Many of you weighed in on our discussion of toddler beds yesterday with some arguing the merits of transitioning straight to a twin bed and others preferring something in between. Well what do you think of the idea of a twin-sized day bed turned around to guard against falls?
We read about this idea on Baby Toolkit (who heard about it from Mom Advice) so we can't take any credit (or blame!), but it's certainly an interesting idea. (Check out their posts to see how it's working out for them.)
We like the longevity of this idea - use it as a toddler bed and turn it around when your kid is ready. When your kids are in the tween and teen years they'll love hanging out on it with their friends like a sofa. When they've gone off to college or to conquer the world it makes a nice guest bed or daybed in an office. What do you think of this idea? Too easy for young toddlers to get out of? Not easy enough for older toddlers?
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We did this with one of those Ikea daybeds for my first daughter. She never even thought to climb out. Now it is in the playroom right-side out waiting to be used when daughter no. 2 is ready to move from the crib.
I am planning to do this with my daughter (15 months) when her new sister arrives in March. I bought her the Meldal bed from Ikea; the depth, and space between the bars, meets crib safety standards.
What a brilliant idea! My parents did this with me 35 years ago and it worked a treat! I'd forgotten all about it and will do this with my daughter, the extra storage space is great.
I think that is a great idea, but still do not see any reason to turn it around. I do like the bed in the photo too because of its storage space.
my 2 yr old was put in a regular bed that was actually pretty high up. I used one of the net things that attach under the mattress to keep him from falling out for about 8 mos. He never fell out. It wasn't overly pretty- but it worked like a champ. He's still in the same bed (he's almost 6) and he'll be in that bed for years to come.
I don't think you can put the bed flash against the bed (at least not in out house, we have baseboard heaters and/or baseboards), thus a child can fall between the mattress and the wall. So, I don't see a point of turning the daybed around. Besides, it is difficult enough to change sheets on the daybed as is.
We bought an Overlapping Squared daybed from West Elm (used) for our 3yo daughter. We love it. And it can be adapted to different style of the room should her/our taste change.
Good idea; seems like it would be hard to change the sheets though.
I also wondered about baseboards. I'm also thinking that your kiddo could roll between the wall and bed like Nudik suggested, which would worry me.
We have a daybed for our toddler, but decided against turning it around against the wall (mainly for easy of changing sheets). Instead, we put the daybed in the guest room for awhile and put a twin size mattress on the floor. She loves it and it's a great way to transition to a larger bed.
quick question - what bed is featured in the picture here? That looks perfect for our son... we're leaning towards a day bed/twin bed with trundle, but having a really hard time finding a neutral (yet not ridiculously expensive) one...
ohiomom, it is the west elm storage bed and it is currently on sale. just saw it while browsing over there.
Thanks so much for featuring our site!
Just to answer a couple of questions about turning yo1ur bed around...
1) We did not have any registers or baseboards that would prevent the bed from butting up to the wall. It fits very snug against the wall and keeps my daughter safe. We did the same exact thing with her brother and neither of them have fallen anywhere out of the bed.
2. Changing the sheets is not too bad because we have hardwood floors and can pull the bed easily out and I make it on the opposite side. That being said, my daughter can't make the bed herself so it does require an adult to do it, but I still love it more than putting in a bed gate.
Our daughter is four now and I look forward to flipping the bed just like I loved flipping her car seat. It is a rite of passage in the Clark house :)
Hope that helps!
Amy
MomAdvice.com
I know I'm late on this, but where can I find the daybed in the photo?