Toddler Beds
So it's getting to that time, once again, another challenge of being a parent... The "Big Boy bed", the toddler bed. The move from the crib to something he can get in and out of on his own.
After extensive searching we discovered toddler beds came in two types.
Type A cost a little under $80 and was a piece of crap with a weight restriction just slightly more than our son weighs right now. Plastic and weak metal put together about as well as some of the Lego projects we've made around here. Having tried them in a few stores, they work as well as a trampoline for a 2 year old, as they do a bed.
Type B was usually INSANELY cool, something like a firetruck or a race car. We even saw one bed that had incorporated a ladder and a slide! (Like that would get him to stay in bed and sleep, why not just add a TV and a PlayStation?) Or type B was very very nice and classy, nicer than most adult beds I've seen, and cost $250+. Some as high as $500 or more! At that price you might as well get a twin bed.
So type B was out simply due to the cost and type A was just such total garbage I wasn't going to put money into, so I had to come up with PLAN C.
Yes, I went for the quick and cheap, always a handyman at heart... Two days, a couple of 2x4's, a couple of 2x6's, a borrowed circular saw and old bits and pieces of screws, sandpaper and stain I had laying around the house. Total cost... $45 Canadian... and that's if you include the gas, the tax and the coffee on the way to get the lumber. What we ended up with was a real little boy's bed, a real "little handyman" bed, and he helped do it all.
What a fun project to do with my son. Most little kids love doing arts and crafts, and my guy ain't no exception, but what's cooler to a 2 1/2 year old than hammering, sawing, painting and sanding? It was like the ULTIMATE craft project for him. Sure we've done a lot of cool projects in the past, but this was going to be HIS bed. He couldn't even nap the past 2 days, he was just so wound up and excited about it. Everywhere we went he was telling EVERYBODY he was building a bed, cashiers, grandparents, people in stores, everyone. He didn't even want to stop for a snack, a break or anything once we got started.
Now it's done and we're just waiting for the stain to dry completely. And I mean COMPLETELY dry so there won't be any residual smell. Once we get to that point then it will be the fun of trying to get him to stay in it through the night. We're hoping the fact that he helped building will make it more appealing than his old crib. We'll see....
See... I can do more than just run, workout, diet and raise a little kid... I can build crappy furniture too.
After extensive searching we discovered toddler beds came in two types.
Type A cost a little under $80 and was a piece of crap with a weight restriction just slightly more than our son weighs right now. Plastic and weak metal put together about as well as some of the Lego projects we've made around here. Having tried them in a few stores, they work as well as a trampoline for a 2 year old, as they do a bed.
Type B was usually INSANELY cool, something like a firetruck or a race car. We even saw one bed that had incorporated a ladder and a slide! (Like that would get him to stay in bed and sleep, why not just add a TV and a PlayStation?) Or type B was very very nice and classy, nicer than most adult beds I've seen, and cost $250+. Some as high as $500 or more! At that price you might as well get a twin bed.
So type B was out simply due to the cost and type A was just such total garbage I wasn't going to put money into, so I had to come up with PLAN C.
Yes, I went for the quick and cheap, always a handyman at heart... Two days, a couple of 2x4's, a couple of 2x6's, a borrowed circular saw and old bits and pieces of screws, sandpaper and stain I had laying around the house. Total cost... $45 Canadian... and that's if you include the gas, the tax and the coffee on the way to get the lumber. What we ended up with was a real little boy's bed, a real "little handyman" bed, and he helped do it all.
What a fun project to do with my son. Most little kids love doing arts and crafts, and my guy ain't no exception, but what's cooler to a 2 1/2 year old than hammering, sawing, painting and sanding? It was like the ULTIMATE craft project for him. Sure we've done a lot of cool projects in the past, but this was going to be HIS bed. He couldn't even nap the past 2 days, he was just so wound up and excited about it. Everywhere we went he was telling EVERYBODY he was building a bed, cashiers, grandparents, people in stores, everyone. He didn't even want to stop for a snack, a break or anything once we got started.
Now it's done and we're just waiting for the stain to dry completely. And I mean COMPLETELY dry so there won't be any residual smell. Once we get to that point then it will be the fun of trying to get him to stay in it through the night. We're hoping the fact that he helped building will make it more appealing than his old crib. We'll see....
See... I can do more than just run, workout, diet and raise a little kid... I can build crappy furniture too.
posted by Geeper at 7:10 p.m.
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