The 10 Best Toddler Beds
Editor's Notes
March 14, 2019:
We wanted to make sure to include toddler beds to suit every parent and child. For the people who prefer their kid's bed has a slightly more grown-up look that matches with the rest of their home's decor, you will probably want to consider the Dream On Me Emma, Oeuf Classic, Dream On Me Classic, Russell Children Harrisburg, Orbelle Trading 417FW-G, DaVinci Modena, and Big Oshi Contemporary CRB-422, as they all have designs you are just as likely to see in an adult's bed, minus the guard rails of course. We highly recommend the Dream On Me Emma because it transforms into a pair of kid-sized chairs and matching coffee table, so you'll be able to find many uses for it. Though the price of the Oeuf Classic may out it out of reach for some parents, we feel the extra cost is worth the environmentally-friendly manufacturing process. If you care more about what appeals to your youngster sensibilities than yours, the playful Delta Children Canopy Disney Princess, Delta Children Disney Pixar, and Step2 Thomas The Tank Engine are all great choices. They feature popular cartoon characters, and may just motivate your tot to spend a little more time in their bed, which is often something parents struggle to get their children to do at this age.
Toddling Off To Sleep
The toddler beds on our list provide that space specifically, and they also provide a few other fantastic things along the way.
A lot of my friends have recently begun to have children, and if their social media feeds are any indication, their babies are all doing this crazy thing where they just keep growing. They grow, and they grow, and they do so at an incredible rate of speed. One minute, the parents can carry the kid around in their pockets, and the next minute, the kids are too heavy to lift.
One of the negative consequences of this constant growth is that parents have to buy everything for their children over and over again. New clothes, new shoes, new toys, and, of course, new beds. After all, if the crib's only a couple of feet long and you've got a future NBA star depending on you for care, he's going to need a little more space.
The toddler beds on our list provide that space specifically, and they also provide a few other fantastic things along the way. They're long enough to accommodate even the tallest of toddlers, they often offer storage solutions for the toddler's space, and some of them are the back half of convertible crib designs meant to save you money in all that turnover.
You'll notice that even the beds on our list aimed at the most advanced toddlers have some kind of guardrail to them, as well. While your baby transitions to a size and physical dexterity that increases his or her range of exploration, it's important to have a little protection against fallng out of bed. Whether it's a nasty dream in the middle of the night that has your little one tossing and turning, or a simple routine of getting groggily up and out of bed each morning, the bars or rails at the bed's edges provide just the right amount of protection.
There's a small chance that you might pick up one of these beds, get it home, and put it together, only to realize too late that it doesn't come with a mattress. Most of these beds work fine with standard crib mattresses, so if you've got one from the your current crib you can use it as a holdover. I do recommend getting a new one by this point, however, as it'll make the transition even more comfortable for the boy or girl at hand.
Redecorating Again
You probably know your kids better than anyone else on the planet, save, perhaps, the other person involved in their creation. You know what makes them comfortable, what makes them angry, what they will or won't eat, and what gets them off to sleep. With that last note in mind, you've probably spent countless hours perfecting the space in which your little one sleeps, giving it just the right amount of love and affection to be soothing without being suffocating.
Both of these possibilities point toward the toddler beds on our list that look the most like twin beds.
Now, you've got to overhaul one of the centerpieces of the room, which may result in a total redecoration. The transition from crib to toddler bed often has this effect, especially if the new bed is a bit of a statement.
If you're researching these beds during a crib purchase with the thought of toddler beds down the line, it's probably a good idea to get one of the models on our list that converts over time from a crib to a toddler bed, that grows along with your child. They end up being the best bang for your buck and they keep you from tearing your hair out over redecorating the nursery.
There is a chance, however, that you thrive on redecoration, that you could spend days at the hardware store just looking at paint samples and letting your imagination run wild. It's also possible that your little one has developed a strong personality in one way or another, and you want to help him or her express themselves as much as possible.
Both of these possibilities point toward the toddler beds on our list that look the most like twin beds. Not only will they give growing kids the most secure psychological sense of getting bigger, they'll also provide you with an opportunity to create a kind of theme around Disney characters, doll houses, or anything else the beds might come to represent.
What's In The Box?
For most of recorded history, babies and toddlers slept with their parents. It wasn't always the safest arrangement, but human beings are essentially animals, and most mammals sleep in groups as a family, so it makes biological, evolutionary sense.
That said, historically, beds for our youngest children differ significantly among cultures.
If you can count on humans for one thing though, it's a defiance of their natural instincts in the name of civilized progress. Often, this path leads to prosperity and peace, to a general uplifting of mankind. Sometimes, it leads to Justin Bieber. These are the highs and lows of human society.
Toddler beds fall closer to the highs, as they breed in our children an early sense of independence. That said, historically, beds for our youngest children differ significantly among cultures. In the west, the crib became the crib as a kind of extension of the bassinet or the cradle. Toddler beds grew out of that, as the kids got too big for the crib's confinement, and parents simply removed its bars. In the east, co-sleeping is still immensely popular.
Today's marketplace for children's goods is so diverse, so endlessly capitalistic in its variety of choices, that it's hard to believe stories you hear coming out of places like Finland, where the government supplies new mothers with cardboard boxes in which their children sleep. I guess, should you have to go on an impromptu trip, you can more easily ship a toddler that's already packed.