Bed Rails

We are about to move our twins (a little over 3 years old) out of their toddler beds with a bed rail to a full size bed. We are going to see how it goes without a bed rail, but I am wondering... has anyone thought of creative ways to keep their child from falling out of bed without having to go out and buy two bed rails (one side of each bed will be against the wall)? I know they are not that expensive but with a new baby on the way and some unexpected home expenses, money is flying out the window right now. The only thing I can think of is putting a pillow under the fitted mattress. Any other ideas?

 

Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about it. What's the worst that happens? They fall out of their bed and wake up. Just teach them to crawl back into their bed and go back to sleep. We don't use them; I find my kids sleeping on the floor occasionally, sometimes I put them back in bed, sometimes I don't. Depends on how comfortable they look.

I had bedrails growing up, (mainly because)I also had to wear braces on my legs and I always got them tangled up in the middle of the night. That was a huge pain for me and my parents, and left tons of bruises on my legs. My sister also used a bed rail for a short period of time and fell out of the bed almost nightly with the rail. Once they removed the rail, my sister didn't fall out of bed anymore.

 

I'd be worried too, depending on how high the bed is honestly. You can put pillows under the bottom sheet on the sides if you have extra, or a pool noodle. I didn't want to deal with bed rails either to be honest, that's why we just put the mattresses on the floor (and they're still on the floor!).

 

We haven't had an issue with falling out of bed since we went to full size beds. DD doesn't move much when she sleeps and DS creates a stuffed animal shell around him at night. DS has fallen out of bed a few times, but just gets right back in bed and goes back to sleep. I would see how it goes and if you think it is going to be a problem, then invest in the bed rails. If your kids aren't squirmy sleepers, you probably don't need them.

 

My DD's toddler bed doesn't have rails. It's not as high off the ground as a twin bed, but she has not had any problems falling out. I agree that it depends on how active they are as sleepers. Both of my kids lay on their pillow with their blanket or sheet over them and those seem to be enough physical boundary to keep them in one place.

 

Just an update: We have gone without bed rails and just put their pillow on the side of the bed against the wall. It has been about a month and no one has fallen out of bed. They stay where their pillow is. As a side note, I absolutely LOVE the full size bed! They sleep so much better than in the toddler bed and I love laying down with them for a few minutes at bedtime!! Night time wakings are MUCH less now! Woohoo!!!!!! Thanks for the advice, ladies!