Toddler bed or futon mattress on the floor?

[LuminosaJane]

Looking for opinions/experience on this topic.

17mo dd starts out the night in her room and comes to bed with us when she wakes the first time after we're in bed. She's not the greatest sleeper (yet... ) and for a while she was waking up 45-90 minutes after going down for the night and was a total beast to get down again. Dh and I would like a minute to hang out together kid-less, so we tried putting her crib mattress on the floor so we could lay with her until she fell asleep and move away without waking her or having to lower her into the crib. This worked well and we were able to hang out a bit more in the evening.

Lately, she's actually been sleeping for a few hours after we put her down (!!!) and I'm thinking that the crib is just taking up room in her room so I want to get rid of it.

Is there any reason I shouldn't do this? I was thinking we could either get a toddler bed and put her crib mattress in it (the mattress is awesome--organic, super-comfy) but it would be hard to lie down with her in that set up or put the mattress away and unroll an unused futon mattress on the floor in her room. I'm leaning toward the futon mattress, but wondering if there's a reason why I should look into a toddler bed.

[tintal]

We love our futon.

We use a futon, we call it a futone (Dh is Japanese). It is a mat almost the size of a twin bed. DD is 3 and she would fall out of a normal bed. Also, I still lie with her to get her to sleep and that would not be possible in a toddler bed.

[dogretro]

DD has been sleeping on a twin mattress on her floor since turning 12 months. It is great b/c one of us can lay w/ her if need be & she can easily get in and out of bed by herself. If she needs us during the night, she comes right into our room & says Hi!

[LCBMAX]

We have a crib mattress on a full size futon on the floor, next to our king size platform bed. For now, the futon is actually sideways and kind of curled up on both sides of the crib mattress, so that whole set up is wedged between the wall and the base of our bed. This eliminated any need for crib bumpery stuff, and totally makes it a cozy bed for our 2 yo son. I love everything about this set up except trying to clean underneath. It gives me back support when I lie down there with him, and elevates him so he's easier to pull up into our bed which happens every night more or less. I'm pretty sure that the next bed in his future is a full size futon, so a parent can comfortably share it when needed, probably on a low platform frame. Every so often I cruise the toddler bed ads, but I just don't see it as a co-sleeping option. No reason a full size futon can't be cool and cozy too!

[titania8]

Fouton! Coming from someone who has spent years snuggling with children in toddlers beds, you want the extra space a fouton allows. Our twins spent just over 2 years in their toddler beds and we (dh and I) would lie next to them as they settled in and fell asleep. They are now sharing a queen mattress and oh! It is so much nicer! Lol, no kidding, right? so yeah my vote is for fouton.

[LuminosaJane]

Thanks, mamas. We have a full-sized futon mattress that is unused right now so seeing as it's not only the cheapest option but seems like it might be the most comfortable for us, I think we're going to go for it this weekend.

[LindsC]

I agree with the futon mattress. We recently transitioned DD into her own room and we are using a full size mattress on her floor since we did not have a spare futon or twin mattress to use in her room. It has worked out great since I can nurse her to sleep and the slip away or cuddle with her if she needs some comfort. I often fall asleep with her when she wakes up during the night for a feeding and it's nice not to feel all cramped up from squeezing onto a smaller mattress.