By: thejbird – CC BY 2.0 I have seen the posts about mini cribs and all of the advantages. We live in a tiny space, and both of our kids slept in a pack’n’plays for their first years. It was very comfortable for them.
We are now looking for non-traditional options for toddler beds. We have a traditional-sized toddler bed for the four-year-old, but are now in the market for a toddler bed for the almost two-year-old. He is only two feet tall, and we have a really small space, so getting a five-foot long toddler bed just is not practical.
I cannot find a mini toddler bed anywhere — does anyone know where I could snag one? — Lori
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Comments on Where can I get a mini toddler bed?
What about using a crib mattress and making a Montessori floor bed with it? We have a twin sized mattress that we’ve done that with, it’s just put on the floor in the corner of his room with his sheets and blankets, and he loves it!
Have you thought about the DIY route? Our house has small rooms and my daughters is a 9’x8′ room with a radiator, door or window on every wall, nothing buyable really works for us.
I found this image, and I am in love with the idea. It’s a floor bed, but more formal and still walkable. Plus you could easily do it out of recycled wood to keep it on the cheap.
Would it be possible to get one slightly larger bed and get rid of both toddler beds and have them bed share? If you could fit a full size mattress somewhere for them to share you could sleep them “sideways” on the mattress and each should have plenty of room.
our 2- and 3-year-old share a twin bed. it works pretty well for us – sharing a bed actually helps them sleep (i think it’s comforting so they don’t get scared at night). the only downside we’ve seen is the increase in goofing off instead of laying down at bedtime, but it’s not like they were ever good at that.
I agree with the DIY comments, I looked for something like this for a while too, and it just does not exist on the commercial market.
The good news is that it should be super simple to make, just use the dimensions of your pack and play to build a little tray with as much or as little extra frills as you want, decide how high off the ground it will be and then slap a mini crib mattress in it.
I would not invest too much into it, unless there is another sibling who will use it next, because while he is only 2 feet tall now, that bed won’t last a super long time.
Feel free to shoot me a message if you need help figuring out what kind of boards and what size to cut them to. All of our kids sleep on homemade bedframes!
Here’s another link to a DIY bed. You could find a smaller mattress and make the platform to that size. IKEA sells an expandable mattress that might work. I love the idea of two kids sharing a bed sideways.
I’ll have this same question sooner than later when the kid grows out of her mini crib. I don’t think our house would be warm enough in the winter for a floor bed.
When our daughter becomes too old for a crib we will need to find her a bed that fits into the same space as the crib, as there is no more room anywhere. My thought is that we will take one side off the crib to make a day bed. I am not sure how well that will work, but I think it’s worth a try… The crib mattress on the floor would be another option, but our older house is prone to mould problems, and we need to make sure that the floors and walls have ventilation, so the mattress would need to be raised up a little somehow. I’m interested to see what ideas others have.
I did this with and old, “dangerous” crib I got a garage sale. I cut the legs off, and took the front piece off. I had to cover the exposed metal brackets with padding, but it was fine. It was off the floor, but still low enough for our toddler to crawl in and out of.
is there a way to go vertical, like putting the big brother in a raised bed (with a slide to go down again? ours is re-attachable and goes under the sofa when not in use) and little guy underneath?
We just converted our Ikea crib into a toddler bed by removing one side and adding the anti-roll bar they sell. She slept in her “crib bed” until she was 3.5 and could have gone even longer but Santa brought her a full size twin bed 🙂
I have a mini-crib that converts into a toddler bed, then into a twin bed. Look on amazon.com, that is where I got it. It wasn’t too expensive, either.
We did bed share as well. One at each end of a twin, separate blankets. I would sit in there and read a book until they fell asleep, to keep the goofing around to a minimum. They are 13 & 14 now and still end everyday talking for about a half hour. It’s their favorite time of the day 🙂
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What about using a crib mattress and making a Montessori floor bed with it? We have a twin sized mattress that we’ve done that with, it’s just put on the floor in the corner of his room with his sheets and blankets, and he loves it!
This is what we are doing with our very tall 9 month old who is crawling and cruising. Works amazing!
