Are toddler floor beds actually worth it?

Question

See these floor beds all over Instagram and can't work out if they're a fad or actually good. Did your toddler stay in one or just wander round the room all night?

Gemma Coe · Accepted Answer

Hi Sophie, Floor beds can work really well for some families, but they are not automatically better than a cot or toddler bed, and they are not a magic fix for longer-standing sleep issues. Their main advantages are that they offer more independence, reduce the height of a potential fall for climbing toddlers, and make it easier for a parent to lie alongside a child while they settle. They can be particularly useful once a child is climbing out of the cot, or when a family wants a more gradual and supported transition from co-sleeping. The trade-off is freedom. Because toddlers still have limited impulse control, some will get in and out repeatedly, explore the room or fall asleep somewhere completely different for the first few nights or weeks! This is developmental rather than deliberately challenging behaviour. A floor bed will not teach a child to stay in bed by itself, so you will still need clear bedtime boundaries and plenty of calm, patient repetition! When setting it up, think of the whole bedroom as the new cot. Furniture should be secured, hazards kept out of reach, and the doorway and access to stairs considered carefully. Are they worth it? They can be for many families, particularly if they solve a specific problem, suit the way you want to support your child, or allow you to lie alongside them more comfortably at bedtime or overnight. But if your toddler is safe and happy in their cot, there is no need to change simply because floor beds are popular online. I hope that helps!

Marie · Answer

Best move we made. Took about a week for the getting up to stop being the fun new game. Once we'd made the room properly safe, nothing she could pull over, plugs covered, gate on the door, it didn't really matter if she got up because there was nowhere dodgy to go. Most nights she's asleep on the bed, now and then we find her flat out on the rug and just lift her back in.

Nic · Answer

Cannot recommend it enough but only if you gate the door. Ours treated the whole room as the bed for the first month and fell asleep in some hilarious spots, the photos are gold now. Completely settled by about 6 weeks in and now takes herself off when she's tired.

Alex · Answer

Bit of a mixed bag if I'm honest. First couple of weeks were carnage, up and down non stop. It did calm down but only because we committed to making the whole room safe and waited out the novelty. If what you actually want is them staying put in one spot, a floor bed isn't it.

Jodie · Answer

Loved it for the independence but the downside nobody mentions is you can't really sit and read or feed comfortably, you're down on the floor. Small thing but two years in and my back has opinions.

Tanya · Answer

Ours climbs in and out of it like it's soft play, never stops. Might just be his personality but it did not work for us and we've gone back to a cot bed with one side off as a compromise.