking hours.

If she is not trying to climb out of her crib and you don't need if for another baby then keep her in the crib awhile longer.

When she is ready for the next bed, get the twin, it will last longer and you will only have one transition instead of two. I would only reccomend the toddler bed if the child is really young when you need to transition them, or for space issues.

I got my son a toddler bed when he turned 2 because I was expecting another baby and needed the crib for the new baby. Also, I was putting them in the same room and didn't want a big bed that would take up as much space.

When you get the twin bed, put one long side up against a wall and get a railing for the other side. Also make it special by letting her help pick out the bedding. If the bed seems really big, then start off by just putting the mattress on the floor and waiting a few weeks to set up the bed and box spring.

Be prepared for a few nights up to a few weeks for her to get used to it. Be consistant and firm at the beginning and she will get used to the new routine quickly. Good luck.

My son went straight from crib to a twin bed and my daughter went from crib to a full sie bed. My daughter was around 2 and my son was not quite 2 b/c he started climbing out of the crib! I never had any significant problems with either of them; maybe getting out of bed a few times but no crying. Kids will test changes to see what they can get away with. when either of my kids would get out of bed I would take them back to bed once then ignore them after that. They would eventually go back to bed.
Whatever you decide, stick to it. If you take the rail off and put it back on when she cries she wins and will do the same thing every time.

We switched to a toddler bed at about 18 or 19 months. We picked a toddler bed because it is lower to the ground. My suggestion for the transistion is to keep the crib up so that if she doesn't do well in the bed you can go back to the crib. It may take several nights for her to adjust to a new bed and stay in it all night. You want to have another option so you both can rest. The process took us only about 2 nights but my son easygoing and adjusts easily to change. I wish you lots of luck!

My opininion is that the toddler bed is a wasate of money and right now is not the time to be wasteful. I bought a toddler bed (Dora the Explorer)for my daughter and she has slept in it a total of 0 times in two years. They are not comfy at all. I recently got her a twin and she loves it, she has plenty of room and you can tell she's confortable when she is sleeping.

I am 23 working mom with a very hyper 4 year old .

I think buying a toddler bed is useless. My children went from the crib to twin beds and did just fine. I wouldn't go through the expense of buying a toddler bed especially if it's the same size as a crib anyway. Twin beds can last until they're grown basically.

Have you thought about a day bed? When my oldest daughter outgrew her crib, we used a daybed, turned around so that the open part was against the wall and the bars resembled her crib. It also helped her to not roll out of the bed in her sleep.

Briget - If hubby, father, brother, uncle, or freind can do a little carpentry, suggest they make here a twin, of full four poster with draws under it. Have them date it and it become a family heir loom for her.

God Bless

I too didn't want to spend the money for a toddler bed. Both of our children made the transition from crib to twin bed with no toddler bed in between. We bought one of the hide-a-rails from Walmart to help them not fall out and placed the bed in a corner of the room. They were both 23-24 months old when we made their change. We made a big deal about it "BIG girl/boy beds!!" Our daughter loves to play like a mommy and I told her she was like "mommy" now sleeping in her big bed. She loves on her baby dolls and they go to sleep together. Our son would go to bed playing with his action figurines and I told him he could play for a few minutes but then he had to lay them down by him and go to sleep. He seemed happy with that and loved sleeping with his toys. We would hear them both playing for a short period, but they would usually go to sleep pretty soon afterwards, especially if we reminded them we would take the toys away if they kept playing. Good luck!!

my opinion...pointless. If your railing comes off the front of the bbed just use it like a daybed. And have some one make you 2 large pillowcasses and monogram them with her initals to put along the back railling and maybe two roll arm pillows for the sides. Oh and just buy the side rail gaurd to put up at night when she sleeps. I have three kids and I never owned a toddler bed I just took railling off...because they were starting to climb out. Only thing good about toddler bed is it uses the bbed matrise. My kids went straight into twin beds. Push one side up against a wall if you can and use a guard rail. If they fall/ roll out of the bed it ok..it won't hurt them.. May wake them. Mine are 9and 7 and from time to time still roll out! LOL!! And I have a 15 month still in bbed!!

go to a twin bed, I've had 4 girls,all move from tha babybed to a twinbed with there doll,by 2nd year with no problem.I did use avented guard-rail in case they fell,plus you save more money. Nitelites are always good Nana

My one suggest is to put the mattress on the floor until she gets comfortable with the idea she will not roll off or falloff of it. One reason should might have flighted you on the crib was just that she is usual to they being railing to kept her in when she turn in her sleep. Once she get comfortable move it up but put a line of pillows for her to fall on it if does happen and also she will be more comfortable at first. Also tell her what a big girl she is now that she can use the bigger bed and that you are happy she is making the move.

