I've just put my ds (18mo) into a toddler bed. The first several nights were great. He slept really well and seemed to be quite happy with it.Then last night, he fell out, TWICE.His bed is a proper toddler bed, with just the crib mattress in there (we still have the crib up, with a spare mattress)so it isn't a long fall, and one of the times that he fell, he just slept on the floor. The bed has a board at the head, at the foot, adn a small rail along each side - a little at the top, and a little at the bottom.I went to buy the pre-fab rails, only to realise that you must have a box spring and mattress to use them. ugh. The head and foot boards are actually wider than the bed, so even if one side is up against the wall, there is a 4-5 gap.He was not very pleased about going down for his nap in the bed this afternoon - what can I do? Should I make a little rail out of board of some sort and keep him in? Or will he learn eventually how big the bed is, and just stop falling out? (not likely huh?)Thanks.
Try putting the mattress on the floor for now. That way when he falls out he won't have to go very far. He may be too young for a mattress bed. Get a crib for now, that way he won't fall out at all.
I also had this problem - at 12. I would just fall out of bed and wake up on the ground, with a rather sore bottom. What I did was, I took off the metal frame and just had my box-spring and mattress on the floor. Now, when I fall out, it's no big deal. I do that, even today, 5 years later. Also, have you considered that your child might need a bigger bed? Perhaps he just needs more room to roll-around in. Also, you can try literally tucking his sheets under the little mattress when you say good night. This may keep him in bed, if you do it tight enough. Good luck! You may just need to save up for a twin-sized mattress and box-spring!
I use the standard twin sized rail on my toddlers bed. It's made to fit between a box spring and mattress and the toddler bed only has a mattress so at first I thought I wasted my money. What I did was to secure it to the bed itself using nylon cable ties, found at a hardware store. They're the pull-tab kinda thingies that once you have tight, you can't loosen. Hard to explain with words, sorry. But they keep the rail on nice and tight. I only did one side because I didn't want him falling between the wall where the wall is at a weird angle. The other side is free so that he can get in and out easy. He falls out occasionally, and is such a sound sleeper, he hardly notices.
