Toddler Bed Vs. Regular Twin Bed

TOTALLY OK to do the twin bed that way ;) the rails are great... we used/use them for my girls... we have bunk beds now and my oldest sleeps on top and my 4yr old sleeps on bottom with side rails added on... we had rails on both sides for awhile and then moved the bed against the wall for one rail to make more room in the bedroom... my daughter has been in a twin since she was 2... she loves all the room and how it makes her feel like a big girl ;) we let her pick her bedding and that made it even more special :) good luck!

My 2 year old sleeps in a twin with rails. I don't see any advantage to a toddler bed. Just something to spend money on.

I think it's fine to go right to a twin bed. The only fall off once while asleep, maybe twice and then they are good to go. The only advantage I would think of is that they can get into a toddler bed by themselves and may not be able to do so with a twin bed. A step stool could always fix that if needed.

How big is your daughter? Remember the toddler bed is the same size as the crib. If she's getting too long for the crib she'll be too big for the toddler bed. Most kids outgrow the toddler bed before they turn 4. You already have the twin so why waste money? You'd also have to buy sheets/bedding for the toddler bed and then more bedding/sheets for the twin a year from now.

Just go straight to twin bed. That's what our kids did (around 2.5-3 years old) and were totally fine. Our son (1st born) had a rail on the side (other side next to wall) for a few months but our daughter neved needed/used them. Our youngest will be in the crib for a few more months but will go right to twin bed. It's not like they get hurt rolling out of bed. I remember rolling out of bed, even the top bunk, when I was a kid... sometimes I never woke up.

Toddler beds are a nice transition between crib and twin because they are lower to the ground and have built in side rails, but I wouldn't spend the extra money on one. By the time your daughter is 4, she will probably have out-grown it. My twins are almost 4 and have about out grown their toddler beds, so I have two if you want one to try for free!

Since you have the twin bed I would say go for it. It will save you the trouble of switching again in a year or so. Our son likes bigger beds, so he actually has a full size.

We skipped the toddler bed. It seemed like a waste of money and storage space later. In fact, we didn't even use the rail; we just put the mattress and boxspring on the floor and put the crib mattress next to that. This way the fall wasn't very far and onto something soft (the other side was against the wall).

Sounds good to me. We put our son in a toddler in just before he was 2. He is 3.5 now and he is ready for a twin bed. The move to the toddler bed was early for us because I was pregnant and was not able to lift our son over the railings of his crib so we moved him to the toddler bed...luckily he did great. But I would not spend the money on a toddler bed at this point.

For my daughter (who just turned 3 in April), we moved her into a toddler bed when she started climbing out of her crib (at about 18 months old). She hated her crib and my friend had just given us a pink Dora-themed bed. Well, she slept in the Dora toddler bed for about a year, and several months ago, we moved her into a twin. She loves it!
I dont see many advantages to a toddler bed. I think it's something we buy to make the transition easier, but i'm not sure the kids really need it. :) I'd move her into a twin bed and forget about the toddler bed.

I agree with your husband. Since your daughter is almost 3, skip the toddler bed altogether. Of course, as first-time parents we did the "oh we must get a toddler bed" when he's two. That lasted for about 5 minutes! :) Our second child came along and went right into a twin bed at 2! Use the money you would save from purchasing a toddler bed to place into a savings account for your daughter.

All my best,
D.

Your little one should be safe in a twin bed with a bought rail. You can find them in just about any baby section in any store.

Personal note about what I did. My little one uses a twin and I actually never bought a rail for it. I just rolled up a large towel and set it up under the fitted sheet. It formed enough of a bump to stop her from rolling out of bed. She'll be 3 in August and she no longer needs the bump now.

Good luck!

we moved both of our kids directly from the crib to a twin or crib mattress on the floor (at 14 months)they have loved it. they both ran into their rooms to show off their "big beds" whenever guests came over. we just put the bed against the wall in a corner of the roonm, with a pillow or something soft on the other side until they had adjusted and were no longer at risk of rolling off. and the added bonus is easier cuddle time at bedtime :)

Just before my daughter was 2, we transitioned her from the crib to a twin bed (because that is what we had). We decided to go with a foam bed rail that goes under the fitted sheet. She has never fallen out of the bed or had a problem. I don't have any info on the toddler bed because it was never a good option for us. Good luck.

Hey L.,
If you are concerned about the height of a twin bed vs. a toddler bed, try putting the box springs and mattress on the floor up against the corner of the room. Use side rails and pillows at the foot of the bed. It is amazing how small they look in such a big bed.
It is a big step, good luck. We moved my daughter to a twin on the floor to a full size bed at age 3. She loved it and still does.

That's what we did- skipped the toddler bed. They are cute, but I couldn't justify the expense when we already had a twin bed. WE did get a piece of plywood cut to fit the twin bed and JUST used the mattress on the board--that made it shorter, and also bought the rail to fit on there and that felt safer to me.

She will be fine in a twin with rails. Both of my children were in twin beds before they were 2. My son used a toddler bed with rails first. My daughter used a toddler bed for maybe 3 months. We had her twin bed set up as well and started having a hard time getting her to sleep in her toddler bed. We put her in the twin instead and we don't have any problems getting her to go to sleep in it. We have never used rails with either twin bed because the kids seemed ready for the height difference. My daughter has fallen out maybe twice.

