Is a toddler bed worth it?

Zander is in his cot & will be moving to a new room soon (see my other post ;) ) & I was wondering if a toddler bed is worth the money? The bed we have for him is my old one from before I moved out & is a king single, so quite big for such a little person. Would I be better off getting him a relatively cheap toddler bed & using his normal cot mattress or just getting rails for the king single?

We considered getting a toddler bed but when we thought about it it's just adding in another transition that you will have to make later, so we decided to cut out the middle man and go straight for a big bed. Jonah is in a big bed which is up against the wall and we have a rail on the other side and he has not once fallen out.

Also it's just going to be another thing for you to store when he's not using it and I don't know about you but we are fast running out of room already with stuff he doesn't need to use anymore, lol.

We've done the same thing in regards to toilet training. We've got an insert for the toilet rather than getting a potty and then going to sitting on the toilet. For me it feels like I'm cutting out some of the bother and stress for him by cutting out a step iykwim?

But of course this is just my opinion and if you really wanted to start him in a toddler bed then you should :)

Sarah, Olivia's cot turned into a toddler bed, so she is in that at the moment, but to be honest, I am wishing we hadn't because I want her to go into a normal standard single bed soon (in time for Lexie to take the cot) and I am worried over another change (along with new house, new bedroom etc) so to be honest, I wouldn't bother..........

We had the same dilema! We bought a lovely bed suite for DS, but I was so worried about him falling off. We tried a few different bed rails, but most of them were for an ensemble. I still didnt feel confident about that, so we ended up getting him a car bed, which is much lower to the ground, and we can use his standard size mattress, so that bubs can have the cot when needed. Check out the Car beds Sarah! Maybe sell it on Ebay when you have finished with it! They give great peace of mind, without the hassle of the rails ;)

Some good points there guys, thank you :)

We didn't feel there was a need to bother with a toddler bed for a few reasons that have been mentioned.
- running out of storage space!
- if it takes a cot mattress, then Aidyn would grow out of it fairly quickly anyway, and if it takes a different size mattress from a standard single, then thats just extra $$ to waste.
- We don;t really have the money to buy him a toddler bed, and then a new bed (and another mattress) in a year or two anyway.
- If we ever have a guest they can sleep on Aidyns single bed whilst he rooms in with us - but they couldnt do that if it was a toddler bed...

Great advice, I hadn't even considered buying a single bed as I just assumed we should get a toddler bed.

We're not going to bother, Sarah.
Gabby's cot sort of turns into a toddler bed (we can take one of the sides off and replace it with a rail) but I'm not sure I'll bother. I'll probably just transfer her to a single bed with a safety rail when she's ready (probably not for another 6 months or so).

We got a toddler bed for Matilda... its longer than a cot from Ikea. We bought it for a few reasons:

1)she was so young.
2)It is heaps lower to the ground
3) we will use it with Jovie and Matilda will get a big girls bed.

I think it would be better to go straight to a single bed.

Pheonix is a big girl and we cringed at the thought of how little time she would last in a toddler bed. We bought a rail and she has not fallen out or had any accidents at all.

I think yes :) I have seen ris and she loves her bed, Paris loved her cot converted to a toddler bed and I will be doing it for Seth. I think a big bed can be overwhelimg. Toddler beds are closer to the floor and more cosy IMO. IKEA has some cheap ones that are very inviting for littlies :D

*hugs*
Cailin

Oh the trundle is an excellent idea! Will try and remember that!

We didn't buy the convertible cot, simply because we'll need the cot for #2, and figured it'd be more fun to take DS shopping for his big boy bed, than to go and get a new cot for the bub.

I don't think a single will be overwhelming for him, coz he's slept with us so often. In fact if it wasn't for him crawling off the edge of it.. I'd consider putting him in a bed now! He sleeps so much better on our bed than in his cot.

I'm the same with the TT - we plan to go straight to the loo, rather than potty to loo. I reckon the less transitions the better too. hehe.

I know Ikea has single beds that you can make into toddler beds - tey one im looking at for when Anneliese is ready is $107 (no mattress) but i have a cot mattress for it, and you can get normal matresses for about $100. The boys never went into toddler beds, Xander went into a king single at 18months, and Declan went into a single at 17 months. Now they are 3.5 and 22 months, and they share a bunk bed (they share a room, and we could not fit 2 beds in there) and we have not had a prob. I bought a great bed rail from target for $60, you could always get one of them if you're worried?

HTH, Good Luck!

Not helpful to you now, Sarah, but for others who are yet to get a cot or who are looking for a cot for subsequent bubs, there is a cot that converts into a full sized single bed. It's the kingparrot allambee. We're getting one for Jedrek as Kynan is still in his cot. Kynan will move straight into a single bed when he's ready and bub #3 can go into his old cot (yes, we're already thinking that far ahead LOL!).

I bought bunk beds and gave the girls one each.Millana has the top which has a rail allaround and spot for her to get out of and the bottom in ruby's room for me to sleep in when she gets unwell.Millana loves the bed as it has the security of being like a cot still.

Bummer Angel, we got the King Parrot Angel cot.

We've got a kingparrot.. can't remember which? Ulur? or something like that. It's a bit of a pain, coz not all sheets fit it. It's a bit longer than normal cots.

Asha has the Ikea Vikare bed and I love it ... so does she. She is able to get herself in and out with no trouble at all and she will be in it for a while yet ... we have the head end up and the foot end down now ... so she could have a quilt and her Dora cover!!! She will get Emma's single bed when she needs it and Emma will get a double bed!

Hello, we were able to take one of the sides off DD's cot, so she slept like that for about 6 weeks and then straight into the big girl's bed. It was just a slat frame with a fairly low mattress, and I knew from the way she was able to catapault herself right into the middle of our bed that getting up and down was never going to be an issue. We didn't ever bother with a rail, the couple of times she fell out (much later on) barely even woke her.

Hi Sarah
We bought a toddler bed for Nick when he was 18months and he loved it, now Ryan is using it and Macauley will be usng it when he turns 12/18months, so for us it was deffinitely worth the money, and we didn't have any problems transferring Nick from that into a single bed, and he would still fit comfortably on it now, so they can last for ages

We just bought a normal single. We were still co-sleeping alot with Jenna at the time, and wanted something that we could be comfy in too.
Even though she ended up back in the cot after 2m, and is only now starting to make the noises about going back into the bed, its still be great as we can settle her by lying with her.
She doesn't have too many problems getting on and off the bed. She's a tough kid, so the occasional bump doesn't phase her too much!