Has anyone used a futon mattress as a first bed?

[MowJo]

DS is 17mo and we're thinking (prematurely) about getting him a bed. He is too young now, I know, but at what age do babies move to a new bed in general?

And has anyone used a futon mattress instead of a bed? I love the idea of him having a large area to sleep on and play on, plus he couldn't fall out of it. Is there any reason why not?

I know nothing about this subject - please feel free to put me right!

[Hulababy]

DD went into a bed at 18 months, as she didn;t like her cot much at all. Loved a bed though.

If you have the room a futon bed sounds great. Will it have a base, or just be a mattress?

I just suggest making sure you get a nice comfortable mattress, as the very thin ones are not always that comfy IME.

[Thomcat]

I think and I may be wrong that toddlers have to have very soft mattresses???? Pls correct me if wrong here guys. And futons are never known as being soft are they?????????

[NotQuiteCockney]

I don't know anything about toddlers needing soft mattresses. Baby mattresses aren't that soft.

At any rate, DS1 moved into a bed at 3. (I don't think it makes sense to move them before you have to, as they'll just climb out of bed and generally cause trouble.) He went straight into a slat bed with futon, exactly the same as our bed, only narrower.

I think you mean a futon on the floor, though, right? I don't see why not. Well, the only thing would be dust - I've slept on the floor before, for ages, and if you're not very good about dusting etc, the futon gets dusty. I think they get aired better on a slat bed.

(With a bed rail, they don't fall out, and of course the longer you wait before moving to a bed, the less likely he will be to fall out.)

[tiffini]

i put my DS into a bed as soon as he could climb on and off my bed.

[tiffini]

oops that was 19 months

[MowJo]

Thanks everyone. Yes it is a mattress on the floor I was thinking of, rather than the slatted base.
Tiffini, did your ds take to a bed easily, or did he get up to mischief?
I don't know why I'm even thinking about this, the cot is no problem...

[Hulababy]

MowJo - DD had no probelms adjusting to a bed; infact she slept better in a bed than in a cot. When she went in we had no issues of her getting in and out at all, or about er falling out. After some excitiemnt at Christmas and before (at about 20mo) she did get in and out a bit, but we did CC for 3 nights and it was sorted (and not bed related).

[NotQuiteCockney]

I'd wait until he can climb out of the cot, although some never reach that age - my DS never thought to climb out.

Many mums have had problems with their kids when they move into a bed - there are many discussions in the archives about when to move them to a big bed.

[Nemo1977]

My ds moved into a bed at 12mths but thats because he was doing comando vault attempts over the side of the cot. I only had a problem with the bed for first couple of nights as ds realised he could get on and off the bed...now he doesnt move at all until the morning. Dont see why a futon would be a problem at all.

[chicca]

Nemo, was it a low level bed? How did it work? Got same problem with DS.
He's not there yet but will be pretty soon trying to hurtle himself over the edge.

[Fran1]

My dd hated her cot so moved to a matress on the floor at 18mths, purely for the safety factor of not falling out. She loved it, felt very grown up and bedtimes became magical. She wakes up early hours of morn and climbs into our bed, but we're happy with that.
At 2 she moved into a proper bed and has never fallen out. And once in it, she only gets up to request more milk or if she needs the toilet.

[merglemergle]

Yes we did exactly this but i stayed in the bed with him. The futon is super-king sized, so he still gets a huge area to sleep on.

I think having quite a firm mattress is fine. My ds sleeps in his pushchair half the time anyway, thats pretty firm.

I also think its good because you don't need to "cage" them in the bed, so a bit more independence.

The dust thing can be a bit of a problem, but you can hoover futons and, because they are thinner, I think it'd be more effective than hoovering a mattress.

Slats and some sort of base are needed, however, otherwise you get mould and nests of beasties under your bed.

[Papillon]

My sister just moved her dd 18mths into a bed. Her ds went on a mattress on the floor at 11 mths due to climbing out of the cot.

Is your ds is happy still in the cot?

Our dd is on a futon... since 6 months. It is quite a thick and soft mattress. You can get quitE low slat frames these days... good for the futon to be ventilated or rolled up frequently