Yes a lot of parents do that. We've been successful with that. My youngest was the only one who had a toddler bed and I still do not understand the difference.

We skipped the toddler bed with my daughter and moved her to a twin bed straight from the crib at about 3 years. We bought a rail for one side and put the other against the wall. I put a body pillow along the wall, just in case she started to sleep too close to the edge so she wouldn't get stuck in the crack between the bed and wall. It works out very well for us. She's been in there almost a year now and we haven't had any problems.

My son easily transitioned from the crib to a twin bed a few weeks after he turned 2. I never considered a toddler bed and went with a twin bed that he will be able to use for many years. We have the twin bed against the wall and a rail on the other side. I know there are rails that go on both sides and connect underneath if you are concerned about her falling between the bed and wall. We actually didn't have the rail up the first two nights my son was in the twin bed and put pillows on the floor. He didn't wake up either night but he was sleeping on the pillows on the floor when we got up in the morning!

I had toddler beds for my boys. I realized that the twin beds were just slightly higher off the floor. My boys are only a year apart, and they share a room. I put their twin beds together and pushed them in the corner of the room. They never rolled out of bed. They usually ended up against the wall and snuggled together in a ball of pillows and blankets...lol. I had put a dresser close to the other side of the bed and had pillows against it for a while. Also, when I first transitioned them, I put my sleeping bags and some folded blankets along the bottom of the bedside... just in case they rolled out. I think they might have rolled out less than a handfull of times between the two of them. With the blankets... I never really worried about it. They actually thought it was fun to jump onto all the blankets and pillows and made it into a game... silly little guys.

If your crib turns into a toddler bed, then go ahead and use it. The crib mattress is the same size as the toddler mattress... interchangeable. Otherwise, I really don't see a necessity in spending the extra money on a toddler bed and linens since they will grow out of pretty quickly. You will be buying a twin bed soon after.

I keep using the toddler-infant comforters on their twin bed as extra blankets. I use my queen blankets folded over on their beds for extra blankets. When potty training, they tend to wet quite often. It just seemed a bit cheaper and they had multiple uses.

It's a personal preference in my opinion. Both of my girls transitioned to their full size beds at 18 months. This was not something I had planned, but they were restless sleepers in the crib and would turn sideways while they slept and get stuck and wake up crying. It was much easier to put bedrails up and move them into big beds. My older daughter did not need bedrails for very long, but her bed is also closer to the ground. My 2 1/2 year old still has her bedrail up on one side, but the bed is higher. Besides, if you already have the twin bed, why spend more money on a toddler bed that they do not use for all that long???

We have a toddler bed, but only because our crib converts into one. If I had to buy one, I'd buy a twin. My daughter is on the small side, so she'll be able to use the toddler bed for awhile, but it seems like a waste of money to be honest! If you're concerned about it being too high off the ground, get a piece of plywood cut to the size of the bed, cover it with a sheet so it doesn't snag the mattress, then put the mattress on that. It will lower the bed significantly but still give enough support for the mattress. They sell all kinds of bed rails too. We moved my daughter to the toddler bed at two and she only fell out of bed once. I had put some blankets and stuff on the floor by her bed and she never even woke up!

She will be fine, and she will rapidly get used to it!

L.,
Both of my children went from a crib straight to a twin bed by the age of two. I just made sure that one side was up against the wall and I bought a bed rail that was extra long and high. They are now 5 1/2 and 2 1/2 and neither of them have ever fallen out of their beds. (Knock on wood). We opted not to buy a toddler bed because we knew that they wouldn't be in it for that long. Best of Luck!!!!

We moved our first daughter to a twin bed when she started getting out of her crib when she was around 2 and 1/2. I was also pregnant with #2, so the timing was good. We took the box spring out so she was really only sleeping on the mattress on the wood base (making the whole thing closer to the ground). We got a rail set from Target which withstood some wear and tear but has been long gone. Now she is 5, up on the box spring + matress, and just fine.

Our second daughter had to go from crib to toddler bed because we had #3, and the girls had to start sharing a room (baby got the crib and the room to himself) and there was simply no room for another twin bed in big sis's room. This also works well, although the younger daughter gets into the twin bed with her big sister during the middle of the night.

So, both ways are working for us. I think you should follow your gut, and maybe even ask your child for input. If she feels that she has a say, she may be a great sleeper in her new bed.

Tip: we got our toddler bed from a resale shop, so if things wouldn't have worked out, we were only out $50.

Good luck! J.

My eight year old daughter went from her crib to a twin size bed, I see no need for a toddler bed. My daughter never fell out of the bed.

Just my FYI but I would save the money and skip the toddler bed. You can get a twin bed that is low to the ground with the drawers underneath for storage. That is what we use for our daughter who is 2 and we got one of those side rails and it works perfectly.

We didn't waste our money on a toddler bed when we transitioned our (then ) 2 1/2 year old to a big girl bed. We figured that she'd outgrow it in a year or two and we'd STILL have to spend money on a regular bed. She did well with the twin bed (with those rails on the sides)and we plan on doing the same for our two year old next year.