Any Reason Why a Toddler Shouldn't Sleep in a Double Bed?

[GoldysMum]

My toddler is going to be 2 at around the time that baby number 2 comes along. Although her cot becomes a cot bed I would rather leave that for the new baby than have to buy another cot.

The room she is going into is fairly large and I currently use it as a spare room. It has a Queen size bed in it. I was thinking of getting rid of this and buying her a single bed that has another pull out bed underneath. That way if a couple come to stay she can go into our small spare room temporariliy which will have a single bed, and we would still be able to have a double if necessary.

However, it then occurred to me that I would be selling a perfectly good double bed for much less than I paid for it and buying a single bed with extra mattress which is actually really expensive. Is this madness and should I just keep the double bed we already have? This would save me a lot of money and I can't actually think of any reason why a toddler can't sleep in a double bed. I have just never heard of it before. Is there any particular reason? I could put guards on it to stop her falling out at first.

V interested to hear some opinions on this.

my DS is in a double bed and has been since he was 3 and a bit

for much the same reasons as you - didn't want to get rid of a perfectly good bed

he has never fallen out - you could of course get a bed guard

Pros: They are less likely to fall out as you can put them in the middle. Lovely for reading stories last thing at night as you can get into bed with them. Bed becomes a good trampoline during the day. If they have a nightmare you can calm them by giving them a cuddle without getting them out of bed

Cons:
Do learn to sleep by taking up all the bed, so find it difficult when they have to sleep in a single
mil thought it was not secure and cosy though i am a bit about that
Less room when they get a bit older for scaletrix, lego robots and the like

My ds slept in a double bed from around the age of 2 for the same reasons as you. I did buy a bed guard - but watch as bed guards are built for single beds really (although it worked perfectly fine - just didn't stretch right across teh bed to fasten on teh other side as it's meant to.)
I don't think he ever fell out and it has the advantage that you can cuddle up beside him in comfort to read bedtime stories!
You can't of course buy kids bedding in double bed sizes - but that may be an advantage!

No reason at all and she'll probably love having a massive comfy cosy bed. The only downside that I can think of is that there are not many double bedding sets aimed at small children. So if she was desperate for eg peppa pig or farm animals or cowboys on her duvet cover she might be disappointed.

My DSDs were in double beds from the age of 2 and 5 respectively.

never had a problem.

They both (now teenagers) have double beds.

In the mean time, they have had single beds and have never had any trouble switching between the two.

we put guards on the bed and ds2 was fine. he went into a double bed aged 2. he's now back into a single bed but that is because we moved

I think it sounds lovely. You could cuddle in together for stories etc, and no reason she can't be cosy. More room for essential soft animals, too.

my ds has his own bed but gets in his big sisters double bed he loves it as its bouncy and he can sprawl out ,get two sngle covers the same and sew together if poss !!

Thanks so much for all the responses, I think it really makes sense to keep the double and yes, cuddling in to read a story will be lovely. I've actually spotted some kids type bedding in double sizes at feather and black where we were looking at the fairly pricey trundle bed option. I think dd will just have to miss out on having dora bedding but we can definitely live without it!

DD is in a double bed with a single duvet.

She has plain cream double sheets and a 'kids' pillowcase and duvet cover.

She used to have a double duvet but then was given the themed single bedding as a birthday gift so we switched to a single duvet.

I'm glad we did, 'tis a lot easier to wash a single duvet when your child is sick in bed.

Thanks Othersideofthechannel, that's something to think about, especially as I ended up changing DS's bedding twice in the night last week due to a sickness bug! Do you just place the single duvet in the middle of the double bed? I guess my main concern with a single duvet on a double is that she still moves around a lot in her sleep and might end up with no covers on at all.

Yes, child and single duvet in the middle of the bed.
DD easily overheats so losing the covers has never been a concern.

Dd2 is in a double bed for the same reasons, her room used to be the spare room so when we have guests she goes on a ready bed in our room and we still have a double guest bed to use. She's just turned 3 and is fine, also handy when she's ill etc and I can get in with her and not be too squashed.

My DS (3) is in a superking (yes, really!)

on his own a lot of the time, sometimes me and DH get in it, it used to be our bed but DS has taken it for his own (it's in our room ). We would like it back, but not if the price is not sleeping anymore!

Both my dd's, the youngest is 2, are in double beds which I bought especailly for them. If there is room then why not? It works out well for sleepovers. Im not big on character bedding but if she loves peppa then its easy to get it in double from here and other places in other designs

My daughter turns 1 on Saturday and will sleep on a double bed from next week. She definitely needs the space 😁