how long did your kids stay in toddler beds?

at what age did you transition them from toddler beds to actual beds?
the girls are in their daybeds (converted cribs), but they are falling APART (jumping, bouncing, etc) . we can't afford to get the beds we want for them now (dh out of work still), so we thought about getting just the mattresses and frame, but even that is expensive right now... so we thought about getting cheap toddler beds for now until we can afford to get them a whole new bedroom set. dh thinks they'd last in the toddler beds for a year and a half (4 1/2 years old), but i just don't think so. they are REALLY tall, and are outgrowing the toddler mattresses!
how old do you think they should be out of toddler beds and into "real" beds?

 

We're planning on going directly to twin beds.

 

Dannielle your girls ARE tall and so stinken beautiful :wub: I would probably buy the cheapest toddler beds I could find until I had the money to buy the twin beds you really want.
Good luck!

 

My kids are still in their toddler beds at 5 1/2, BUT they are small. We are probably going to transition them in the coming months.

 

My girls are still in day beds (converted cribs) at almost 3.5, but they're starting to outgrow them. If you can't afford the beds you want, how about just getting twin mattresses and putting them on the floor? Lots of people do that - you'll have longer beds, and won't have to worry about them falling out! Or if you want to be really thrifty, just put your crib mattresses on the floor. A zero dollar solution!

In my opinion, buying toddler beds you don't really want that you'll only use for 1.5 years is a waste of money. It's basically a throwaway...

 

I agree with just getting the mattresses and putting them on the floor for now, unless you can find super cheap toddler beds on craigslist or freecycle.

 

My boys went from their cribs to twin beds really. I did have the extension on the cribs to make them a toddler daybed, but that only worked for about 2 weeks, so I don't count it. They were about 22 months then.

 

Mine went right from the crib to twin beds right before their 3rd birthday. Their 'big boy beds' were their birthday present that year.

 

I wouldn't worry about what they "should" be in or not..! if $0 is in the budget, and they still fit on the crib mattresses then I say put them on the floor like the pp said. at least it won't fall apart on them. wait until you have the money to get what you want. or you can get the mattresses you want at some point and wait on the furniture.

I am really hoping our twins will be sharing their room until 5 yrs or more and there isn't room for 2 twin beds, so I'm hoping they won't max out their cribs mattresses! if you see mine in bed they are rarely all stretched out anyway!

 

I'd put their crib mattress on the floor until you are able to get the big mattresses for them. The toddler bed is an unnecessary step many moms use (including myself ) My oldest son never used one though and it worked out beautifully. We just used a bed rail for a while.
We haven't been able to afford the full size mattress for them that we need, so mine are using their brothers trundle from their bunk beds. We just moved it into their room. It has terrible foam for the mattress. It's probably the cause of them not sleeping through the night lately. But you do what you have to, to get by.
Freecycle might be an option for getting a toddler bed.

 

We went straight from the crib to twin beds (double bed for my oldest DD). :good: We did a mattress on the floor for about a month before the bed, just to get them used to staying in bed.

 

Have you checked Craigslist? My parents wanted toddler beds for my boys at their house but I refused to let them buy them. They found some on Craigslist for like $30. They're sometimes even cheaper without mattresses, which it sounds like you have. I'd go that route. My boys are in toddler beds, but all their animals take up so much room that they look like they'll outgrow them soon. Not sure what we'll do since they have to share a room & there isn't room for 2 twin beds...so we'll see! Good luck!

 

We switched when we moved at 4y 9m to a bunk bed.

We would have stayed in toddler beds until age 5.75( K age) since mine are small and that room was so tiny, twins would have taken all the floor space. We did not want to do bunks beds until we had to....we moved and had to. The room was too small for two twins to fit (apartment).

 

Our toddler beds (from Ikea, about $130 each) transform to a twin bed.

 

My girls are still in toddler beds but they really have outgrown them. They are begging for bunks, so we will probably get them bunk beds for Christmas.

 

My girls were in them from the month they turned 2 until the month they turned 6 (!!!). I hear people all the time say they're an unnecessary expense, but as you can see our kids were in them twice as long as in cribs. Our cribs were both free and we already had twin beds, so we came out cheaper than lots of people. We waited that long mainly because the twin beds were being used at my inlaws' lake house and we knew they had more space in their room w/ those instead.

I'd go for mattresses on the floor, too. I just saw a Parents Magazine article about setting up a room for 2 to share, and they painted headboards on the wall over the beds. Very cute.

 

at 4 and a half mine are in the toddler beds we bought them for their 3rd birthday...I'm hoping to get another year out of them...

check Wal-Mart dot com - our toddler beds were about $50 each...

 

I would go for the mattress on the floor. :good:

 

We went straight to twin beds at 3 years, but they'd probably still be OK in toddler beds if that's what we had. My kids are pretty short, though. Most of the space in their beds is taken up with books and stuffies. :laughing:

Amy will be sleeping on a crib mattress on the floor when we visit my parents for Thanksgiving.

If I were you, I'd put the mattresses on the floor too.