do i need a toddler bed?

[ilovetochat]

we bought dd a cot when she was born rather than a cot bed, thinking we would put her straight into the single bed in the other room at about 2. she is now 16 months and i've looked at our single bed and it is really high as its one that lifts up and there is storage underneath. i could buy a bed guard to stop her rolling out but i don't think she would be able to get out herself until she is quite old due to the height and she is very small for her age.
should i use this bed anyway with a bed guard (with a new mattress) or buy a toddler bed and then move her into it when she is older or just buy a low single bed?

buy a step. dd1 used an upturned platic box to get into her 1st bed.

toddler beds are an expensive, go between.
I bought a cotbed.
I certianly wouldn't splurge out now on a toddler bed, when you have already purchased a cot,a dn have a nice single bed.

wait a while ? or go for a guard.
or as misdee suggests get a step. make a game of it, of climbing into bed using a step, a nice box, a ..... loads of things could be used for an expensive wooden storage box, to a cheap tatty..... to aid dd actually getting in.
why not make a big thing of it, in a fun way, rather than seeing it as a problem.

toddler bed waste of money. Bed guard and step.

ok thanks for the opinions so far. we were def going to put her straight into the bed into we saw how easily she got on and off a toddler bed and thought maybe we should get her one but if everyone manages without i'm sure we can.

I would think it's probably an advantage if she can't get out of it too easily!

LOL haggis that crossed my mind too.

good point , don't want any potty accidents when she is older though cos she is stuck in mountainous bed.

I would cross that bridge when I came to it if I were you. Both of mine took several months to even think about getting out of bed by themselves. They would just shout for me. And DD was even like this when she night trained exceptionally early at 2.2. OTOH DS wasn't dry at night until he was 3 and a bit and so he had no problem.

Can you not continue using the cot for a while longer if she is small? Ony really need a bed if they are too big or can climb out?

agree with chloe. we all have this overwhelming desire to move on, get to the next phase.
Often we are subconsciously pushing our child there, before they are ready.
We get the bit between our teeth and will not give up.

Or am I just refering to me, here

And then with hindsight, we wonder why it bothered us so much, why we pushed so hard.
was it so that we could tell everyone dd/ds has .... started... walking/talking/eating/ got into a ....to impress ?

KEEP HER IN THE COT.
until you need to

she is tiny and would probably fit in the cot till she is 5 what a tempting thought, but she is a climber and i think she will soon be able to get out.

I would wait till she actually climbs out and then move her in the single bed. To be honest, I think if she is able to actually climb out of the cot then she is able to go into a single bed.

The other idea is to get a free toddler bed from freecycle and just buy a matress for it so keeping the cost down? Are you planning on other children to make the investment a bit more worth while?

dd1 went straight from the cot(bed but still made as a cot) into a single bed. I needed the cot for dd2. We used removable bed bars to keep her safe because our single bed was rather high.

yes planning on more kids thats why we didn't nuy cotbed, incase dc2 came along needing cot.
think we will use high bed with new mattress and bedguard.

We have got a cotbed but still have the same problem. DC 2 will be along while DD is still in her cotbed and too small to go in an adult bed. We have not got a cot for DC2 but were at one point thinking of putting DD into a toddler bed and DC2 into DDs cotbed. I just waited to see what came on freecycle first! Hoping I can keep them in cot/cotbed untill they are old enough for either bunkbeds or highbeds as we don't have loads of space.

Just take the side off the cot, or leave the side down & use it like a bed guard. We've only just put dd4 in a bed & she is nearly 3.5, we just left the side down!

That is a good idea cargirl