apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If this is something for your living room, I'd give it a pass. If it's a spare room/basement thing, sure, why not?

That style of sofa bed seems to becoming pretty popular--I noticed that one myself in the Pottery Barn catalog. My only issue with it is that the legs are so short (though I suppose you could replace them to make it more a full height sofa).

I've seen a lot of similar style sofa beds around the city at Futon stores and Bo Concept. I really like Bo Concept's version, though I did sit on that one and it was a bit deep for me (but I have short legs so most sofas feel that way). I love the legs on the new model. Their old model had adjustable positions like the one in your example, but I'm not sure the new version has more than up and flat. But, when flat it's a full-sized bed, instead of a twin, so it'd be a more useful guest bed.

http://www.boconcept.us/default.aspx?id=74800&ImageID=1099

Guest bed, couch and then child's bed?

That's a lot of use for one piece of furniture. And it seems like "sitting on it" and "child sleeping on it full time" are two very different levels of comfort.

http://www.tinyliving.com/store/product/2023/square-sleeper-chair-gray/

I'd agree with Marie about this... Guest bed and sitting on occasionally, fine. But then as a child's bed? Twin mattresses were really not that expensive last time I was at Sleepy's a year ago. I say it looks fine to sleep on for a night or two (as in a guest bed) but it definitely would not cut it for a child's primary bed.

If you love it, buy it now for the guest room. But please, get the kid a real bed when he/she is old enough.

maybe instead of spending $700 on a couch that people can sleep on, spend $350 on a couch that people sit on and $350 on a twin sized mattress and box spring set that people can sleep on, and then your child will have a proper bed to use when the time comes. i find something inherently wrong about making your child sleep on a couch every night purely for the sake of style.

If you really want one piece of furniture to do triple duty, how about a daybed? You will need a good collection of bolsters or pillows to make "couch" seating. I would consider 1 or 2 custom made foam pillows that would create a couch-like seat depth without the need for too many fussy throw pillows, but it depends on your style. The lounger you posted really only seems sufficient for occasional overnight guests and not nightly use.

Along the lines of Marie's comment -- I think it is a fine sofa to be used occassionally for a guest bed, but a child's bed gets lots of wear and tear (esp. a toddler, who is perhaps potty training, jumping on beds, playing in his/her bed, etc).

When I go to someone's house, I wouldn't want to sit on their bare matress (which is essentially what the couch would become if someone was sleeping on it every night).

Good idea Szig. Exactly what I was thinking. A daybed will allow you to procure a very nice mattress for your little one, which can be customized to his/her liking. I have a feeling the PB model may induce neck cramps and the like.

Why not budget for a couch/guest bed and for a
child's bed?Your child's comfort should be your first priority!

I checked out quite a few couches like that recently, and while I think they look functional and cool, I was constantly surprised at how uncomfortable they are. One of the few that I tried that was comfortable was at Urban Outfitters, similar to this one.
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-2365239786719709610&itemdescription=true&itemCount=-1&id=13511381&parentid=A_FURN_FURNITURE&sortProperties=&navCount=4&_D%3AnavCount= &navAction=poppush&color=&_DARGS=%2Furban%2Fcatalog%2Fcommon%2Fitemlink.jsp

A daybed is the best bet if someone will be sleeping on it every night, but they are not the most comfortable to sit on. If you're looking for something that a guest could sleep on how about a futon or a long enough couch for someone to stretch out on? If you want something that won't take up as much space, or that won't look like it is a piece of hybrid furniture, you can get a sleeper chair. Here's one at world market, they call it a sofa but it's just a large chair.
http://www.worldmarket.com/Handcrafted-Furniture/living-furniture/upholstery-sofa/Dylan-Guest-Room/lev/4/productId/3338/Ne/1100001/Ns/NEW_ARRIVAL_FLAG|1||CATEGORY_SEQ_2889|0/N/1100039/Nty/1/view/10000/index.pro

Whatever you do, give anything you think you want to buy a test run, and don't buy it unless you can find a sample to sit down on.

You are looking for too many functions from one piece of furniture. Get a real bed for your little girl - it should cost more than around $300-400 for mattresses with a Hollywood frame.

Get a day bed with a trundle.