Advice on a bed for my 2 and 1/2 year old

[Mermanity27]

We are currently using her crib with the side taken off and now my younger son needs it as he is crawling out of the bassinet. We now need to get a bed for big sis.

Any thoughts?

We don't have a lot of room or money so we were thinking of a toddler bed. My DH can build a frame if we get the mattress, but they seem kinda pricey.

Please advise! Thoughts, personal stories, and deals are all welcome...we need it this week.

thanks all!

[anaj06]

I'd skip the toddler bed and go straight to a twin bed if you have the room. A toddler bed is used for such a short time, to me it makes more sense to go straight to the twin bed.

My youngest has been sleeping in a twin bed since just before his second birthday and it was been fine.

[Spanelli8706]

For each of my girls, once they hit 18 months we moved them into twin beds. We bought both of their bedrooms suits on clearance and each of their twin beds came with a trundle. We started the transition with them sleeping on the trundle (twin size) for a few months and then they moved to the regular bed part. It was an easy transition with both girls. DD1's was bought out of necessity since DD2 was coming and we needed the crib. DD2's bed was bought by the inlaws because we found a set on clearance and had a good coupon. (They each have their own rooms too) I agree with the previous poster that toddler beds don't get used for very long. I am glad we went with a twin size.

[amylynne01]

I use a toddler bed for my now 3.5yr old. She's been in it since her 2nd birthday. Her furniture is a 3-in-1 set - crib, toddler bed, full size bed. If we hadn't bought that set, we would've skipped the toddler bed altogether.

If you have a limited budget, a twin bed is just as expensive (or cheaper) as a toddler bed but will last so much longer.

[anaj06]

Another thought would be to buy a toddler bed off Craiglist with the idea that you would sell it back on there when done with it. We did that with DS1, we actually bought the bed for $60 and sold it back for $50 so it only cost us $10 in the end. He used it about a year before we bought him and his younger brother twin beds.

[Mermanity27]

thanks...great ideas!
we were thinking about the twin, if it is not too much bigger.
I like the longevity feature.

[Spanelli8706]

If you can find a floor model bed on clearance, a lot of times they will trow in the mattress with the bed. Shop around!

[foggierbard9]

My DS went into a toddler bed at 18 mos and is just now going into a twin bed at 3 1/2. My DD is 14 mos right now and is on a toddler mattress on the floor with a bedrail on it(long story but her crib broke in the move). We did the toddler with DS and will with DD because it was their size and our DS felt more comfortable in it.

We have a toddler bed that we found for DD on clearance at Target for $10 and then just used the crib mattress. DS's twin bed is the "bed in a box" from Walmart, the mattress was $138 and the frame(doubles as box spring) was $70.

[camandht]

Its been my experience that we bought a gently used tot bed frame (a car) and we used the crib mattress that fit perfectly. It was a bandaid, a temporary solution. I got a great deal on the Little Tykes car and my son LOVED it so glad we did it but it only lasted about 3 months. I resold the car bed and got a few dollars more than I paid. I would do all the same way again. For us, we bought a full size bed as opposed to a twin. This too seems to be a dilemma with most as they tend to go from a twin to a full in a few years.

Look around on Craigslist and inquite to friends, look at yard sales or thrift stores/consignment shoppes that deal with kids things. HTH.

[summermay]

My 16 month old grandson Ethan just went into a toddler bed. He's been climbing/ falling out of his crib for a couple weeks. Daughter said he is doing ok, found him sleeping on the floor on his giraffe blanket mat a few times. They grow up so fast.