J.L.
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Hi Mamas!
I need some ideas. We had a small tragedy at our house on sunday night. Here is the cliff's notes version: My 7 year old daughter and 21 month old daughter share a room and a bed. They have a twin size bed with a side rail going all the way across, the other side is pushed up against a wall. They have a hard wood floor in their room. My 21 month old had just learned how to climb over the side rail. While everyone was asleep Sunday night for some reason she tried to climb out of bed and fell to the floor - face first. Blood everywhere. We took her to the ER. She is fine now,
My husband decided she can never sleep in that bed again, because it is too dangerous. We took the side rail down and tried that, but instead of getting off the side without the rail she insists on going to the end-board that is higher and climbing over it. She is a climber, and not a very good one, she doesn't have the best balance. So my husband took away the bed frame and put the mattress on the floor.
This is working for now, but I do not like the way it looks having the mattress on the floor. Any ideas for beds that would be less dangerous for a 21 month old climber?
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Honestly, I just think you need to get over the aesthetics of the mattress on the floor as that seems to be a great solution. Especially since this period will not last particularly long. Once she's better at climbing you can bring the bed frame back in again.
Your 21 month old needs a toddler bed. There is not much room for climbing and she won't hurt herself. You can get them rather inexpensively at Walmart.
Could you try a very low platform for the bed to lift it up a little? At least then you could tuck the quilt under neatly?
My son's mattress has been on the floor for 6 mos. It doesn't look very nice, but he is ready for a taller bed now. The mattress on the floor stage doesn't last forever, it will be no time before she is ready for a taller bed. If it were me I'd just leave it like that for a little while.
Is there room to get a toddler bed for your 21 month old? I can't imagine them wanting to share a bed for too much longer!
I'd either get a toddler bed, or just put a crib/toddler mattress on the floor. Yes it might look weird, but it's better than your daughter getting hurt again!
My daughter had a twin mattress on the floor for a while before we bought her a full set w/ a frame. With all of her toys her room is always a disaster anyways :)
We just turned my 2 year olds crib into a toddler bed, we got a free crib mattress that we got on freecycle on the floor beside her before we got her a bed rail. She hasn't tried to climb over yet, but when we first got the rail, she would sit & yell for someone to get her out, but because there's a little space at the end of her bed the guard rail doesn't cover, we just showed her a few times that she could slip out of that space, instead of needing to be lifted out, or eek, climbing.
maybe she'd learn to crawl out of that space if you showed her on her bed instead of climbing.
Or maybe you could get her & her sis a trundle bed, she could sleep on the bottom close to the floor, maybe put a guard rail or something to protect her from rolling off, but at least if she climbed over, it'd be so close to the floor it wouldn't hurt her, & in the mornign you could just push it under the top trundle, or leave it. Maybe regardless of the bed she has, if you took away her foot board & head board, she could just crawl out the end of her bed & not have to climb over something.
I hope something works for you guys, that's scary & tiring! Glad to hear she's doing OK now!
At Ikea they have European style beds. Some of them don't have headboards and they also don't have a box spring which makes them a bit lower. When our son was little we also put an old toddler bed mattress in front of the bed during the night, so that he doesn't get hurt when he falls out. During the day I pushed the small mattress under the bed. It worked great.
Check out www.Ikea.com.
When my daughter first started sleeping in a twin bed, she fell out a few times. But she learned not to after awhile. Time will solve your problem for you.
In the meantime, having the mattress on the floor for a few months would probably be a good idea. When you go back to having a frame, put a nice thick throw rug by the bed where she tends to fall/climb out, or maybe a folded up, puffy comforter. Not permanently, just for awhile. Until you're reasonably confident that she won't fall out anymore.
My oldest squirms around a lot in her sleep. Do you think your oldest might be pushing the baby out in her sleep? Not on purpose, of course. Is there any way you can give them their own beds?
To be honest, I think your husband has the right idea. We kept ours on the floor until they boys were about 3, and even now the ones they have are much lower to the floor than a regular bed. If you want it to be just a little higher, but a box spring under it and cover it with a bed skirt so it does not look like just a mattress on the floor.
I know it's not pretty but I think it's safe. We did the same thing. At about 18 months our daughter decided she hated her crib and was never going to sleep in it again! So we ended up putting the crib mattress on the floor as the immediate fix so we could get some sleep. Now she has a toddler bedframe where it's a much shorter fall...and in the beginning we padded the floor with a bunched-up old blanket or comforter. Every now and again (once a month or two?) she did fall out of bed, and we have hardwood floors too, but with the shorter distance it's just been tears...no bruises or blood. I think actually Target may have a toddler bed for about $54 this week if I'm not mistaken!
What about a trundle bed? You little one can sleep on the lower, pull-out bed...
until she is able to manage ( which believe it or not is only months away) just put the mattress straight on the floor. she will be a whole different child in a few months. if not then go buy a small toddler bed that is lower to ground ( but still one can fall out of especially if she decides climbing is the best option) but i would just wait a few months
For our 4 year old, we have a very low bed, no footboard or headboard, just a frame a bunky board (so it stays low) and the mattress. She had a tendancy to fall out of bed somehow, so the low bed makes it so she doesn't get hurt. It passed after a while and so should the unsteadiness of the climbing.
time will pass and things will look better-just leave the mattress
Bed on the floor (or on a very low frame on the floor) could be the best solution for now, but also consider the floor itself -- how about an area rug and thick pad under it? Just in and around the bed area? A bound remnant won't be too expensive, or even just a bed spread or patterned wool blanket with the thick rug pad under.
You may want to invest in a toddler bed. They are not very far off the ground, so they do not require any rails, etc. Your little one can climb in and out very easily. You can find them for about $70 at Toys 'R Us, and they are used with a crib mattress (hopefully you still have yours). My 2 year old is quite a climber herself, and the toddler bed is perfect for her. Good luck! :-)
Which is more important? the safety of your child or the looks of the room? There are beds made that are very low to the ground and attractive if the esthetics are that important.
