Hi Ladies,
I have an almost 7 year-old daughter who's an "active" sleeper, and we still have a guardrail on her twin bed. She doesn't mind it, but I'm wondering how much longer we should keep it on. What age did you remove the guardrail from your child's bed? Thanks for all your good advice!
Thanks, everyone, for the great responses! I think we'll leave it on for now, because she feels secure with it. So far it hasn't seemed to be an issue with her friends coming over, but of course as they get older these things do come up. I like the idea of a double bed directly on the floor--she sleeps sideways so much, I think that might work well--so we may look into that in the next few months. I've often wished we had gotten one in the first place, once we realized how much she still "traveled" in her bed at night when she moved out of the crib. Thanks again for all your input!
My daughter is 12 and used to worry about falling out of the bed. We put small pillows underneath her fitted sheet on each side. She never fell out of bed and still likes the pillows there.
You should keep it on as long as you and your daughter feel safe. That is the first concern. We purchased a wood guard after my daughter was a little older for the "Fischer Price" mesh one. It looked nicer and allowed us to drop it like the side of a crib.
My three year old is a wild sleeper. We have her in a full size bed without a guardrail. We put the bed in a corner and put a large stuffed dog on the open side of the bed. Also, instaed of a box spring we put down wooden slats on the frame and the matress directly onto the slats so if she did fall off she is not high up.
ASK her if she'd rather have it or take it off. If she says keep it, ask her if she's thought about when she'd maybe like to try sleeping without it -- like before going to someone else's house (even family) for a sleepover. Maybe even offer that as an incentive.
I'd say it's not really a big deal. You know, 'Don't sweat the small stuff (and EVERYTHING is 'small stuff')!
Leave it on until she wants it removed. It will not harm her in any way to leave it there.
If or when you choose to remove it, place extra comforters and pillows on the floor. She will probably fall out of bed a few times before her brain (while sleeping) reminds her of her boundaries. It's kinda like kids who wet the bed. The brain has to learn what to do while in sleep mode.
I would caution you to check around the bed, bed frame, etc for any sharp or hard edges. I forgot to do that and my active sleeper hit the wood bed railing and broke her tooth.
I have a 6 1/2 year old in the same situation. I've been thinking that it's time to get rid of the guardrail, but she doesn't want to. I'm going to let it go for awhile. Surely she'll give it up before too long. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say about this.
We just took the rail off for our son. He's not quite 18 mo. We just put a body pillow on the side of the bed so he'll roll into that instead of off the side!
Depending on where you live these may be hard to find. But When I put my very active sleeper into a big boy bed I got this tip from another mamma-souce mom. Get some of the large swimming noodles. The medium - fat size. Put them under the fitted sheet. The sheet will be tight and hold it in place. They are pretty hard to roll over. My son has only fallen out of bed 1 time since putting them in his bed. I have his bed with one long side against the wall so he can not fall that way, and at first I put 2 noodles on the outside, but now only use one. It works. If you are concerned or your child is concerned, try them in the bed and see how hard it is to roll out. If you do this in the morning then they will have the day to get used to it and hopefully by the evening the thought of no rail will not seem so scarey.
Good luck!
7 years old should be old enough, however, as a mother you must go with your gut. No body knows your child like you do. If you removed the rail would you worry about her falling out and getting hurt or would you feel good about the decision? If you know you would be worrying all night then leave it be. Or ask just ask her. You would be surprised what the subconscious will do even at 7.
as long as she needs it. dont risk her falling out of bed. we also upped our daughters bed b/c shes a flopper she is now in a full size bed and doesnt need the rails. good luck!
We took our son's off at 4 yrs old but he has a double bed. We have it against the wall and one of those body pillows up against the wall as a soft side. He has only fallen out of bed once but we have him fall asleep on the inside of the bed. I would try taking it off and see if she falls out. There may be a difference in being "active" and moving around sideways, kicking, etc but maybe not moving against the guardrail. If she falls out, put it back on. Is her bed against the wall? That would give her more room to get closer to one side.
I would go ahead and remove it. Put a body pillow on the floor beside her bed. She will fall out once or twice but she will get use to it.
I'm not sure there's a "set" age for something like that. My oldest sleep walks but we moved her to a bed without rails probably around 5 or 6 yr. My son will be 5 in 2 months and we placed him in a twin bed last month. I think it just depends on how well she manages it. I always place the bedside table out in case they fall, and place pillows on the floor for the first few nights, just in case. Once they have managed for a week or so then we go all the way! Best of luck to you!
Hey there, We too had an active sleeper. We actually ended up putting her in a full size bed, with box springs and matress straight on the floor. Had we not done this, she would have had the guard rails until the age of 10 or 11. This would have not gone over to well when she had friends sleep over. The matress on the floor, was never made fun of, as a matter of fact some of her friends had their moms do the same. They thought it was fun. No one ever knew that it was a saftey issue in her case.
