Anonymous wrote:What bed would you recommend for a toddler or first bed ?

We started our 2.5 year old on a twin mattress on the floor when we needed to get him out of the crib so our second kid could use it. It was at least a year before we bothered to get him a bed frame from ikea. He’s almost 6 now and still has plenty of space in the twin bed. I definitely wouldn’t bother with a toddler sized bed if the crib doesn’t convert into one.

Anonymous wrote:What bed would you recommend for a toddler or first bed ?

Honestly, don't overthink it. We moved our toddler from her crib into a regular full size bed that we pushed against the wall, and then got an inexpensive toddler bumper for the other side until we felt confident she wouldn't fall out. I should note it's a relatively low bed, and we don't use a box spring with it (so maybe two feet off the ground). We already had the bed in her room (used to be the guest bed), so it was just easy.

But I've also known people who just got a twin size mattress and put it on the floor, and then bought a twin bed when the kid was ready. You can get these really cute little house frames for a floor bed too (look up "montessori bed house frame" and you'll find a ton). Or you can buy a toddler bed. That last option was the least appealing to me because they will only be in it a few years, after only being in the crib a few years, and I don't like having to rotate furniture out that often. That's why so many people get cribs that you can convert to toddler beds, because then you can get a lot more use out of it.

What bed would you recommend for a toddler or first bed ?

Climbing in and out is dangerous. If they get an arm or leg tangled in the bars they could end up breaking it.

It's time to get rid of the crib.

This is why drop-side cribs were a godsend. When my kids started climbing out, we just lowered the side to reduce the risk until we could get a big-kid bed.

Either disassemble the crib and put the mattress on the floor, or get a bed for her.

I would keep her in the crib.

Yes. You can't keep her in the crib anyway and it will be safer to get in and out of a bed.

DD is 2.5. She has taken to climbing out of her crib at night, and either walking around the room for a bit, looking at books, or playing with her toys before climbing back in. She sometimes will grab a different stuffed animal than the one she went to bed with and put it in bed with her. She then eventually goes to sleep soon after.. In the morning she stays in the crib happily until one of us comes to get her.

Should we just move her to a bed? We will likely be moving end of they year/early next year and were planning to mover her to a bed then.