apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think that Kid Kraft one is the way to go if you must have a new, modern toddler bed.

We got a plain light wood Shaker-style one off of Craigslist for $40 for our son. Not modern, but it's lines were clean and that's all I cared about. There was no way I was going to shell out much more than that for something that I knew we'd use for such a short period of time. He moved into his twin size bed a few months later and a friend's son is now using the toddler bed. And then my son's sister will use it until she's ready for a big bed. So, yay for recycling.

We got the Vikare extendable bed from IKEA and I painted it white. It looks great (to me at least) and I can use a regular twin sized fitted sheet on it. Here are a few pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubgulia/2628287729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubgulia/2628288689/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubgulia/2629107052/

I personally don't care what it looks like as long as my son will stay in it. Those of you who have done the transition know what I'm talking about. That's why I'm going with a stock car that takes a crib mattress and a twin mattress.

Just putting a mattress on the floor will work, and you won't have to worry about the falls too much.

I have the Oeuf dresser and thought about getting the Oeuf bed, but I'd have to add rails to it anyway.

I love the Kid Kraft bed, but my husband thought that shelling out money for a bed that will only get used for a year or so was a bit much, so he talked me into getting our almost-three-year-old the Mydal bunk bed from Ikea ($159).

It turned out to be a really good solution in our case. Sam sleeps like a rock, so falling out hasn't been a concern. For obvious reasons, we didn't install the ladder rungs, and we won't till he's around six. And he loves the cave-like quality of the lower bunk, so the transition from crib to bed went really well.

i say skip the toddler bed and go straight to a twin you'll have more options and it will last longer. i transitioned my son 4 months ago from the crib to a twin. i had a hard time justifying spending money on something he'd only use for a few more years and then need to buy another bed. i thought the size of it would be an issue and planned on making bolsters for the sides and top but turns out i didn't need to.

I agree with those who've suggested skipping the toddler bed. My daughter transitioned from crib to a double bed with no problem. We started with the mattress on the floor, then moved to box spring/mattress and finally to the set with the bedframe. I wonder about the appeal of the toddler bed. I assume for many that it is an issue of space. There must be reasons to use one because they are very popular. That being said, I think the bed pictured here is adorable.

My son is in a tiny room, so we needed to go the toddler bed route. We bought him the Kid Kraft pictured in this post because after looking on ebay/craigslist/etc. I knew that I'd be able to resell it, but the prices for used plastic or character beds were negligible. I was thinking more about recouping my money in the long term rather than what I was shelling out right now.

I agree that you can just skip the toddler bed.

I really wanted that KidKraft toddler bed, but I read several reviews that suggested that the quality was not so good.

We finally went with the twin-sized TROMSO daybed for hundred bucks. Very easy to put together and seems very sturdy.

im thinking the reason for making such kid friendly, style-wise, toddler beds is because in their eyes it looks cool.. like a toy, theyll want to use it.. it may lead to the transition being a bit easier if theyre attracted to what it is theyll be moving to. although, i only have one child, who sleeps in my bed... im thinking the more tacky, in my eyes, the better. perhaps he will one day be swayed to sleep on his own in his "super cool" pirate bed.. or whatever else he might be drawn to.

We purchased the coordinating toddler rail with our crib, and just used the crib without the front panel as a transitional bed.

Our daughter loved her bright turquoise crib so much she didn't want to leave it for another bed, and so was very happy to stay in it.

As our son was growing out of the bassinet, we moved, and easily transitioned our daughter into a regular bed.

Cheap.

Seriously. Just get a twin bed. If you're thinking your kid is ready to be out of a crib, but not sure how the bed thing is going to go, try a week of crib-mattress-on-floor. If it goes well, then get a twin bed. Toddler beds are the biggest waste of money. I don't recall them existing until about 10 years ago. Totally unnecessary and just an excuse to sell you more crap you don't need.

I just found the Pkolino Toddler bed online. I liked the look of the KidKraft bed, but felt like after it was done being a toddler bed (for however many kids) it was pretty useless. The Pkolino is ADORABLE, AFFORDABLE, and REUSABLE!!! It's $189 and converts to a chair (I think rather easily so in case of a sleepover it can be switched back quickly). It comes in orange, which is really playful, and white for a very clean and sleek look.
http://www.designpublic.com/shop/pkolino/14113
So far there are 2 reviews of it on Toys R Us.