to think that toddler beds are just yet another way of wringing money out of us?

[BroccoliSpears]

Surely they don't need to go into a small bed before going into a big bed?

My SIL tells me that if I put dd into a big bed she won't be able to generate enough heat to stay warm at night .

Money money money. Everywhere you look there's yet another thing you apparently have to buy in order to raise your kids.

If anyone needs me I'll be down at the river pounding the nappies on the rocks and hanging them in the trees to dry.

SIL is chatting boolox, just get her a decent tog quilt and she will be fine.dd was put straight into a normal size bed and she wasnt shivering herself to sleep

Load of shite.
Mine have slept in queen sized double beds since they were 2. Paln is that when they leave home,beds go with 'em.

Don't even get me started on 'kiddy' furniture'

All my dc went from cot to bed, I did'nt do moses baskets or toddler beds, I did'nt do bed guards either, they were all in big beds when they were 19 months.

no you're not, completely unecessary, but it is useful to get a blanket to tuck the duvet in. And a hot water bottle is nice

What a lot of rubbish. Sorry! Of course they don't need junior beds. It's just a way of getting you to spend more money - after all, you'll have to buy a full-length bed eventually. In any case, the child only heats up the bit of the bed on which she is lying, which is the same size no matter whether she is sleeping in a cot or a superking double.

Ds1 went from his cot straight into a proper single bed with a lovely thick duvet.

Toddler beds are a waste of money.

Absurd. And you need smaller mattresses too. I did the same of you, THF - cot to proper bed at 18 months (well, 12 months for DD2 after I caught her vaulting out of the cot and decided it would be safer!). And they were fine and perfectly warm, thank you!

Total waste of money. Both of mine went straight in to full size single. We did use a bedguard though.

I think it is the duvet not the bed that makes them snuggly. They tend to make a cocoon. Yes the end of the bed is undoubtedly cold but then it is cold because they aren't down that bit so why would they care? If it is really cold I put a cot blanket over them and then the duvet and they tend to be just fine.

I do agree toddler beds are a rip off. You buy them at 2 and then they only last 3 years and you have to buy another one. We have bought singles which will hopefully last the full 10 years or more.

If I had any nappies to wash I would be down there with you.

And of course it isn't just the bed but the cost of the extra, special size of duvet etc. Definitely no.

Completely agree, total waste of money!

DS has one, from Ikea.

We decided on a toddler bed rather than a full size single as his room is tiny and a full size bed won't fit. I think it's 70 x 160 cm so actually we're hoping it will long outlast his toddler years (at least until we have a bigger house )

I agree though that if it's just to use for a year or two between cot and adult bed then it's absolutely not worth buying one!

I don't think they are a waste of money.

The jump from cot to single bed is mahossive to a toddler, and single beds can be pretty high too.

A toddlers beds smaller, shorter and ours has a guard on the side.

I wouldnt go from cot to single bed.

But thats just personal preference!

I would have happily gone straight to a single bed, think it is bollocks that they are too big for them. DS's room however, has other ideas. We managed to find the smallest toddler bed EVER at 145cm long. Hopefully we will be in another house when he needs a bigger one.

I spent on an Ikea bed, so didn't spend hundreds, but when we went away this summer stayed in a cottage and it was cot or single bed. My 21 month old took one look at the cot and stalked off to the single bed with his nose in the air. He slept in it like a log for five nights, making me curse the day I fell for the old 'guard rail and small bed' hype. In fact, I may even sell it on eBay as e's only slept in it a few weeks and tbh a single bed would be much easier to buy bedclothes for!

Mind you, one of my friends with a child the same age was horrified that I was 'rushing him into grown up things by buying him a toddler bed so young', which made me feel like the horriblest parent EVER.

YANBU - your SIL speaks shite!

I dont think they need them
Ds has one because we got it given to us

And another thing, you can't share a snuggly cuddle in bed in the mornings reading books 'n' stuff in a toddler bed (well, being of somewhat Nigella proportions I'm a bit scared to) so he ends up coming into ours...not always ideal...

you don;t have to buy one, but i had not actually heard of toddler beds.... i think your SIL is misinformed

there are lots of things you don;t need to buy, so i thikn maybe a teeny bit unreasoanable,as no-one forces you to buy a bed or whatever it might be

I dont think we need them per se... but we bought a cotbed anyway so are really getting our use out of it.

We are expecting number 2 now and due to space constraints are getting a cot rather than cotbed so will prob go straight to single bed albeit prob a low one rather than divan type thing.

Not necessary but we have one to save space with the intention of moving to cabin beds or bunk beds. If I'd planned on a normal single bed I'd have bought it right after the cot stage.

This planning doesn't seem so clever when I spend the day with neck-ache after trying to sleep in it myself though.

We use normal single size duvet and covers, but place them horizontally giving plenty of overlap on the sides.

we got one for ds1, as he was in a little room and we wanted to save on space etc, but the one that we got, cheaply from argos? i think is actually extendable and becomes almost the length of a single bed? ds1 used it then ds2 did and a friend is currently using it for her toddler so at less than £100 its doing quite well. ds1 and ds2 are now in bunkbeds, ds3 is still inbed with us, but i have said to friend that i will need the bed back again before baby no 4 (due feb) is born, so that ds3 can use it, to begin with we will have the toddler bed in our room before moving him to his own room, we wouldnt be able to do that with a single bed.

so depending on your circumstances they have their uses and they can be bought quite cheaply, and are fairly easy to sell on once you dont need it.

but it is definitely NOT essential to have one

I had one given to me. A "family bed" can you belive (albeit with a new matress).

DS1 never had a decent night sleep in it. He was much better when he moved into a big bed.

The only thing in its favour was that we managed to put off buying a single bed until he was 3 and then bought a cabin bed.

I certainly would't buy one!

DS has a very cheap 'toddler' bed from IKEA. One that has ends which can go down one at a time to make it bigger. It was about £48, I thnk.

The advantage has been that is is very low - so when he frequently fell out (small children seem to roll about a lot at night) he didn't hurt himself, and after a while of toilet training and numerous spilt milk incidents, we could just chuck out the cheap foam matress and buy another cheap foam mattress.

He's had this bed for four years now, and is still on the 'middle' length - it is full length when fully extended - so not bad value, really.

We have a 70x160 toddler bed from Ikea for ds1. Two main reasons: 1) he is tiny, only 84cm at 2.5, and looks like he will continue to grow slowly - so it's enough for a good while 2) it fits very well into his room - which is biggish but at some point he will have to share with his brother, and as we only have a 2-bed flat (and will prob stay here for the next 2-3 years) he needs the room for his toys and to have space to play.