What is a floor bed?
A floor bed is essentially just that, a bed on the floor! There are a few different ways to make this happen, from sticking the mattress straight on the ground or setting up your own diy floor bed frame (which I've included two ideas in this post).
Benefits of a floor bed
1. The first benefit of a floor bed for toddlers is probably the most obvious of reasons. One of the first worries you have as a parent is his or her child rolling out of bed after transitioning them out of a crib.This is something you don’t have to stress about with a floor bed because even if they do roll off, it’s not much of fall at all!
2. Probably the second biggest concern I hear is that they won’t ever fall asleep or stay in bed. And honestly, that’s a concern with any bed but a floor bed almost encourages them to get up and move around BUT that’s not a bad thing! The idea of a floor bed stems from Maria Montessori’s way of thinking which stresses independence and freedom for the child within limits.
They may take longer to fall asleep at first, or they may fall asleep on the floor for the first few attempts but eventually they WILL fall asleep and they WILL stay in bed. How long that takes varies per child. This is all part of their natural development that teaches them their own sleep cues and boundaries.
4. Their newfound independence will surely be your morning’s savior! Instead of crying from their crib, or crying to get down from bed, they will be freely able to explore and play in their bedroom.
5. Their bed becomes an inviting place where they are eager to go. Not only just for sleep but for relaxing too. I can’t tell you the amount of times my girls have been found just sitting on their beds with all of their stuffed animals reading a book.
Making an easy diy floor bed
1. Buy a trundle bed: We used the Kendall Trundle from PBK 2. Once purchased – take the wheels off (you can add floor protectors to the bottom if its going to be placed on wood floors like our first one was) 3. Buy a trundle mattress – NOW listen, if you are only using this as a floor bed then any twin mattress will essentially work (since it doesn’t need to fit under a bed like a typical trundle would) but I still liked having a trundle mattress because it kept it low to the ground. My two favorite mattresses for this are: – Trundle Mattress from PBK – Twin Mattress from Nook
It'll look like this
How to build a custom house frame floor bed