Whenever the topic of toddler beds comes up, plenty of readers question the idea of buying a transitional bed with short-lived utility. So just how long is their lifespan?You tell us:
There is quite a difference in size - Kalon Studio's Ioline toddler bed above, for example, is only 54" long while the Ionline twin is 76.5". Readers in small homes, especially, may purchase a toddler bed out of necessity until moving to a larger space. So, help out your fellow readers who may be wondering,:
(Image: Ionline Toddler Bed by Kalon Studios)
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Thanks EstherG! I changed out the image and forgot to change the text.
Our son (now 5) went straight from crib to twin-sized bed.
We used a swimming pool styrofoam noodle split in half under the mattress pad along each edge to help him avoid rolling off. Worked like a charm!
And as long as his legs are, I'm sure he would've outgrown a toddler-sized bed within a year anyway.
Depends a lot on size and temperment. My son was very large and we kept him in a toddler bed until 3. He looked like it fit. But (annoying) as soon as we switched to an adult he started sleeping SO MUCH BETTER. Clearly the old bed wasn't big enough.
My daughter is 2 and small but will switch her as soon as I cough up the money for a good quality organic matress.
I actually really like the Ikea youth bed size. Great bridge between crib and twin. But no natural matress option...
My twins went straight from the crib to the twin beds.
I'm really interested in this information! I was inclined to skip the toddler bed altogether until we moved into our current (amazing in every other way) apartment. The nursery is so, so, so small. And now with baby #2 on the way, there is no way we could fit a twin bed and a crib in there. Heck, even the toddler bed will be a squeeze. We hope to stay here for a couple years until we buy a house, so I'm looking forward to hearing others' feedback.
yeah, we just went straight to a twin in order to save money, but honestly, both my girls are still so small and they are 5 and 4. I could definitely see them being able to fit into a toddler bed until atleast 6 years old. It may look weird, but technically they could fit!
We bought an IKEA toddler bed (not the one that expands) and put my son in it a couple of months ago (he was 26 months old). He's always been on the very very tall end, and I'm seeing it being around for another year. I just couldn't do the twin bed, he wouldn't be able to get up into it (and we didn't want to do the mattress-on-the-floor thing). My vote is to switch whenever it's easiest for them to sleep on a bed frame!
When my 4 year old niece first came to live with us her parents dropped off her toddler bed. Regular crib mattress sized. I got a great deal on a twin sized bed before she came though. I could've seen her fitting in it for another year or so.
The free toddler bed was great because my son(2) now sleeps in it.
We just switched our 5th to a queen from his toddler/crib bed. He's in the 90th percentile for height but I think he would have made it another year. We just moved from a 5br to a 2br apt for the year which is the only reason why we switched when we did. We paid a fortune for everything and we just have one so there wasn't another incentive to switch.
My oldest switched to a twin a age 3 when the toddler bed was converted back into a crib for his brother. Now his brother is approaching 3, and I plan to keep him in the toddler bed as long as possible because it takes up so much less space in his room. We'll see how long it lasts based on his height.
I think as long as the child fits in the bed and is sleeping comfortably there is no set age that they must move to a larger bed. I used to take care of a small 6 year old who loved his small bed.
We did neither - crib or toddler bed. We went straight from co-sleeping (0-15mths) to a twin mattress on the floor. It's worked out great for us. When my 2.5 year old son is a bit older (and taller), we'll put the mattress in a proper bed frame.
We're planning on going from crib, to converted crib, to a queen size bed. That way, when relatives and friends visit, they have a place to sleep.
Our 4-year-old comfortably sleeps in a toddler bed, and I anticipate she'll use it until age 5 or so. We have the Pkolino toddler bed, which converts to a youth chair, so it should have a long life in our household.
My son went straight from a crib into a double bed. We did have the room and I didn't want to waste money having to buy bigger beds as he grew. It was great because there was so much space he never fell out of bed and it was easy for us to crawl in to read him a story at bedtime.
