Hi there. I am pregnant with my third child, and I'm wondering what I should do about beds :) Right now my two boys are sharing a room, and they are each in a convertible crib (my 3 1/2 year old is in the toddler bed version and my 1 1/2 year old is in the crib still). When the baby comes, she'll be getting the crib, which leaves me one bed short!
The obvious choice is to get a twin bed for my older son and transition my younger son to the convertible toddler bed when he's ready. HOWEVER, the room is not huge, and already with two cribs in it it seems cramped. With a twin and a crib, it's going to be even worse. So our solution is a bunk bed. I found a nice one that is fairly small since my kids are young, but now I'm feeling all anxious about transitioning my youngest to a bed at 20 months! I did it with my older at that exact age, and he did fine at night, but from then on naps were a battle. My younger son is a MUCH better napper in general, so it may not be an issue, but still....I don't want to make anything harder on any of us than it needs to be right now! We'll have enough on our plate soon enough with children 3 and under....
So anyway, what are your thoughts? I could also get a loft bed, which is basically the top of a bunk bed, and keep the convertible crib below it for my younger guy and transition him when he's ready. My husband thinks that is a waste of time and we should just put in the time to deal with the transition to the big boy bed now, before our daughter is born.
K
Thanks everyone (esp Tina W) for your candid responses.
I'm still not sure what we are going to do. I posed this question to another mothering board I'm part of with moms to all kids born the same month as my older son, and they all had great experiences with bunk beds. So I'm still somewhat leaning that way. My son has been potty-trained for over a year, and rarely (I'm talking basically NEVER) gets out of bed during the night to use the bathroom. He's an excellent climber (my husband is a rock climber and has been obsessively teaching him to climb at the park). He's mature and I really think he would understand the rules of the bed.
I'm waaaaaay more concerned about my younger child and the implications of transitioning him to a bed at nearly 2, and giving him exposure to a ladder. I know he'd try to climb it. I'd have to remove the ladder during nap-time for sure. He's an excellent sleeper and LOVES his bed (and paci and blanky that go with it), so hopefully the transition would work out ok.
My other options are to get two twin beds with storage underneath, and get rid of the dresser to save space, or I could go with the trundle bed, but the opinions I've heard are that it is a big hassle.
So who knows what I will decide. I'm still torn and probably spending way too much time agonizing over this situation.
K
The L-shaped wood loft bed with a desk on the end and drawers is often for sale here up to half off and only slightly used. My friend sold one for $300. They thought it was a great idea until they put it in the kids' room. It overtook the room, kids were always jumping from the top to bottom bed if we didn't watch them, and the desk was not a good fit ever.
I have two boys, ages 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. My 2 year old is still in the crib, but we are getting ready to transition him to a bed. I was thinking of getting a loft bed (actually, the reversible bed from IKEA). My idea is to put my older son on the top, and my younger son on the bottom. The bottom is really just a mattress on the floor. I thought I loft bed would be better than a bunk bed because it is not as high. I am slightly worried about my 4 1/2 year old climbing up and down the ladder in the middle of the night, but I am still considering it. It seems like you could transition your younger son on to a mattress on the floor under the loft bed too. Just one more idea to consider : )
It really depends on your boys. Yes, bunk beds are labeled for older use. We've had bunk beds for our boys for several years. I honestly don't remember what age we started, but I do know that my almost four year old girl loves it when one of the boys are gone so she can sleep on the top bunk! But she's been exposed to it and is used to climbing up and down. Which reminds me, before we got these bunks for the boys, we used to take trips to the "bunk bed store" (any store with bunks!) and they would practice climbing! That was a good indication to us if they were ready. I would be inclined to go for it if it was me. (Heck, even my barely 2 yo can climb the ladder...not that I want her to, but I don't want to admit how many times she's snuck into the boys room and I've found her reading on the top bunk!). Just consider your own kids...are they good climbers (at the park, etc.), have they been exposed to climbing, do they sleep pretty solid at night or do they get up a lot, if they do get up are they easily disoriented and upset or do they calmly go potty or whatever and go back to bed? All of these things will determine if you feel comfortable doing it early. And don't let other people make you feel like a bad parent or stupid for considering it...only YOU know what's best for your kids!
You said they're both in convertible cribs, one in toddler bed form and one in crib form, so why not do this... (It's our plan for when we have a 3rd on the way, since we only have 2 extra bedrooms.)
1. Buy the bunk beds and have your preschooler sleep in the lower bunk. It will give him a chance to get a "big kid bed", still be safe and you'll be prepared for a few years down the road when your 2nd is big enough for the lower bunk and your oldest can move up to the top bunk.
2. Reconvert the toddler bed back into a crib and keep your 2nd in there for as long as is needed. It will make things super-tight in the room with the bunk and the crib together, but everyone will be in a bed that is age appropriate and safe. You can make it a toddler bed in a year or so when your 2nd is ready for a bed, but not quite ready for the bunk bed.
3. Baby #3 gets the other crib. When #3 is big enough, you can convert that to a toddler bed and then figure out whether you want to get a twin bed and get rid of the cribs or if #4 is in the future.
Your children are too young for bunk beds!
(Per. AAP and manufacturers guidelines, min. age is 6 years old!!!)
I would try a TRUNDLE BED instead. Then when everyone is not asleep it is like you only have one twin bed and one crib. We are in a similar situation now so we will be using my old convertible twin bed set. It can be either 2 separate twins, a trundle, or a bunk bed when the kids are older. There are many options to choose from online. Hope this helps!
The top bunk is not for children under 6 years old. Most of them have that stated on their warning labels. Kids of that age have a harder time getting down the ladder in time when they are just potty trained.
I totally understand your problem. Our boy's bedroom was a 10x9 & a tight squeeze, but they were 4 years apart & my oldest was at least 6 when we put him on the top bunk. We put our youngest in a toddler bed when he was about 18 months, becasue he wanted to be like his older brother. We also had to put a hardware mounted baby gate in the boy's door to keep our youngest in at night. Our oldest was able to open the gate when he needed to go potty.
Be careful if you transition because your middle child may become jellous when the baby is sleeping in his crib & may try to climb in too!
God bless!
I am with your husband, just transition your son now and get it over with. It will be complicated with #3 regardless of what you do - believe me, we are waiting on #4 right now.
It will be twice as much work to try to keep the toddler bed, do a loft then change again in 6 months or so.
Just take the plunge, you will be happy you did in the long run.
the two boys are still pretty little, cant they share a bed for another year or so? I put my boys in one twin bed with they were 2 and 3. One at each end... they loved it. A 3yr old on a top bunk would be pretty scary.
