A Single Bed Is Just Right
If you are looking for the right first bed for your child, a single bed is perfect. Not too big, but large enough to allow for the growth your youngster will experience in the next few years. Toddler beds are cute, but most children outgrow them by age five and parents have to buy another bed for their growing child. It’s easier and more economical to just buy a single bed as soon as your child has outgrown his cot.
Your child’s bed will have to last about 15 years or you’ll be buying another one. Single beds shown in juvenile stores are sweet and tempting, but when you child becomes a teenager, he may not care for a childish theme. It’s wiser to buy a good quality single bed that has no particular theme so it can grow with your child. You can decorate with cute bed spreads or quilts which are much less expensive to replace than a single bed. Your child’s first bed should grow with them.
Little girls may beg for the princess canopy bed with all the gold trim, but it isn’t the best buy. Remember that she will grow up and probably not be so enchanted with the bed that thrilled her at age 5. You can achieve the appearance of a canopy without actually having one on the single bed. It’s always best to buy children’s furniture with an eye toward the future. Buy a bed they’ll want to take with them to their first apartment.
Your son may be crazy about spacemen or Harry Potter now, but it is unlikely that interest will last beyond his 10th or 12th birthday. He can have current cartoons or movie characters on his bedding, which is easily and relatively inexpensively changed as his interests change. Unless you want to buy a new single bed every few years, stay with classic styles for the single bed.
When shopping for a single bed for your child, it is best not to take them with you. Children don’t understand budgets, or growing up or any of the practical concerns which parents must consider. Your child may beg and cry and convince you to purchase a completely impractical piece of furniture. Instead, shop for the bed on your own, dress it to suit their tastes and them surprise them with there first big kid bed.