Hi Ladies,
Any advice on cheap/sturdy toddler beds? The ones I thought were good, are the $60 beds at babies r us, walmart etc(I think Toy Story one)..., but my husband thinks our 4yr old son will break it. He feels like its not sturdy enough. The one we really like is about $200(i've only seen a Cars one) but we don't want to spend so much on a toddler bed, plus the mattress and bedding etc... our son isn't a hyper or destructive...he is pretty calm for a boy, but yes right now he does run and jump into his bed...which is his crib with the front side not hooked on. Whats your experience with the $60 bed, or do you suggest another kind?
Thanks!!
WOW I don't know what I would do without this site!!! :)
Thanks all for your unanimous vote on the twin bed. I'm starting my new mission... I assume the crib mattress won't fit in it...and would need to buy mattress sigh...thanks again!
I was just going to say we bought a twin mattress set. Stored the box springs in the garage and put the mattress directly on the floor. My kids sleep that way for the whole 2 year of their lives.
Toddler beds are for toddlers, not school age kids. Skip the small bed and put them in the bed they'll be in until college, that does not necessarily mean a twin. Our girl needs a full or queen or she falls out due to constant moving around. With the larger bed she can move and not hit the floor. My niece put both of her kids directly in queen beds at 2 years old.
At 4 you may want to consider a twin bed. He will grow pretty fast, and may be too long for the toddler bed pretty quickly. We got a twin bed for my son for his 3rd birthday - just the simple bedframe, mattress, and boxspring. We didn't want to spend a lot on it, as we assume that by 6 or so he will need bunk beds or something more "real-furniture" like. We just pushed it up against the wall and he has been fine since we put it in.
Good Luck!
We actually bought the cheaper $50 version from Walmart for our son 3 years ago and he is now 5yrs.The bed is all in one piece.
Well clearly - I'm too late, but I second (or thirteenth) the twin bed. Our daughter was 2yrs 3 months when she went from a crib to her "big girl" bed. We only bought a mattress, not the box spring, so she wouldn't be so high and we put up the bed rails. It's worked great and she's 5 now! (Might be time to break down and get her a box spring now)
We went to twin beds with our kids and got the bed frame and mattress and then had a board cut at Lowes, they cut it free and it's not too expensive for the right thickness. We then put the mattress on the board on the bed frame and it's the right size for a child to sit on and make their own bed and if they fall out it's not a big fall. I would suggest this and then when he's a bit older just get the boxspring, or get it now and save it.
A toddler bed uses the crib mattress.
Seriously, though, I would skip it and buy a twin or full now.
You can't use the portable rails with a toddler bed (not safety wise) and you can use the rails with a twin, so I'd skip it entirely. So NOT worth it.
Keep your eye on Craigslist! Just make sure your husband or someone else can go with you to check out furniture. W/my first he used a full sized mattress (we had it in the guest room) just the box spring and mattress on the floor until he was about 4 when we finally bought him furniture. I didn't want to buy new becuase I knew it'd get damaged over the years so I literally scouted Criagslist every few months, the good sets go FAST! But I finally found a dresser/mirror/bed/nightstand for $200 that all match and are in really good shape, solid wood too!! So that's my suggestion. If nothing else get the mattress for on the floor until you can find one you like. Good luck!!
We bought the $60 one form walmart and my now 4 year old took all the screwed out when she was supposed to be sleeping (note I'm not sure how she did it, they were in tight) I've put them back in many times. She's stopped taking them out for now. my biggest complaint about the beg it gets too many dings in it. (soft wood) and the stain or paint flakes off too much. I wish I had just invested in a nice headboard and twin mattress. If I was to do it over again I'd skip the toddler bed.
We got one of the more expensive Cars-type beds (ours is a hard plastic blue race car, and he does love it) but we got it free as a hand-me-down from a relative. Check out places like craigs list if you want to go that route and you can save a lot of money. BUT my real recommendation is to skip the toddler bed altogether and go straigt to a twin bed. You can get rails to put up so he does not fall off. A twin bed will last you much much longer. We put my son in his toddler bed just after he turned two, and now he is only 3 still and I already wish I had gotten the twin bed. At least I didn't have to pay for the toddler bed though!
At 4 I would say to just go into a "big boy" bed. My son was in a double bed at 2.5 before my youngest came. We just got the double sided bedrails and a good step stool and it has been fine. I let him show his friends so he would be all excited about it, and his new room.
We went right from the crib to a twin with each of our kids. We just used the guard rail thingy you can buy and a plastic step stool for them to get into. But I have always had REALLY good sleepers, slept 12 hours straight thru the night the first week they were home from the hosp. I hope you find something that will work for you! Good luck!
We bought an Ikea toddler bed and it's been great. DD doesn't jump on it though, so we're not exactly pushing the envelope on its sturdiness. :)
