Cot V cot bed V toddler bed - help!

[Rowlers]

I'll be brief.
DD is 18 months old.
She is sleeping in a borrowed cot - from my brother who now has a 2 month old baby and will shortly need the cot back.
So what do I do?
She is not ready for a bed yet so do I buy a cheap cot for a short period of time and then move her to a toddler bed?
Or buy a cot bed? Don't know much about cot beds though - how long will she be in it for?
Only got DD at the moment, thinking of having another in the next couple of years but no firm plans.
And are cheap ones from Argos OK or have I got to buy a fancy one from John Lewis?
Decisions, decisions, never any good at making them....

That wasn't that brief was it?

Buy a cheap cot from Ikea.

bed and bed rail?
DD was in cot bed without sides at 18mths. it was low tho, and we put cushions for crash landings.

Ikea do toddler (low) beds that stretch - perfetct

We had similiar problem with our DD1 at the same age - although it was because she was climbing out of the cot on a regular basis. We put her on our sofa bed and then brought a single bed.

Second time round, we've brought a cot bed and it will last until DD2 is 6 years old.

i think its worth spending the money on a good mattress ....

She's not climbing out of the cot or even trying to yet.
I suppose I'm slightly put off the bed idea as I quite like the control aspect of keeping her in the cot!
I did look at Ikea but their cots seem very small - DD is quite big for 18 months.
Cot beds I've seen suggest they are suitable up until the child is 5ish - is that really the case?

Buy a bed and if you are worried she will fall out, put pillows or blankets etc on the floor. My ds went into a proper bed at 20 months as his brother needed the cot and he had no problems. Only fell out of bed much later on.

I've never known anyone use their cotbed as a bed! They always evict child 1 to use the cotbed as a cot for child 2, and then trade that in for bed.

aloha, we did!

Thanks guys for your comments - much appreciated.
Although I must admit I feel even more confused now!
Might do a spot of internet window shopping - is there a term for that I wonder?!

I got a second hand cot bed for dd, which she is still in aged 5 (although looking for a cabin bed now to move her into). We bought her a new cot, but had a dilemna when she started climbing out at 15 months that a bed was too big and a friend was thinking of changing his dd's cot bed for a bed. We also use a bed guard rail with her to stop falling out of bed, and take it away. On holiday she used a normal bed from about 2 years with no problem, with a rail.

Mine is a cot bed.
It was given from family and is 12 years old now.( i bought a new matress which was about £60 i think)
DS is now 2y 2m and went into the bed about a month ago as he was climbing out.
So we have had 2 years out of it as a cot, we are going to have another 2/3 years out of it as a bed until we have another baby then we will use it for number 2.
That IMHO is getting your moneys worth out of a piece of furniture!

DD moved herself into a toddler bed at 18 months (we were given it, and she spotted it before we dismantled it... she refused to get in her cot ever again!!!)