We did the toddler bed only because my in laws got it for our daughters new room when we bought our house.
We did have a twin bed for her and I see nothing wrong. I believe they may be a bit higher off the ground. If you use the twin, maybe try bedrails or lots of blankets and pillows on the sides of the bed (we did that with the toddler bed). It took about a week for my daughter to "get the hang" of the toddler bed, meaning that I stopped finding her on the floor :-)
Good Luck!

We had a house fire when our daughter was 9 months old. At 15 months I felt she was big enough to just buy a bed as opposed to setting up the crib again. We bought a top bunk bed with the intention of buying the bottom piece later. That way, it came with rails to keep her in, and later she asked for them to be removed. She did fall out 3-5 times over a couple of months, but we didn't "waste" the money on a toddler bed and mattress.. Hope it helps!

We're about to transition our 18-month-old son to a twin mattress, since we'll need the crib for our soon-to-be-born son in a few more months. We figured on just putting the mattress on the floor, so he'd learn how to stay on the mattress with minimal risk of injury. Don't know how exactly we'll manage the transition, but I guess we'll all figure it out in time. My parents only ever switched us from crib to twin and we somehow managed! I figure, if he plays with his toys at naptime, well, so long as he's quiet for an hour, that's enough for me. He sleeps in a dark bedroom at night, so I doubt he'll do much playing with toys then..... But yeah, I agree, a toddler bed seems kinda pointless - another way for manufacturers to sucker us well-meaning parents into spending more money than we need to. Just remember that most kids in the world, and throughout history, have never used toddler beds and have done just fine. :)

As I am sure everyone will give you a different opinion, here goes mine. We didn't see the need for a toddler bed. So, At about 2 1/2 we put a twin in his room and told him it was his big boy bed and any time he wanted to sleep in it he could. He put his babies on it and played on it and that was about it for over 6 monthes. He tried one time to take a nap and told us he couldn't do it, It was just too exciting. lol. He was about 3 1/2 before he made the total transition. he then wanted his old bed up for another month or so. If you are concerned about her getting out of be you can put a crib tent over the top. Good Luck sweetie, whatever you decide.

We waiting to transition our son out of his crib until he was able to crawl out on his own. Once he escaped, we put him straight into his full sized bed (skipped the toddler bed). We bought the bed rails from Babies R Us that you place under the mattress and that you can fold down when necessary. He never had any troubles with the transition.

The only reason I used a toddler bed is because it was given to us! We had one given to us for our older daughter before we even had a twin. It was an extendable one that gave us extra length for when she grew too long. Then someone else gave us a normal one. My son only stayed in it for two or three months (from 23 mos to just over two years) before we set up the twin bunkbed someone had given us. We had a rail ($10-15 from Wal-Mart) that we could put on the side and gave him a stool. It's been fine. We would not have spent the money on a toddler bed - both were a blessing to have, but a twin bed is just fine.

I didn't do the toddler bed with my daughter either - she went from the crib to a twin bed with a rail.

We jumped right to the twin and it was great...my son needed help climbing in for a while, but now he loves the challenge of getting himself up all by himself!

My best advice is to keep that baby in her crib as long as she wants to stay in it!!! If she is climbing out and could get hurt then you have no choice. That is what happened with my oldest when he was 20 months and the transition was a nightmare. He was too young to understand that he needed to stay in his room, so the result was a lot of crying and sleepless nights. My second transitioned himself around 2 1/2 yrs. SOOO much better! It was his choice and it was much easier for him to understand the rules, and that mom and dad were nearby, at that age. I plan to do the same with my baby girl. As far as toddler bed vs big bed, we bought a full size bed for the first. He has plenty of room and his brother or cousin can sleep with him sometimes. My second is in a toddler bed because it was a hand-me-down. They both love their beds, so I don't have a real opinion either way. Good luck!

I put my son in a regular twin at 18 months. i wouldn't have done it that early but was expecting another in 5 months and didn't want 2 baby bed. At 22 months I would think she would be ready. I agree with you on toddler beds seeming kinda pointless. I bought mine a new BIG BOY bed and talked about it and he got very excited about. He had new Big Boy sheets and blanket. He was very proud and excited about his new Big Boy stuff..... Don't know if that would work for you but thats what I did.

I was reading everyones responses and I also think a toddler bed is a waste of money. I actually got my 2 year old a full bed instead of a twin. It wasn't that much more and I bought a really good one. I figure this can be her bed for all the way to her teen years. When she is old enough for sleepovers and stuff-she will have plenty of room for her friends to sleep. At first we didn't use the boxspring so the bed was a little lower and I put up guard rails. She had no problem sleeping in it-and was enough room for all the dolls she insist on sleeping with!!

