Big Kid Beds for My Little Big Kids (HHB)

Originally posted here

Bobby and Maya have been in "big kid" beds for a while. Well, in theory. They've slept on twin size beds since they were 7 months old. In the beginning, they had bolsters to keep them from rolling off the bed. We've practiced the Montossori method of bed sleeping for the longest, moving the matresses on the floor. This was great for a lot of reasons. We didnt really worry about the kids getting hurt if they fell off, but they also have been great helpers when it comes to changing their bedding.

For their second birthday (I still can't believe that is so quickly upon us), we decided to get them the Step 2 Lifestyle Bed that we found online. Maya's room is fairly small and we always knew we'd need a loft bed with built in storage for her. These beds are great. They are made of the hardcore plastic (like most Step 2 or Little Tykes toys) for easy cleaning and disinfecting. They are closer to the ground than the traditional top bunk bed and the bottom serves as storage (or a play fort!) Also, the bed portion is surrounded so little big kids (and their night-night toys!) can't roll off.

The pricetag, however, was cost prohibitive. Listing for $350 each, and the best online price for new ones being nearly $300 each, meant that we'd have to drop between $600-$700 for beds! We just couldnt do that. So, I started looking on Craigslist. Eventually, I found 2 (and only 1 day apart!) for $200! It's still a lot, but we are hoping to use these until the kids are 10-12 years old and will want more "grown up" furniture. They have a 250 pound weight limit, so if we need to for whatever reason, we can still cosleep on the rare ocassion.

"Aunt Sarah" and I picked up Maya's bed on Tuesday. It was a nice time for us to have a girl time too, since it was 90 miles away. When we got back, we put it together in a half hour (and that included 3 errors that we had to fix since we were working without directions). They thought it was the next best thing since the playground since they got to climb the stairs.

That night after her bath and PJs, she lunged for the bed. I tucked her in, gave her Bear and Sheep, and then flipped the light and left. Not a peep.

So, yesterday, Peter picked up Bobby's bed in the late morning and I brought his lunch to work and got the bed. I put it together- alone- in 20 minutes. Piece of cake!

Bobby saw it just before bedtime, which I wasnt thrilled about, but the kids were visiting their paternal grandparents and weren't home. Again, slept without a peep!

This morning, we played in the under storage area, although right now they seem to like opening/closing the doors but not really going under the bed.

During the day, their rooms are closed off (with gates). However, we are planning on (gulp) opening their rooms up to them to go into outside of naptime/bedtime and changing dipes/clothes times. Our big concerns are that they have sliding closet doors and could hurt each other accidentally. I've already removed their room doors (to avoid someone getting slammed by one) and Peter will be taking their closet doors off the hinges. Once that is done, we will be removing the gates. I'm both excited for them in this transition of growing, nervous because- OMG- they will have even MORE free range, and a bit sad because it's another sign of just how grown up they are getting. Two years old. The time has flown by. Less than 2 weeks til the big day.

For now, it's just my big little kids... in their big kid beds!