Have you thought about the DIY route? Our house has small rooms and my daughters is a 9’x8′ room with a radiator, door or window on every wall, nothing buyable really works for us.
http://diariodesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/sopadededos-CASA-DECOR-Barcelona-004-e1352478250992.jpg
I found this image, and I am in love with the idea. It’s a floor bed, but more formal and still walkable. Plus you could easily do it out of recycled wood to keep it on the cheap.
Would it be possible to get one slightly larger bed and get rid of both toddler beds and have them bed share? If you could fit a full size mattress somewhere for them to share you could sleep them “sideways” on the mattress and each should have plenty of room.
our 2- and 3-year-old share a twin bed. it works pretty well for us – sharing a bed actually helps them sleep (i think it’s comforting so they don’t get scared at night). the only downside we’ve seen is the increase in goofing off instead of laying down at bedtime, but it’s not like they were ever good at that.
I did this when my oldest two were younger, 2 & 4, I think. they slept sideways on a full size mattress and loved it.
I agree with the DIY comments, I looked for something like this for a while too, and it just does not exist on the commercial market.
The good news is that it should be super simple to make, just use the dimensions of your pack and play to build a little tray with as much or as little extra frills as you want, decide how high off the ground it will be and then slap a mini crib mattress in it.
I would not invest too much into it, unless there is another sibling who will use it next, because while he is only 2 feet tall now, that bed won’t last a super long time.
Feel free to shoot me a message if you need help figuring out what kind of boards and what size to cut them to. All of our kids sleep on homemade bedframes!
Here’s another link to a DIY bed. You could find a smaller mattress and make the platform to that size. IKEA sells an expandable mattress that might work. I love the idea of two kids sharing a bed sideways.
http://www.designsponge.com/2009/07/diy-project-upholstered-toddler-beds.html
I’ll have this same question sooner than later when the kid grows out of her mini crib. I don’t think our house would be warm enough in the winter for a floor bed.
This project could be done even cheaper, with free pallets. Nice and low to the ground but still a finished look. Love it!
When our daughter becomes too old for a crib we will need to find her a bed that fits into the same space as the crib, as there is no more room anywhere. My thought is that we will take one side off the crib to make a day bed. I am not sure how well that will work, but I think it’s worth a try… The crib mattress on the floor would be another option, but our older house is prone to mould problems, and we need to make sure that the floors and walls have ventilation, so the mattress would need to be raised up a little somehow. I’m interested to see what ideas others have.
I did this with and old, “dangerous” crib I got a garage sale. I cut the legs off, and took the front piece off. I had to cover the exposed metal brackets with padding, but it was fine. It was off the floor, but still low enough for our toddler to crawl in and out of.
Wooden slats laid on the floor might provide enough airflow under the mattress to prevent mold.
Either something like Ikea’s slated bed base (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60079788/) or the DYI equivalent (Which could be made as thick as you needed it to be)
is there a way to go vertical, like putting the big brother in a raised bed (with a slide to go down again? ours is re-attachable and goes under the sofa when not in use) and little guy underneath?
Ikea has a toddler bed that can be used as a loft bed with space underneath where you could put a mattress.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10123996/
Maybe you can find a mini crib, and take one side off, to make it like a tiny day bed. I think mini cribs are like 28″ x 40″.
My older sons have flip chairs that my toddler loves laying on. You don’t have to open them up the whole way.
We just converted our Ikea crib into a toddler bed by removing one side and adding the anti-roll bar they sell. She slept in her “crib bed” until she was 3.5 and could have gone even longer but Santa brought her a full size twin bed 🙂
I have a mini-crib that converts into a toddler bed, then into a twin bed. Look on amazon.com, that is where I got it. It wasn’t too expensive, either.
http://www.pkolino.com/Toddler-Bed-Orange-p/pkffborg.htm
I love this, for any toddler-/child-/… bed: http://www.kleinedreumes.nl/index.php/shop/theshrunks-bedrand.html
We did bed share as well. One at each end of a twin, separate blankets. I would sit in there and read a book until they fell asleep, to keep the goofing around to a minimum. They are 13 & 14 now and still end everyday talking for about a half hour. It’s their favorite time of the day 🙂