An Open Letter to the Toddler Bed aka My Nemesis

Dear Toddler Bed ~

You cheap good for nothing hump of plastic. I know we only paid $29.99 for you, but still. Could you possibly attempt to contain my daughter to at least some part of the bed for longer than 45 minutes before she wakes up? Your "siderails" are pathetic and quite frankly, I'm pretty sure a dead dog would roll out of you.

We welcomed you with open doors, gave you a nice firm mattress, and clean Pooh bedding. We even move you from room to room for naps and bedtime so that you're never in a hot humid room. We lean you up against our bed at night so that you're not lonely.

But you have failed us. The two hour naps are gone and on more than 347 occasions, our daughter has climbed out in the middle of the night and come to visit us, or the kitchen, or the bathroom rug. You've taken our sleep, our rest, and most importantly, MY BLOGGING and SHOWER TIME.

I just wanted you to know that I can see right through your cheap plastic exterior. And you're soon going to be replaced with a big twin big with REAL side rails. Nice BIG ONES. Made from metal.

So, enjoy this little thing you have going right now because it's not going to last much longer.

THE MOM TRAP

Anything or anyone you care to write a letter to today?

And PS, if you're new to this here blog, say hello. Drop me an email or a comment. Or better yet. Sign up to read me in your email everyday. I write at about a 4th grade level so I'm perfect for your sleep deprived brain (let's face it, I'm writing on one - so we've at least got that in common). AND, it's fun. Better than changing a poopy diaper. I promise.

Comments

[Stephanie]

I tried a toddler bed once, for my second born. They SUCK!!!! I used it for about a week and then I said the heck with this, I used a twin mattress on the floor, no side rails needed. I also did that for my third and now my fourth child. I have found there to be quite a few advantages to putting it on the floor, no worries about falling out when trying to get out, and being floor level they can still have basically all the room in the world in their room and play on it. I waited until 2 almost 3 with most of them to get an actual "bed". I now get many good nights sleep. Or as much as I can.

[Linda]

We put our 2 1/2 year old son in a toddler bed when he figured out how to get out of his crib. We have always referred to him as a "flight risk" but he will stay in his bed (it took a few nights for him to get used to it, but he stays in it now). Of course, we do have to move all of the shoes out of his room because he now likes to get out of bed and try on shoes.

[Lindsay]

I have a two year old. And I have a twin bed with rails for him. He won't sleep in it at all He doesn't think its his bed. He gets up all the time. I have tried the child lock on the door but go figure he can open it anyway. I haven't tried the toddler bed thing yet, but I'm almost willing to do it, just to see what he does.

[Christie]

My 2 yr. old son has been sleeping with us since he was 9 months old. That's when he started waking up in the middle of the night crying and would only go back to sleep for a few minutes only to wake up again. So, to get some sleep we started putting him in bed with us when he woke up and then we just skipped that step and he sleeps in our bed. Now we are getting ready to have baby #2 and we want to get him in his own full size bed we just bought. Any suggestions?

[Tricia]

My daughter climbed out of her crib soon after she was one. We decided then covert her crib to a toddler bed. She has slept in it since then. The first couple of nights were different. She could get up on her own, but I guess she loves sleep too much!

[Casey]

Wow the toddler bed. Why on earth did I think this was a problem only I was going through?! Oh my goodness. My 2 1/2 year old son naps on it for like 45 minutes and he's done. Usually he naps 2-3 hours! And you can forget about it at night. It's terrible, what is there to do?

[Marie]

I already had "big kid" beds for my kids way before they were ready to actually use them, already in their rooms all along. With my son, I was beating my brains out to get him out of the crib before the baby came, without making him feel rushed, so there'd be time to put it away a month or two. He did not make the transition gracefully, because he wanted to stay in the crib. My daughter kept bailing out of the crib at fifteen months, so we decided it would be safer to go on and switch to the bed. I got her "big-girl" pajamas and she never looked back. It goes to show you, like some already said, every kid is different, even the ones that swim in the same gene pool. My son had a lot of stressful situations in his life going on at the time, too, so that may have contributed to his reluctance to give up the crib. He used to scale the baby gate, too, but she never even thought about it. Go figure.