Out of necessity(space and money) while my husband was in grad school, our son slept in a toddler bed for a few years. He is tall but slim. We are now buying him a bunk bed and he just turned six. I was feeling really bad about it, when a friend mentioned she knows like of five year olds that love their toddler size bed. And as long as a child fits and sleeps comfortably, there is nothing technically wrong with it. Nelly, I wouldn't sweat it, if space is an issue.
My daughter was in a crib until almost four, and now at age 4.5 she's still in a toddler bed. She's a great sleeper and never tried to climb out of her crib. We wouldn't have used a toddler bed, but it was a hand-me-down and uses the crib mattress so we're using it. She's a peanut so I can't see us switching to a twin anytime soon. She LOVES her bed and sleeps great in it so no need to switch it up yet.
We just this month switched our 3 year old from a crib to a twin. We were moving and were temporarily in a corporate apt that didn't have a crib. So she slept in a queen for a week and didn't fall out...and we decided to get her her own bed once we moved into our permanent digs. The transition could not have been easier. Toddler beds may work for some but I'm happy we went straight to a twin; it will last her far longer and we didn't have to spend any money on a piece that may have had limited use/may have been outgrown more quickly.
My average-sized daughter turns 4 in February, and she's still in a toddler bed. But in retrospect we should've gotten a twin or full to avoid buying another one.
The comments about those who had their kids going from a crib to twin or double bed are not relevant or helpful. Sorry! I'm not usually snarky with my comments, but it annoys me when someone asks a specific question and then people decide to give their opinion instead of just answering the question. That said...our almost 3 year old who is a bit on the tall side is still very comfortable in his toddler bed and I'm guessing he will likely be in it for another 6 months, maybe longer. My friend's son was in his until he was 4 years old.
If you have the space, I'd always opt for a real twin (or bigger) bed. We went from cribs to twins and our kids sleep well. Plus, no one has mentioned too that often times you want to crawl into bed with them, after a scary dream or to get them off to sleep when they're sick, etc. and you can't do that in a toddler bed.
@upstategirl: thank you! I would love to know people's answers to the actual question here. The crib/toddler bed/twin bed/etc. issue is a separate discussion, and having the answer to how long a toddler bed lasts would be useful in making the decision.
My 3-year-old is average height, and fits quite nicely in his IKEA junior bed, which is 65" long. We are in a very small 2-bedroom condo, and also have a newborn. How many more years will this work? Anyone??
My brother and I both went from cribs to twin beds. But I had that metal thing that prevented me from rolling out of the bed at night.
My almost 4 year old sleeps in a crib sized toddler bed and loves the coziness of it. I like that it is low since she has fallen out of it even with sides that come half way down the side of the bed. She is a VERY active sleeper. When her brother was a young toddler he was a climber and the toddler bed was a much better option than having him climb out of his crib. A twin on the floor would have worked as well.
I agree with Si that it does make story time and a bed time snuggle a little less comfortable. I end up sitting on the floor.
My almost 4 year old sleeps in a crib sized toddler bed and loves the coziness of it. I like that it is low since she has fallen out of it even with sides that come half way down the side of the bed. She is a VERY active sleeper. When her brother was a young toddler he was a climber and the toddler bed was a much better option than having him climb out of his crib. A twin on the floor would have worked as well.
I agree with Si that it does make story time and a bed time snuggle a little less comfortable. I end up sitting on the floor.
Ditto upstategirl and AmberM! My daughter just turned 3 recently, but is in the 99th percentile for height. She is in a toddler bed and seems to fit fine. She doesn't have a ton of extra length, but I'm guessing it will last at least until she's 4 or 4.5--she tends to jam a bunch of dolls and stuffed animals and books in there with her and sleep scrunched up, so it might even last longer.
