Toddler beds: if you had your time again, what would you choose?

[Convex]

We have one 2.5yo and a baby,

We have just taken the side off the toddlers cot and it's gone well but he suddenly looks enormous in it. So we need to work out the next step.

The options seem to be...

Toddler bed? Seems the most appropriate but short shelf life, though our 2nd could use it at some point?

Full single?

Look even further ahead and buy a bunk bed or something similar? He is a climber so we would need something that wasn't set up as a bunk to begin with, just for safety reasons, unless he couldn't get up there.

Other site seem to recommend getting doubles but we don't have the space.

Long term we plan to keep the kids sharing a room for at least a few years.

If you had your time again, what would you do?

Thanks in advance.

[sunbob]

I recently set up our 2.5 yo with a toddler mattress in the space of a full single. I did it to create a little bit of space at the end for some extra storage. The length is fine but what I hadn't thought of is the width. I now realise he would be much more comfy being able to stretch out over the full width of a normal single.

[snowboarder]

Is it a standard size cot? My 5.5 and 3.5 yr olds are still in their converted cot beds! We are changing them asap but they've been kind of cosy in them and it's given them more space in (especially the younger ones) bedrooms for a while. They are both hankering after bunk beds now - we're probably going to go for the ikea kura with it as a low bed for the 3.5 yr old - who has a tendency to fall out!

[Convex]

Hi, it's the stokke one, he isn't busting out of it but I think in a few months we'd need to be switching him out.

I like to plan in advance!

[vez]

We just got a normal single for our four year old. We can snuggle up with him in it which is great for reading bedtime stories. I don't really understand the point of toddler beds unless there is a space issue.

If you're worried about falling out you could always get a bed guard.

[Ellie78]

Convex- is it the stokke toddler bed you already have? Confused, as couldn't see how you could take side off the standard stokke....

We were thinking of getting the toddler extension kit for our stokke, but if this is what you already have it's obviously not doing the job!

[Convex]

Hi, no it's the cot, the middle size. We have just removed a side panel. If that doesn't make sense I will try and post a pic later.

[crystal7]

We just went straight to a single bed when my eldest was 3. As Vez says, handy for when you need to get in with them and it will hopefully last until they leave home!? We used a bed guard at first.

[edstar]

wrong thread sorry

[Strawbs]

Toddler Strawbs is in his cot bed with the sides off and a bed guard and it works great as he still had loads of space. Next step for him (still a while off) is a single albeit I think he would love a toddler bed shaped as a car. Maybe just jump straight to a single with a guard? You'll get longevity out of that option. If we end up staying here and not moving I'm seriously consider one of those two in ones is bed on bottom and cot on top so the boys can share a room and they then also turn in to bunks when both kids are ready x

[ClareC]

I wouldn't bother with a toddler bed, my two are 3 and 4.

We had cot beds for both but as someone else mentioned above, found them too narrow and was sure that effected their sleeping. We moved my eldest into a large bed at 3 (a 3/4 size Victorian iron bed which we used a bed guard with) and have just bought them both an izzywotnot tempo mid sleeper.

They love them! We bought my daughter the ribbons and rosettes play house, and my son the Pit stop playhouse.

The iron bed was fine, just couldn't buy one a mid sleeper and not the other. The plan now is fit the iron bed to replace the mid sleeper when my daughter decides it's no longer a cool bed!

Would definitely recommend the mid sleeper, it's really well made and has large steps up so they don't hurt their feet. I would wait until your eldest is a bit older though. My son was 3 in May and is fine with it.

[Yak]

We went straight from a cot at 18 months to a queen bed (i.e. a 1.5 width of a single). Would do the same again in a shot. The wider the bed, the less room there is for them to fall out and the more room for you for those inevitable nights of sharing when they are ill. Yes he looks ginormous in it but the other upside it's dead easy for sleepoevers. We've had 4 kids in it before!

[etta166]

My eldest had a toddler/cot-bed for about a year, but then we got bunk beds so that he could share a room with his little sister. They went into bunks at 2 and 4. I had originally planned to set up the bunks as two singles and let our 2 year old sleep in the bed with the integral rails (that would be the top bunk), but I failed to convey this to my husband in time and he assembled them as bunks with a friend while I was out!

They've loved sharing a room and having bunks. At 3 and 5, they often share the top bunk after we put them to bed separately.

I wouldn't bother with a toddler-bed again. It was a bit of a waste of money in the end.

[nunheadmum]

We did toddler beds but looking back, we could easily have gone for singles. Now we've got them I find it so helpful that when the youngest is sick, I can just hop in and sleep beside her and catch her being sick so it all ends up in the bucket and not over the bedclothes. So much easier than multiple changing of sheets and half sleep while listening out.

And bedding is so much cheaper for singles than toddler beds!

[Convex]

Thanks everyone!

[Belle]

Yes, did singles both times round, both times v low to the ground ones so I wasn't worried about falling, didn't even bother with bedguards. My youngest has been harder to transition, in that he gets out the whole time (having seen his brother do this!) but that's not related to the size of the bed...

[srisky]

Single with bed guard, for us too, our daughter moved into hers from a cot at 23 months. Added bonus of storage space underneath.

[newtoedf]

my two have ikea extendable beds which seem a good compromise. They are as wide as a standard single and have two extra bits of mattress which you can add in over time. They have the width but are low to the ground like a toddler bed and it means you can have a smaller bed for longer which helps with space but extend them quickly for guests if necessary. I got ours second hand but bought new mattresses online.

[goldilocks]

Singles definitely. As has been said often on this thread, so much easier for sharing with them when they have inevitable nightmares / illness etc. Plus they won't grow out of them like they will a toddler bed / mid sleeper. If space is limited and they'll need to share, perhaps bunks, but otherwise singles are way easier to change etc and should have the greatest longevity.