Toddler decides enough is enough - now what? (crib vs. bed question)

[castlegazer]

My almost 2 wee one has just suddenly decided that his crib (or cell in his mind) is just not working for him anymore and he is suddenly completely adverse to sleeping in it. He sleeps in a toddler bed at both of his Grandmas' houses and does just fine. My question is do I invest in a new toddler bed or do we just go with a twin bed now? How long do they usually stay in toddler beds if this is the route - will we get another year or two out of it before we have to move up to a twin?

A little more background is that his room is small and he will most likely be sharing it sometime in the future with wee one number two that is not in process as of yet. We are leaning towards the toddler bed idea to have more room for both a crib and a bed in the room BUT we invested heavily in the crib (thinking we would get more than two years out of the thing - not counting on having a strong willed son, but then if we had just thought about the geneology of it all.....) and are fairly adverse to investing more in another temporary bed.

So then I am thinking - hey, I see them make headboards all the time on HGTV & TLC - how hard can it be? Has anyone ever done this?

What to do - what to do?

 

[FreshTressa]

I would go with a low twin bed. My kids at about 4 would have been a little big, and definately by 5. We did, and the kids did fine. Then we didn't have to do another transition when they were 4 or 5.

If it is worth it to you for 2 years use, then go for it. You can also get them pretty cheap used, since people don't use them very long.

For me, the two years use probably wouldn't be worth it.

 

[disneyfan551]

Sorry, can't help you on this one... Hopefully someone will be picking up our brand-new, never slept in, toddler bed today that we have for sale! However, my dh is getting his sleep on the couch, and says he is tired of all of our dd's kicks in the middle of the night... Look at it this way - it could be worse!

 

[POLLY ANN]

Our 2yo just graduated to a twin bed. I thought about the toddler bed, but then decided it was just a waste of money, IMO. He has yet to sleep all night in the bed anyway, he comes walking into our room in the middle of the night to cuddle with us!

I don't know about "making" a toddler bed, it may just cost as much as buying one, but what do I know? I can barely hammer a nail into the wall to hang a picture! lol

Good luck!

 

[kadaten]

I didn't buy a toddler bed. Felt like it was a waste of money. DD went into her twin at 22 months since DS was 2 months and too big for the bassinet anymore.

Also, have you thought about just removing the side rail of the crib? Our crib and all the cribs my friends have, the side rail (the one that goes up and down) is removeable.....so voila! you have a toddler bed wihtout spending any more money! Without the side it's no longer a "cell"...they can get in and out at will, so your Ds may no longer fight it. My friends used their crib without the side until their daughter was too tall for it...about age 5!

HTH
Katie

 

[TiggerPiglet]

We did the toddler bed. You can get one for about $50 or sometimes even less at Toy's R Us, plus you can use the crib mattress that you have already. I believe the toddler beds can accommodate children up to 5. (of course if your child is on the bigger side, it might be sooner than that) Our older DD used the toddler bed from 2 until 4 and our younger DD used the toddler bed from 2 until 3. So three years' use for a $50 bed I feel is pretty good, plus we just gave it to our neice who is 2 and getting ready to use it, so it will still get more use

 

[Minnie824]

We bought DD a twin bed and she started sleeping in it around her 2nd birthday (because DD #2 is on the way). I also felt the toddler bed was a waste of money, since you'd be buying a bigger bed eventually anyway. DD never really was the best sleeper....still isn't, but does like her big girl bed. One suggestion I have that we did is buy a bed with a trundle under it (ours from pottery barn). we leave the trundle pulled out. It serves many purposes....if she'd fall, she'd fall on a mattress, if I need to stay in there, I have somewhere more comfy than the floor, and it helps her climb in and out of bed easier. Good luck!

 

[huey duey & luey]

I also know a few people who have just placed the twin mattress on the floor to start and later added the box spring.
Tara

 

[disneyfan551]

That's definitely a good idea!

 

[castlegazer]

So it appears that everyone has had this happen around two. Must be part of the toddler brain mentality of, you can't stifl my creativity by capturing me in this prison!
Good to know this is yet another example of naivte on my part prior to actually rearing a child.

