Let me start by explaining that Will's bedroom is only 9 feet by 11 feet with no closet. Yes, it is that small. One wall has a huge window (so no beds over there!). I also bought one of those standing closets, so we would have someplace to put his clothes. He also has a toy box in there too.
Right now, Will is 4 years old. He still fits in his toddler bed, but I am trying to figure out when it is time to move him to bunk beds. I do like the bunk beds that allow you to put a desk and stuff underneath them. I have even found bunk beds that a tent and make the underneath a cave of sorts. There are definitely a few different options.
However, with the limited space we have, I am thinking we should keep him in his toddler bed as long as possible. Madison was in her bed long before now (we had the opportunity to buy a bedroom set (bed, desk, and dresser) for a good price.
When did you move your kids from a toddler bed?
We moved Angelina to a twin / regular size "big girl" bed probably when she was about 5. Although we had guard rails on this bed too…just to make sure she wouldn't roll out. They're removable so it was a nice answer to the problem, without having to do too many transitions
Jenelle has a tiny room too, no closet either and she is 4 years old and still in her toddler bed. She fits in it just fine so I don't plan on moving her out of it anytime soon. Hopefully we will get a bigger place in the future but as of now we have to work with what we got. As long as they have room to sleep I don't see anything wrong with having them in a toddler bed.
We're no where near that phase yet, just moved into the toddler bed, but Ellie will stay in her toddler bed as long as she fits in it. We've got the same issue with a very small room with little space. One entire wall is comprised of closets with THREE closet doors making it impossible to use that wall for anything, and the wall across from that has a huge window. We're confined to 3/4 of one wall (because of the bedroom door) and 3/4 of the other wall (because of the bathroom door). We had a hard enough time fitting her toys and crib then toddler bed all in the same room, so I won't move Ellie until I absolutely have to put her in a bigger bed. She's much smaller than most kids her age, so she'll probably fit in it a lot longer.
I guess a lot of it also depends on how much he moves around, and if you find he's hanging off the bed in the night because he's moving so much. Otherwise, I'd leave him in it until he outgrows it.
I skipped the toddler bed stage as I found that a toddler bed doesn't get much millage. We shifted the kids from their crib to a single bed when they were 8mths old or so..and have moved the older 2 boys to bunk beds last year. I guess it depends on how long your kid remains comfortable in the toddler bed and how fast he/she grows lengthwise.
My first son was only around 2 years old when he went right from the crib to a bed…but more out of necessity. We had our 2nd son and didn't want to buy a 2nd crib. Our 2nd son also transitioned pretty well into a twin bed around the age of 2 or 2 1/2. We made the transition as smooth and as safe as possible. I actually created a new product for this purpose….a bed bumper for bigger kids to put on their walls next to the bed. We too have very small bedrooms, so the bed had to go against a wall.
If you would like some "transition" tips, just visit my blog…. http://www.kidzcomfort.com/blog/2010/09/safely-fr…
Good luck!!!
-Rae