If you're not expecting another baby, don't rush the transition..does it really matter what she's sleeping on if she is safe and sleeping well, without disrupting anyone else's sleep? When you do change, be consistant with her. You should move the crib out of site when she transitions to a "real" bed. Yes, it is a good idea to let her pick out the bedding, if you can afford to do that. It's the same idea as letting a potty training child get her own "big girl" panties. And the comment that a two year old is not a toddler, but a pre-schooler makes me sad. Let our babies be babies! Two is a toddler.

We had to get my son out of the crib b/c we're about to have another baby, so we bought a full size bunk bed for him to sleep on. He loves it b/c he can climb on it during the day. Then at night it's great b/c it's large enough that he has plenty of room to wiggle and it's low enough to the ground that if he falls off (which he has) he's not hurt. It was an easy transition b/c he thought it was SO COOL! The good thing about the full size bed, too, is that when we have guests over, there's still a place for them to sleep whereas, I don't think they'd be happy sleeping in a toddler bed. haha

You really don't need a toddler bed. My son did not have one. We did have to put a stool by the bed so that he could climb in it, and we used a bunky board instead of box springs so the bed would not be so high. In case you don't know what that is, it is used on bunk beds and can be bought at a matress store or some furniture stores.

My daughter has the toddler bed becasue she fallsout of and off of everything. I just felt safer.

One thing I learned from a Dr. is to try to wait until the child is 3 to take them out of the crib to help avoid them getting out of bed. He said before that, they don't understand why they can't just be with you and climb in your bed. Both of my children got their beds at the age of 2, and after the newness wore off they were waking me up trying ot get in bed with me.

We went straight to a twin bed for all 3. My first was 21 months because I needed the crib for the 2nd. We made a big deal of the new bedding and what a big boy he was but I didn't take the crib down immediately. The first night he ended up back in the crib because he wanted to play and it wasn't working. The next night I pushed the crib right up against the bed (the bed was already in the corner) so it was almost like a guardrail and I guess he felt like he was in his crib and it worked like a charm. We did that for a couple of nights and that was the end of that and we took the crib away and just used the portable/foldable guard rail that slips between the mattresses. Word of warning though...they can get an arm or leg wedged between the guard rail and mattress so I always put a pillow or lined his stuffed animals up to help. I also kept the bedtime routine pretty much the same only it was more fun to get into their bed with them and snuggle and read and I played their same music I always did, etc. The 2nd and 3rd were easy because they wanted to be in a big bed like their big brother. Good luck and hope this helps! :)

You could wait a few months and try taking the railing off again. I started with the railing dropped for my daughter. She still was comforted by the railing, but if she really wanted, she could crawl out. She usually just stayed until I came and got her in the morning. We finally took it off and put a removable railing (like for a twin bed) to make it easier for her to climb out. She was so comfortable with this, that she was probably three - three and half before we bought her big girl bed.

Well, I have used toddler beds for every one of my grand kids. But I put them in them much earlier than 2 years old. I have lots of years experience in Child Care and we transition babies from the cribs to cots at 10 months. They go into the Toddler room at 12 months and have to sleep on cots so it just seems natural for me to start kids in toddler beds around a year at home. It has the same feel as the crib since it is the same mattress and is not such a big deal. It seems to me when they are able to climb out of the crib they are at more risk of injury than if they fall out of a toddler bed or twin. If they want out bad enough they will get out, whether to play with toys or find you.

In your situation I would think that going to a twin would be the right choice. Your child is really too big for a toddler bed, if not now then in a very short time she is going to be too long. Toddler beds are for toddlers, your child will be a "pre-schooler" in 2 months.

One thing to consider is potty training. Within the year she will be old enough to start and when she is going on her own she will need to have access to the bathroom, by that time she will need to be in her twin and used to being independent in her room.

Since your child is older, go with a twin. Just transition her and put up a baby gate, use a baby monitor if you can't hear her during the night so if she gets up to play you can hear her. We also put up Christmas lights around the top of the room for a night light. They give off more light than a regular night light but add such a fairy tale effect. K loves it and J doesn't really care but I can see his face when I look in on him. He still gets up occasionally to play but he is in a safe environment, the book cases are fastened to the wall and the shelves are screwed in and all toys are for under 3 years old and not a choke hazard. Even if J gets up to play he is still safe.