You all have wonderful ideas. Thank you so much. The idea of removing the side rail on the crib is a great one to get us up to his two year birthday when we can then surprise him with a big boy bed.
I also really like the idea of a trundle but the room may be too small for it. I am absolutely freaked out by the idea of him walking into our room in the middle of the night to come and cuddle - not for anything mommy and daddy ish - just because it is freaky to think of your baby just getting up out of bed on his/her own - it means they're really growing up!

 

[caseylouandtyler2]

We just put a twin box spring and mattress on the floor. We later added the frame and headboard around 3 1/2.

Our crib converted to a toddler day bed, but the box spring/mattress combo was the same height off the floor and there was no wood to hit on the way down if dd fell out.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

DD has been in a twin bed since she was 1 1/2. Our crib could convert into a Toddler bed, but we moved and decided it wasn't worth it to make the conversion. We just put the twin up instead. She is now in a day bed at 2 1/2 and has no problems.

We did push the twin against the wall and she slept with a pillow on the other side. She has only fallen out once.

 

[disykat]

We did the twin mattress on the floor. If you are having another you end up having to have two crib mattresses if you buy a toddler bed.

 

[mickeyboat]

Go with the twin mattress on the floor. Buy a bed rail too. Maybe your child will think twice about getting out of bed with the bed rail on. DD#1 did not leave her crib until after age 3. She went into a twin bed and NEVER got out of bed until we started potty-training her through the night. However DD#2 went to a twin bed at age 2 and she comes into our room every night.

Denae

 

[castlegazer]

Originally posted by disykat
We did the twin mattress on the floor. If you are having another you end up having to have two crib mattresses if you buy a toddler bed.

OOOOH - good point! I had NOT thought of that. So your typical $50 toddler bed suddenly becomes a $150 problem (given the average price of a mattress). We own twin mattresses - who doesn't? So little to no investment is involved with setting up a twin bed.

Man - I am shocked I hadn't thought of that - what a great group you all are!

 

[twinmomplus2new]

I currently have 2 toddler beds in my garage never used.
However, my DD now 17 loved her toddler bed and used it from aged 2 to 4 and a half.
my ds almost 10 used his off and on from 8mts till 3. He never used a crib.
My twins never slept in a crib and they would not sleep in the toddler beds either. They sleep together now. So we bought a double futon, and we put them on that with 2 bed rails, and that has worked out really well for us. And the futon is much lower than a twin bed.

 

[JetMom]

I bought a toddler bed on sale at toys R Us for $20. It uses a crib mattress. My DS slept in it for almost 2 years. If you want the frame, PM me. It's yours for the taking.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

Originally posted by disykat
If you are having another you end up having to have two crib mattresses if you buy a toddler bed.

You will have to buy two mattresses anyway if you are having another one. When I had my second my doctor told me to make sure I bought a brand new mattress. The mattress from the first child is broken in and a newborn infant should sleep on a very firm mattress for the prevention of SIDS. I know there are a ton of people who probably had six kids use one mattress and never had a problem, but it's always better to be safe than sorry

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by TiggerPiglet
You will have to buy two mattresses anyway if you are having another one. When I had my second my doctor told me to make sure I bought a brand new mattress. The mattress from the first child is broken in and a newborn infant should sleep on a very firm mattress for the prevention of SIDS. I know there are a ton of people who probably had six kids use one mattress and never had a problem, but it's always better to be safe than sorry

Wow! I never heard that one. And I thought I was a safety nut I have to say, though, the crib mattress we have is so unbelievably firm that it will never get broken in. I've always been amazed that my kids have slept as well as they have on it. I got it as a barely used hand-me down from the grandparents who had it for occasional visits by the other grandchildren. It was rather expensive for a crib mattress...more than the twin my daughter now sleeps on!! I think a 200 pounder could sleep on it and not soften it up at all....

 

[TiggerPiglet]

Originally posted by kadaten
Wow! I never heard that one. And I thought I was a safety nut I have to say, though, the crib mattress we have is so unbelievably firm that it will never get broken in. I've always been amazed that my kids have slept as well as they have on it. I got it as a barely used hand-me down from the grandparents who had it for occasional visits by the other grandchildren. It was rather expensive for a crib mattress...more than the twin my daughter now sleeps on!! I think a 200 pounder could sleep on it and not soften it up at all....

When my doctor told me this, I thought he was being a little too cautious, but since my DD had used that mattress for almost 4 years between the crib and toddler bed, we figured we'd just buy a new mattress to be on the safe side.