Is your toddler getting too big for their crib or climbing out of it? Maybe your child started with a smaller toy or race car bed and it is time for something bigger. Did you get one of those 4 in 1 cribs where the crib turned into a bed and your kid has outgrown it? No matter the circumstances, there are lots of things to consider when getting your child a new bed.
What to Consider When Getting Your Child a New Bed
Getting your child a new bed is not something that happens often. So make sure to get the right bed that fits your situation best. There are lots of options, so my hope is that these tips and experiences will help you decide on the best bed for your child.
Think Through Bed Location
Before you can get your child a new bed you need to consider spacing and where the bed will go. What size and type of bed do you have room for? Are you going for a twin, full, or queen size bed?
Where will the bed go? Are you able to get the bed from outside, through the house, and into the room you need it? Will it need to be put together or does it come already assembled?
New Bed Sleepers
If you have a child getting their very first bed here are more things to consider.
When a child is new to sleeping in a bed they often roll around and don’t know the “bed boundaries”. They aren’t aware of the bed edges. So if there is nothing stopping them, they could easily fall out of bed. Therefore, you should get a portable bed railing or put the bed up against as many walls as you can.
The tricky part is you want to protect your child from falling out of bed, but they also need quick access out of the bed. Likely your new big bed sleeper is potty training or fairly new to going on the potty by themselves. So to limit accidents in bed, make sure they can get out of bed easily to go to the bathroom. If they cannot easily get in and out, they may call for help which means more waking up in the night for you.
When you get the new bed, talk about and practice getting in and out of bed and going to the bathroom. We put our daughters bed close to the door so she didn’t have far to go to get out of her room at night.
Don’t forget to purchase a waterproof mattress pad for your new bed sleeper. Just like in cribs, new bed sleepers need a waterproof mattress pad for those times when they don’t wake up in time to go to the bathroom or for when a diaper/pull up leaks or gets too full during the night. The last thing you want to do is damage your brand new mattress.
Bed Longevity
Do you plan on getting your child another bed at some point or is this it for the time they are living at home? We got our kids a full size bed right away for their first bed for two reasons. My husband and I are tall, so we anticipate our kids being taller and bigger, which means a full size bed would be more comfortable as they get older. The other reason is because this is the only bed we would need to get them. We won’t have to deal with bed shopping and getting bedroom furniture in and out of our house multiple times. So we spent a little more money and got durable, full size beds for our kids.
Bed Style
There are many different styles of beds you can choose for your child. There are basic beds with a mattress frame or headboard. If you want something a little more unique there are race car beds or beds with a bookshelf as the headboard. If you need multiple kids to sleep in the same room you may want a bunk bed. Whatever bed style you choose, measure it to make sure it will fit well in the bedroom.
Color of the Bed
What bed color would match the room best? Do you have white trim/doors? If your walls and trim are dark and you may want something to lighten up the room since the bed is typically the largest piece of furniture in the room. Do you have other furniture in the room you are trying to match the bed to or are you getting a whole new bedroom set? When getting your child a new bed, picture the color of the bed in the bedroom.
Look at the Mattress
Lastly, when you pick out a bed, make sure to check how the mattress fits in/on the bed. Often times a mattress isn’t located right next to the bed frame in a store. You may not even pick out a mattress at the same store you get the bed frame or you may already have one of the pieces.
When you do need a mattress there are many different options to consider. Be sure to ask the sales person to show you how a mattress fits into the bed frame or what type of mattress they would recommend. A thick/pillow top mattress doesn’t always fit sheets the best and a mattress with no box spring can be difficult to make the bed with how it fits into the frame.
Mattress Mistake
A short time ago it was time to get my daughter her first bed. She was out growing her crib, plus she was potty trained and needed to be able to go to the bathroom during the night.
I had a picture in my mind of what I somewhat wanted her bed to look like, but now it was just to try and find it. So we began bed shopping. We looked online and visited a couple local stores.
I had already gotten my son his first bed, so I thought there shouldn’t be much to this. I know what to look for.
After a couple weeks of research I found the perfect bed. I loved the color, how it looked and it just seemed to fit my daughter’s room and personality perfectly.
The next step was picking out a mattress which didn’t take long. The sales woman showed me a couple, my daughter and I laid on them and we picked one out. It was a nice pillow top mattress, durable. I thought for a small kid this was a pretty nice mattress and one that should last awhile.
Several weeks later the bed and mattress got delivered and put together and it looked great!
BUT, I realized I had made a huge mistake!
I loved the bed, but the way the mattress laid in the bed it was going to be very difficult every time I washed her sheets to make the bed. There was no box spring to the mattress – it was just the single mattress. The bed had a wood frame around the bottom and the mattress laid inside the wood railing.
Being a full size mattress it was thick and heavy.
There were two other issues I quickly noticed as I was making her bed for the first time:
1.With the pillow top mattress the size sheets we had gotten didn’t fit the best. Her bed was a full size bed, but the full size sheets were a little small. It would be best to have queen size sheets, but there aren’t many fun kid print sheets that come in that size.
2.With her learning how to sleep in a new bed, we didn’t want her to fall out. Hence, we put one of those portable railings on her bed. With how the mattress laid in the bed frame, it didn’t work very well. It made it even harder to make her bed after washing the sheets.
So we love the bed, but unfortunately it was too late to switch mattresses. If I could go back in time, I would have checked which type of mattress that best fit in this type of bed frame. One with a box spring (like my son’s) would have been perfect and I would not be stuck with these issues.
Thus, don’t make the same mistake I did and double check you get the best mattress for your frame.
Final Thoughts on Tips When Getting Your Child a New Bed
Getting your child a new bed is a big purchase so you want to make the right choice. Consider bed location, longevity, style, color, and the mattress when getting your child their very first bed. Take your time and make your child apart of the process. Get them excited about sleeping in a big kid bed.
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