toddler beds

[siercia]

So, I realized last week why I'm feeling this insane urgency on getting Widget into a bed. Besides the fact that I'm waiting for the day she goes right out over the top of her crib bar, and beyond that fact that if we're going to start night training ever, she needs to be able to get up at night.

She's spending the weekend at my parents next month. And she's seriously outgrow her travel crib (technically she outgrew it height- and weight-wise *months* ago, but on her last outing, she could lie down stretched out in it. So, she's going to need new bedding arrangements for her trip. And I really don't want to spring that change on her while she's away from home, nor do I want to saddle my parents with the first attempts at non-confined sleeping.

But I can't find anywhere non-online that sells decent kids furniture that isn't STUPIDLY expensive. And all the online places have freight surcharges, AND I can't see what I'm buying. I also can't decide it it's worth spending the money to get her a "toddler bed" with the little safety rails, or if we should just get her a bed and let her learn how not to fall out I mean, I don't remember my parents using safety rails, and it didn't kill any of us. On the one hand it seems silly, on the other hand, like maybe something that makes a wee bit of sense for now, especially since most of them take crib matresses, so we wouldn't have to invest in a new mattress for her yet.

Moms, any recommendations or advice?

Comments

[kayre]

You can buy safety rails for any bed, relatively cheaply-- they have arms that slide between the mattress and box springs. So you could get a single or twin bed that will grow with her, and add the rails-- and the rails can go to your parents' home with her, too. Google on "bed safety rails" to see what I mean.

[siercia]

Found them! Thank you!

put the crib mattress on the floor?

[mamawrites.livejournal.com]

Julia still sleeps on a big queen mattress on the floor in her room, even when I'm not sleeping with her. She has fallen out twice, onto carpetted floor, and it disorients her but doesn't even leave any bruises.

She keeps saying she isn't ready yet for a "big girl bed" (one with a frame that's taller up off the floor).

Re: put the crib mattress on the floor?

[siercia]

That's a really good idea. I would have loved getting to do something like that when I was a little kid, I think.

[ignu2k.livejournal.com]

We moved Alex to a real bed at about 20 months. My Grandpa built him a captain's style bed - it's low enough he can get into it, and we only needed to buy a mattress for it. We use a bedrail by Safety First and have never had any problems.

You could try Toys R Us / Babies R Us for for a cheap toddler frame if you want to go that route.

[siercia]

Thanks for the suggestion, and I think we'll be getting a Safety First rail to go with a freebie bed from the mom of a friend of mine.

Widget's all excited about getting a big girl bed.

[sarahparah.livejournal.com]

Poopsie moved to a big bed.. gosh, I forget when. Seems like she's been in it forever... Our crib converted to a toddler bed, but I think we only used it for a little while, until we had the bed given to us. The bed we have now is a captain's bed and we have rails on it that we bought separately. Personally, I wouldn't buy a toddler bed AND then a regular bed. Seems like a waste of money to me.

Is there IKEA near you guys? They're perfect for stuff like this.

Another possiblity: a futon? They're really low to the ground and cheap. Just make sure you can put the pee-proof sheet on it!!

[siercia]

Sadly, no Ikea. Idiots in Somerville have been blocking one getting built for years and years. *sigh*

I think we're going to end up getting a day bed from a friend of ours, and using the add-on safety rails until Miss Widget gets used to the idea of a big bed. She's so excited about it.

[siercia]

Those things are flippin expensive, for something she'll only use for a few years.

But I remember being SO JEALOUS of the kid down the street that had one when I was little.

[skreeky]

Probably not useful, but...

The running joke when I was a kid was that when my mom makes a bed, she really makes a bed. From plywood and 2x4s.

What she designed was a very basic frame, basically a sheet of thick plywood on 2x4 legs. The special feature was a "flap" of thinner plywood on hinges attached to the side that wasn't against the wall. At night, we would fold it up and it was held in place with a small chain and a screen door hook, to keep the kid (first my brother, then me) from rolling out of bed. During the day, it folded down to hide whatever crap we'd shoved under the bed. All sanded and painted bright colors. Since the flap was perfectly functional as a junk-hider, it didn't feel like a baby bed when I got older. I think I used it until 4th grade or so.