Would you put a child under 2 in a toddler bed?

[NewMom610]

My son is 13 months and HATES his crib.  He has slept in it exactly never.  From birth until 4 months he slept in the arm's reach cosleeper.  After 4 months he was moved to our bed and has been there ever since.

I'm now a month pregnant with Baby #2.  Our bed is not big enough for 4 people.  Baby #2 will be in the cosleeper until 4 months just like DS, but after that in our bed.

I'm thinking of buying my 13 month old a toddler bed in a few months.  I don't want him to associate the transition to a bed with a new baby, but I think he would do better in a toddler bed than a crib. 

Has anyone done this?  Or should we just break down and buy a bigger bed (DH thinks this is best...he just wants a new mattress. LOL)?

PS: My 13 month old since nurses at night 2x most nights (although lately he has been STTN).  So I need to take that into consideration.

[hildare]

you could always do a mattress on the floor rather than a toddler bed.  i'm preggo now and we're transitioning dd into her own bed.  it's muuuuuch easier for us and i can get her to go to sleep by sleeping with her/lying next to her if i need to.  you won't be doing that in a toddler bed. 

some people call it a montessori floor bed.. there have been several threads about it.  it's turned out to be a pretty good choice for us.  dd likes it and we never put her to sleep in there at your kid's age except for naps, and even then it went well because she could get up to come find us when she woke up.  there are down sides to it, too, though, like if you don't want your kid to get up and go wandering around (though a toddler bed wouldn't really prohibit that either).

[Harperette]

I had this same problem (although have since lost the baby) but, at the time, my daughter was in the Arm's Reach co-sleeper for the first few weeks, and moved into my bed (without hubby), and then we decided to move her to her own bed when she was 14 months old. We had the talk about using the crib (and even the convertable toddler bed), and decided against the crib when after some trials at both bedtime and naptime we decided to move her into a single(twin) bed with the long bedrails on each side. We pushed it into the corner of the room, and the head of the bed butts into the window seat, so the only 'open' area is at the foot of the bed. She LOVES this, and has loved it from the first night. Both my husband and I have Queen beds (we sleep in the same bed together when I'm not co-sleeping) - And now we are back in the master bedroom with both of our girls in their own rooms (My eldest is four and my baby is two next month). Now she knows how to get into the bed, and out of the bed, and often we find her playing with her toys or coloring!

Good luck with your choice!

(p.s. I decided on a few courses of action, so that if one didn't work, I could choose something else, which helped with the process I think too, for me at least!) So, I'd try a single bed w/ rails and if that isn't working for your family, then maybe a King bed will work! :)

[stephbrownthinks]

Our son coslept or slept in a crib until he started crawling at 8 months. At that time we moved him to a floor bed. At 13 months we moved him to a toddler bed. He LOVES it. His room has a toddler bed and a twin floor bed. Usually he plays then gets into the toddler bed to sleep. Occasionally (maybe 1 out of 12 times) he will decide to sleep in the floor bed.

[texmati]

My son has slept on a full mattress on the floor since he was about 10 months old. I feel very safe with that.

[eh bien]

We have a king sized bed and between DS, DP and I, I always feel cramped and can barely turn over without banging in to someone so I don't think getting a bigger bed will necessarily solve your problem. DP and I are average sized people, though he is on the muscular side.

[aecampbell]

My son has slept in a toddler bed without rails since he was two years old. He is only a few months over two now and has adjusted perfectly.

When we were going from co-sleeping to his own bed (before we got a twin size), I put a mattress on the floor. If he fell, it wouldn't be too far : )

There are railings you can buy too if it worries you.

[anjsmama]

DS went to a toddler  bed at 18 months when he climbed out of crib! 

Shortly after, we transitioned him to a mattress on the floor (which he didn't even notice....) so that we could turn the toddler bed back into a crib for DD (which she doesn't use....) . But anyway - we did the transition to the bed when I was only 15 weeks or so (when DS turned 2) so that he wouldn't make any association with new baby coming & him getting "kicked out" of his bed. It was successful.. he loves his mattress on the floor. 

[JudiAU]

I'd actually do both, buy a bigger bed and had a toddler bed or a floor bed. My LO really likes the freedom of a toddler bed and then comes in with us during the night.

Personally, I would break up the family with mom and baby in one room and dad with toddler (in unspecified bed set up) in another room. Baby + toddler can be a rough, rough mix at night. This worked well for us.

[lifeguard]

We did a twin bed with double bed rails starting at about 15 months.

[Hesperia]

Yes. But I'd do a floor mattress big enough for babe & 1 adult.


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