[Tanya]

I have three girls and I used a toddler bed with the two older daughters and never really had a problem with them. And now I have a 20month old and soon will be time to put her in a big girl bed and reading all those comments will make me stop and think about a toddler bed. Cause even though it worked with the other two it might not work with my youngest.

[christine]

i love my toddler bed... my son would never sleep in a bed by himself period end of story. until i got him the toddler bed. i don't mind that he can get out of it... its nice actually because now he can get out in the morning and play w/ his toys w/o waking me up at all.

[aimee mester]

I do believe that toddler beds are a waste of money also!! Our son, now 2 1/2 years old has only used his toddler bed for 2 months, he eiter crawls in bed with my husband and I or even better back into the crib with his 13 month old brother.

[Annie]

I have a 4 and a 2 year old...I failed to mention that.

[Annie]

I am so relieved to know that I am not the only one. Bedtime is an issue in general. I have tried the gate trick but it doesn't work. Toddler bed goodbye. Twin bed here we come. I feel bad...I am still trying to get my 4 year old into the toddler bed. The other night MY bed was so busy that I slept in the toddler bed. I hope the twin in the answer to my prayers!

[Melissa]

When my son was 18 months we moved him into a twin bed & he loved it. We had no problems. When our daughter was 19 months we moved her into a toddler bed to save room (baby #3 was coming). In addition to her getting up at 3:30 every night, we would find her sleeping with her head on the bed but feet on the floor, totally on the floor, or in other various places. I told my husband that she was just uncomfortable in the toddler bed. I let her sleep in our son's twin bed & it was the first time she slept through the night in a long time. That convinced my husband & we bought her a twin bed immediately. No problems since then.

[marette]

Also, on the keeping them in their rooms thing. I put a child safety door knob cover on the INSIDE of my son's bedroom door. We can get in, he can't get out. Works like a charm. And with the baby monitor in his room, I can hear him whenever he needs me at night.

[marette]

This just amazes me. The day my son turned 2, we put him in his toddler bed, that was 5 months ago. We have yet to have an issue. He loves it. In fact, sleeps better in his toddler bed. Doesn't roll out, doesn't get up until he's either had a full nap or a full night's rest. Sure he has his nights when he wakes up scared like when he was in a crib, but he stays in his bed until I come for him. I still keep a monitor in his room. I'm certainly not bragging, but it's just amazing to me to see you all have so many problems and I've had none. Maybe I should listen up though, if I have a 2nd child, it may not be so easy huh?

[Hope]

Great letter! I am struggling right now with the transition from crib to toddler bed with my 23 month old. Getting her to stay in her bed & in her room is a much bigger challenge than we were prepared for. We started out putting the baby gate up to contain her, however, after several days, she figured out how to climb over it. So we bought a second gate & put it on top of the first gate. The my amazement, she climbed over both of them & fell! We were terrified & impressed at our daughter's determination! After much research we are now working on enforcing bed time & keepin her in her room. My two teenage boys were never this determined to avoid bedtime!

[Sleepless Mommy]

Interesting...My husband and I have not slept since we took our son out of his crib and put him in a toddler bed. Maybe it's time to get a twin!

[Lee]

After my daughter turned 2 and coming out of the crib all the time, we decided it was time to get her a toddler bed. She slept on it 3 times and fell out each time, she opted for the floor and so the sofa mattress was moved on the floor next to her toddler bed. Her toddler bed is used for her dolls. My parents purchased a twin bed with side rails and my daughter has not fallen out of the bed, with the side rails on. To my amazement she will sleep in her bed @ my parents apartment, but will not sleep on the toddler bed at home. HELLO!!

[Janet]

Those things stink. That is a great letter.

[Darlene]

Amen Sister. I hate the dang thing. We bought one for our third child to save room thinking that it would work as well as the twin bed with rails. WRONG! She figured out how to get out of it by herself I think before we even put her down. We moved my oldest to a twin bed at 16 months (new baby was on the way) and he had no idea he could get out of the bed by himself. Now baby number 4 is 16 months old and again another baby is on the way and we know we have to kick her out of the crib -- But where to put her. In that mocking contraption waiting in the garage disguised as a bed or fork out the money and the space for a twin bed. At least we have a few months to decide!