From cot to bed
Our children go through many mile stones. From their first steps to their first day at school, all treasured and loved experiences. One experience which comes perhaps too soon is the moving of your baby into a children's bed.
The first choice we all must make is when is the time right? There seems to be no definitive answer on this. Many seem to wait until the child is older whilst some prefer earlier. My personal experience was for the early, around 14 months. My eldest was moved into her new bed at this age to prepare her for the arrival of her sister. I wanted her to feel that this was her bed and not that she had been forced to give up her cot for her sister. With my eldest the experience was exciting and new. I loved introducing her to her new bed and she loved her new independence. Whilst the experience was still exciting with my youngest, it was also sad. At the same time we moved her into her new children's bed, we also said goodbye to the nursery furniture. This felt like the end of her time as a baby and a move into her toddler years.
As the introduction of a children's bed marks a new era, it is a tough decision on what bed to choose. First there is the choice of toddler bed, or small single bed, or a standard size single bed. I guess if lucky and there is room also a double bed. The advantage of choosing a toddler bed is that they are the same size as a cot bed and usually closer to the floor. Most also come with in built raised sides, to stop little ones falling out. This gives distinct advantage that the child is usually familiar with the size of the bed as to not feel over whelmed. The built raised sides help with children getting used to a bed and not a cot, and the lower height means if they do fall out the fall is dramatically reduced. Disadvantages are that bedding can be quite hard to find and choices of bedding can be limited. Another is if you wish to sit in bed with your child at night, toddler beds are small with not much room making it not very comfortable for an adult.
Single beds tend to be a popular choice. It is worth checking the heights of them to make sure they are not too high up. When looking for my eldest she really wanted a car bed. To be honest I think this would have been a lot of fun and created a real focal point in her room.
However I decided to opt for a more traditional choice of bed, one which I felt would grow with her. I think if she would have her say now she would pick a very princess bed.
The other choice I thought about is whether to have bunk beds or not. I love the idea of bunk beds but am not sure what the right age would be for these. I also worry about how well the children would settle at night and if it might be better to have their own beds.
My youngest is in a toddler bed at the moment. She will be moving to a full single when she is a little older. The decision I am facing is if to move her to a normal single, like her sister has, or if to move her to a mid sleeper or cabin bed. As she is in the smaller bed room a mid sleeper or a cabin bed would provide extra space to be utilised under the bed.
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1 comments
Trin is still in her cot bed (with it set up as a cot) - Can't decide when to convert it to toddler bed! x
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