When we were ready to have the baby-toddler join his big sister in the second bedroom, what to do about beds became a puzzle. The room is only about 8x10 feet or so.
I considered keeping the 4 year old in her toddler bed, but then I'd need to buy a second crib mattress for the actual crib. However, that would be an expense, since I funnel my parental anxiety into bedding quality, plus she could only grow a couple more inches before being too big. The other obvious choice, upgrading to a twin, would block access the closet because the room is so tiny.
After several months, I found a solution.
IKEA makes an "extendable" MINNEN bed, which can be the length of a toddler bed, a twin bed, or one "in-between" length. In-between was just what I needed!
The next question dilemma mattress. I didn't want the cheapy foam mattress that goes with it. Staring at mattress dimensions, I realized that a queen mattress was about twice the size of this "in-between" bed. So, I found a 100% latex mattress topper on Craigslist for maybe $60, folded it in half, and voila! It is only about 4" thick when doubled, but it is springy and resilient, nontoxic, and plenty supportive enough for someone under 50 lbs of bodyweight.
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| Latex is heavy, so folded it half it easily lays flat. |
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| Wool throw blanket and felted-wool baby blanket act as mattress protectors. |
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| I made the sheet custom-size from a flat twin sheet and some old boxer-waistband elastic to secure the corners. |
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| Made bed. Black was not our preference, but it was available at a fundraising sale in town so we didn't need to drive 2 hours to IKEA, or pay for shipping. |
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| Crib with the quilt that finally got done for his 2nd birthday. |
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