We got the crib that converts to a toddler bed then a full size bed, but her room is smallish and closetless (old house), so it already has a lot of furniture and we're hoping to put off transitioning to the full size bed as long as she's comfortable.
I was interested to see people's responses to this question. Ideally, yes, I would love to transition my son to a twin or full bed instead of spending money on a toddler bed, but realistically both a twin bed and a crib will NOT fit in the nursery together in our house. I know many other people have similar space limitations, so transitioning to a twin or full bed isn't an option for everyone. We will have to use a toddler bed for our son if/when our second child comes along. I am hoping he is comfortable in it until 4 or 5, at which point I hope to get the KURA bed from IKEA (putting a mattress on top and a mattress underneath for the younger child).
I think it depends a lot on the child's sleeping style. Both my very tall kids slept in toddler beds until they were nearly 5, but they both tend to be the scrunch-in-a-ball style of sleeper -- not sprawlers unless they're in _my_ bed.
we have our 3.5-year-old twins sleeping in toddler beds. they've been in them a little over a year now and have just started complaining that their beds are too small. the boys are on the tiny side (3rd and 14th percentile) and they are starting to look a little bit large in their beds. i was hoping to have them in toddler beds long enough to bridge the gap until we can do bunkbeds, but am now rethinking that plan. they aren't sleeping well these days—they end up in our bed in the middle of the night more times than not, but who can blame them? i'd rather be on a proper mattress than a plastic-coated crib one, too! so now we are talking with santa about bringing twin beds for christmas.
Our son slept in a toddler bed until he turned 4. (Even though he was tall for his age.) We lived in a small condo and were conserving space. We moved him up to a regular bed once we moved to a house.
We skipped the toddler bed. It worked well for us, but I know others who really like a toddler bed too.
@upstategirl--yes, I too would like to see actual answers to this question! I know lots of kids move straight to a twin bed, but that's not the issue here!
We debated for a long time, and ultimately went with toddler beds, for which I am so grateful, because we've since moved twice, and neither place would have fit multiple twin beds. My average sized 4 year old and almost 3 year old both fit just fine in their toddler beds, and I imagine they'll be in them comfortably for at least another year, at which point we'll probably move and will hopefully have the space for two twins or a bunkbed. For the record, we also went with a mini crib when our first was born, and I'm so glad because we currently have one mini crib and two toddler beds in one (small) bedroom, and there is no room for bigger beds, or even a dresser or shelves.
We skipped the toddler bed and went straight to a low twin bed when our son turned 3 years old. We were lucky that he loved his crib and stayed in so long. He didn't even try to climb out until just before he turned 3 years old.
We looked at toddler beds but realized we had a beautiful wood bed with turned finials in the garage I had insisted we buy long before we were even pregnant. It was nice and low to the ground, so that's what we put in his room. It's nice that either DH or I can curl up in our son's bed for story time each night - we couldn't do that in a toddler bed.
Our 2.5 year old sleeps well in his coverted cot, there is no room in his bedroom for a single ("twin") bed.
We move to a bigger house in December and then he'll be sleeping in a king single (that a friend gave to us for free...we just have to get a mattress for it!).
Because his cot coverted to a toddler size bed we didn't consider buying a specific toddler bed.
Our sweet gal turns five tomorrow and is still in her toddler bed. Santa is bringing new bedding to make the bed bingo (brother's single goes to kid 2, brother gets the double in the guest room, crib/toddler bed converts into a more feminine double for the guest room) less spendy, but really, she could stay in her little bed for another 6 mos or so; she seems plenty comfortable.
Our daughter is 4 and could still be in her toddler bed, but we moved her to a twin bed so we could use her conversion toddler bed/crib for the new baby.
My 4-year-old daughter is very tall (98th percentile) and still fits in her toddler bed fine. She rolls around a lot, so I get nervous when she's in a regular height bed. In fact, both she and I can lie in together at night, though I have to bend my knees very slightly (I'm almost 5'6") I could seriously sleep in it if I needed to.