Sleep is such an important part of your child’s life - and yours as a parent! When it comes to sleep, there are so many options available that it can be overwhelming. Would a crib or a bassinet be better? Is co sleeping a good option for you and your family? When is it best to transition your child to a new bed? 

This interview from a pediatric sleep consultant can provide great insight to those with questions!

Watch the video, or read the interview. 

Jump To:

• Some Benefits of a Floor Bed
• Change Often Requires a Transition Period
• All Common Challenges
• What Do I Do if My Child Keeps Getting Out of Bed?
• How to Know if Your Child is Ready for a Floor Bed
• How to Safely Add a Floor Bed to Your Space

Some Benefits of a Floor Bed

A floor bed is a way to honor your child's autonomy and natural curiosity. Because the bed is low to the ground, it offers your child mobility and freedom. They can play with toys, read a book, and even have some autonomy with their sleep.

“...the child should be given a low couch resting practically upon the floor, where he can lie down and get up as he wishes." - Maria Montessori

Our founders had this to share with their experience using a floor bed:

“We used a crib for our first two babies. Now that we have a floor bed for our third, I almost forgot how things used to go. I would have to try to quickly transition my baby from my arms into the crib, which rarely worked. The “free fall” feel that inevitably happened as I tried to lower them to the crib would startle and wake them. I would have to bend over the crib sides and try to comfort them as best I could without actually being able to hold them. Sometimes I would pick them up and we’d start the whole process of rocking to sleep and trying to quickly get them into the crib before waking all over again. 

Using a floor bed makes such an amazing difference for our family! I can snuggle with my baby, then gently transition out of the bed. If she starts to stir, I can easily move closer to her and help her settle in before I go out of the room. My husband also loves that he can lay right in bed with our baby and that he doesn’t fall asleep sitting in a chair. And our baby loves the independence! When she’s done playing at bedtime she will crawl onto her bed and try to lay down or grab her blanket to let us know she’s ready. I also feel like it provides a much more natural transition to helping babies sleep more independently.”

Change Often Requires a Transition Period

Humans are wired for consistency. We have routines and rhythms, and disruptions can be distressing, especially for kids. So, if your little one’s sleep arrangements are changing, there may be an initial transition period. The routine is being disrupted and your little one is responding to that. This transition doesn't mean the change is bad, just that your child needs time to adapt.

As children grow, they may no longer need to be close to the floor. Our Montessori Bed can be raised to grow with your child, avoiding unnecessary change. The Sosta Bed has the option to add legs for a raised bed. 

A raised floor bed from @happylittlechildhood

Common Challenges and Tips

We asked for feedback from those who have a floor bed about what their experience has been. Some common themes that emerged include helping the child stay in bed, what age worked best for transitioning, and some of the unforeseen benefits of using a floor bed.

Some common suggestions of what to do before transitioning included letting your child pick their sleeping accessories, sticking with a routine, prepping their room with books, and just preparing yourself mentally for the transition phase. For a younger child who might be co sleeping or sleeping in a parent’s room still, it can be helpful to transition in phases; focus first on helping your child use the floor bed for naps and once that is going well, start using it for nighttime sleep. If your child is old enough, you can also talk with them about it. We even had one person who pretended the bed was talking and told their child how excited it was to have him sleep in it!

What Do I Do if My Child Keeps Getting Out of Bed?

Many parents mentioned their little ones getting out of bed and playing or trying to leave the room. @heathergrif028 said that her 7 month old would crawl off her bed during bedtime. They offered verbal direction and put her back in her bed. She said it took about a month for her daughter to adjust to staying in the floor bed. She said “it wasn't a sudden thing, though she slowly got out of bed less and less. It still very occasionally happens, but isn't often.”

Some families noted that their little one initially would get out of bed and sleep on the floor instead at first. @growingupwithgrant said that it took 2 months for their son to sleep in his floor bed, and during that time he slept on the floor often. She said, “We just let him sleep on the floor if that's what he wanted! We transitioned to a floor bed when we moved into a new apartment, so I think he was just nervous about all of the changes. One day, my husband fell asleep on our son's bed while watching him and from that point on, Grant has slept in his floor bed!”

@mrsbrightsideandsirmaxwell shared their experience with their 21-month-old daughter. They made the transition about a week prior to us asking them about it. “We can now cuddle in bed together. She still needs us there when she is falling asleep at least for her nap but at night it’s just cuddling for a bit and then we leave the room. She did fall out once and we now keep her favorite teddy bear on that side to keep her from rolling out. She also has better naps in the floor bed than in the crib. We all love it and actually “argue” who gets to put her down for the night because we both love it. The first night we did wait in bed with her until she was asleep. The last 3 nights we left when she was sleepy, said good night again, and announced that we were leaving before we left the room. Our plan is to gradually shorten the time of us in the room but for now, we all seem to enjoy it.”

@outsidethetoybox said that one part of switching to a floor bed was that their nap routine changed and that their daughter “used to get out of bed and wait at the door when she woke up, but now she just stays in bed until we come get her. We switched to a floor bed around 14 or 15 months and she is 21 months now.”

@beckyrodioduncan shared the joy of a floor bed with naps, saying “there's nothing sweeter than that post nap smile when they climb out of bed on their own and come to you.”

How to Know if Your Child is Ready for a Floor Bed

We want to mention that regulations require us to recommend waiting until 15 months to start using a floor bed.

Many Montessori families choose to transition their child to the floor bed prior to that by ensuring the child's bedroom is a safe place for an infant to be unsupervised. Ultimately, we know that parents know their child's environment, capabilities, and development better than anyone and we trust parents to do what is best for their children. 

The overall feedback from our customers seems to point to a smoother transition when they switch early on. As a Montessori bed, many families applied Montessori principles and followed their child and the signs of readiness. Other parents waited until their child was older (around 2 years or more), but felt that the transition was perhaps more difficult because their child was accustomed to the routine of using a crib.

Pediatric sleep consultant and occupational therapist, Jessie Sweeney, OTR/L and owner of Supporting Littles shared that “every child and parent is unique and, therefore, there is never a one-size fits all method or answer.”

When you add a floor bed to your child's bedroom, you need to consider every aspect of their room when it comes to safety. With the ability to get in and out of bed, you need to prepare anything that might be a hazard without you there to watch them.

Some things we encourage you to consider:

• secure all cords out of reach
• cover electrical outlets
• keep blind strings safely out of the way
• remove choking hazards and any toys that may be deemed unsafe
• properly anchor and attach dressers, shelving, and other heavy items to the wall

When discussing the transition from another bed or bassinet to a floor bed, Sweeney shared that “anything inappropriate for the crib is going to be inappropriate for the bedroom.” She also encouraged to check "that there are no "cracks" between the bed and wall.” See more about Safety Tips or Regulations. 

We hope that this has offered some helpful insights. If you have additional questions or want to share your experience using a floor bed, we would love to hear about it! Feel free to comment below, send us a dm on Instagram at @sprout_kids, or email us at support@sprout-kids.com.

We appreciate the insight from Jessie Sweeney. If you are interested in more information on safe sleep and ideas of how to support 0-3 year olds, you can check her website www.supportinglittles.com.