The only reasons I can see to transition from a baby bed to a toddler bed is that they are usually lower to the ground and have guard rails built in. However you can buy guard rails now to fit a twin size bed. Toddler beds also tend to be a little bit cheaper, and you can just use the baby bed matress. If price isn't a concern, I would suggest buying the twin size bed and some guard rails. If you look around, you should be able to find a twin size bed that is fairly low to the ground. You could also put the box springs and matress on the floor. This would ensure that the bed isn't too high off the ground and would make it easier for her to get in and out of bed. You could also consider putting some floor pillows next to the bed. That way if she did get past the guard rails and fall, you wouldn't have to worry about her getting hurt. Hope this helps.:)

I am like you I felt it was a waste of money to get a toddler bed. I have twin boys and I bought them good twin beds and the then bought those side rails and they were fine. They will be 7 this yr and we took their side rails off just recently because they move a lot when they are sleeping.

If I was you I wouldn't worry about getting a toddler bed.

Have a great day!

My daughter just turned 21 months and we just put her in a twin bed. I did not see the point of a toddler bed either. I bought rails but didn't want to use them if I didn't have to. So, the first night I was a little worried, but I knew if I didn't just do it I never would. I would be the only person with a teenager sleeping in a crib. Well, I found her at 5 a.m. in the recliner in the living room. The next night I put the rails up and here we are two weeks later and sleeping as good as she did in the crib. I think she must have fallen out of bed and wondered around that first night. PLUS...you can find much cuter bedding in twin than toddler. GOOD LUCK

My daughter went straight from the crib to a twin bed (boxspring on floor with mattress on top with rails on both sides)... she made the switch a little after 2 when she could latch her foot over the side of the crib and start to pull herself over.

We actually did a transition from the downstairs "nursery" to an upstairs "big girl room"... I spent a couple of weeks putting the mattress in, decorating the walls with Elmo stickers, and I put her toys in there and let her play there to get comfortable. She also got to pick out her comforter, which she loved. We didn't have any issues at all with the transition to the big bed, but she was used to sleeping on a cot at day care, so it might not have been too strange for her.

If you have room, you may want to set up the bed and the crib, and let her pick where to sleep for naptime/bedtime.

My youngest 2 children are 13 months apart. 13 months old is a little young for a twin bed I think. We had Seth's crib in our room and about a month befor Karley was born we moved Seth across our room to the toddler bed. Space being our biggest issue with 5 kids and a 3 bedroom house. Honestly I think this is one of only a few reasons you need a toddler bed. 22 months is old enough for a twin bed they make rails to help keep them from falling out of bed. As far as transitioning like all change it take a little adjusting just be consistant. One last thing involve your daughter in the bed buying process and the new bedding. Best of luck
A.

I think regardless of the bed you choose, the transition will make for a difficult few (hopefully) days. We are going to put our daughter (27 months old) into a bed sometime in the next couple months and I know it will be tough. I think we will probably have to just continually lead her back into her bed over and over until she falls asleep. We may move some of her toys out of sight until she understands that it's not time to play. I'm guessing we may even have to sit on the bed or stand at the foot of the bed for awhile...I'm not sure how it'll all work out. But I'm not looking forward to that part of it!

My daughter transitioned to her "toddler bed" (transition crib) when she was about 18 months, she was a climber. It took some time for her to get used to the fact she was not trapped in. We put a baby gate at her door so if she gotup at night she would not wonder out of her room. When made sure everything in herroom was safe for this time of independent play. After a few weeks she loved the fact she could climb in andout of her bed. WE moved her to a twin raised with play area underneath when she was 28months. Like I said she is a climber. Now at 6 she prefers the floor. Best to you. When I polled my friends about this matter they all said it just depends on your comfort zone and your child.

personally, when my son was 24 months, we put him from his crib straight to a twin. His crib DID convert to a toddler and a full, but we chose not to do that, as I was expecting a second baby in 6 months. We just took his crib out one day and put in the twin, it is a lower twin so we don't have to worry about falls, we would just put pillows onside of him insace he rolled. He has never fallen out, and that was nearly a year ago.

We used to have to lay with him about 20 or 30 minutes and read a book to get him to sleep. I was initially worried about him waking up and wandering around the house, but when he woke up sometimes once a night he'd come STRAIGHT to Mommy! We left night lights in the house, and if you feel worried still you can put a baby gat in her doorway.

Good luck!

You can just get a twin bed. My niece went straight to a twin bed from a crib. You can buy attachments and stuff to put on the bed so the child won't roll out or you can use wood and nails and build your own. That's how my bed was I think, but I'm sure by now they've got pretty and attractive designs that you can buy.

My boys never had toddler beds. We didn't have the money to fork out twice for beds. We bought a rail that you could put on the side of the bed to keep them from falling out.

It was quite a long time ago, but I think I started putting them in the big bed for naps first - so they would get used to it.

My biggest concern when they finally slept in the big bed at night was getting out of bed and me not hearing them and them wandering around the house in the dark. To solve this we put a stairgate across the bedroom doorway. I must admit we did occassionally find a boy asleep by the gate.

Hope this helps.