Yesterday I went shopping for a big boy bed (twin) for my DS (2 1/2 yrs). We went to Belfort furniture and I really like the Stanley "young america" collection. Then we went way across town to Baby to Teen. My son went bonkers over the beds that are elevated like a bunk bed but instead of a bunk on the bottom there is a fort made of material and on top of the bunk there is a tent with a slide attached. Apparently it's called a children's furniture system made by Maxtrix and Bolton. DS was so happy with this bed. I guess I'm so used to a traditional bed that I'm not sure what to think of this new style. Has anyone seen these beds and did anyone buy it? I'd like to know if it was worth every penny because of the shear joy that your child is having playing and sleeping in it. Also, I was surprised at how pricey the Stanley furniture was. Has anyone bought that line of furniture? Of course I came home and showed my husband both beds and he went bonkers over the tent bed too. It must be a boy thing.
Thanks!
Re: Big boy bed
I'm not that familiar with either furniture brand you mention, but I think you're decision should be based on what your long term intentions for the furniture are. I think the bed you found with the slide sounds really fun, but will it still be "cool" when DS is older (middle school, high school)? Are you prepared to buy another bed at that point? If you are, then go for it. If you're intention is to buy something he'll use until he heads to college, then I would be hesitant to choose something so specialized.
My two cents;)
We bought from the Young America collection for DD #1, well, actually, my one set of in-laws bought it for us through Direct Buy (so, a much better deal than at a regular store).
The AAP suggests bunk beds when kids are age 6 and older, so we steered way away from the elevated beds, even ones that aren't technically as high as the top bunk of a bunk bed. But that's probably just me being paranoid. At some point my girls - who will soon share a room - will be in bunk beds, but not until DD #1 is 6 yo. In fact, we intend to buy a second bed for DD #2 from the Young America collection - and if all goes well, we'll buy the bed that bunks with #1's bed, so that both beds will be on the floor the next few years, and we'll bunk them when they're older.
IKEA has twin beds that can be elevated or on the floor, so if he really likes the elevated beds, you may want to check them out. That way, he can be on the floor until he's not prone to rolling out of bed, then elevated with a play space when he's older.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea
I do agree with amh though. The bed with a slide probably won't go over well with a middle schooler or teenager, so keep that in mind.
While the idea of a tent and slide sounds fun, I don't think it's necessarily worth the price. I feel like it would only be fun for a few years and I also don't know that I'd want to equate bedtime w/playing.
I love the Stanley line too, but it was a bit more than we wanted to spend. The bed I loved would've been almost $2k with the drawers or trundle underneath. Yikes! We ended up buying a captains bed made by Lia. It's a bit higher off the ground b/c it has the drawers underneath. We haven't moved my son over yet, but he loves to get up there and pretend to sleep. I also really like this bed b/c you can put it lengthwise against the wall, which allows for more floor space.
The two things I immediately thought of after reading your description were:
1) I wouldn't want my child's bedroom to be a play area. They say that little kids should only associate the room with quiet activities and sleep. (this is a luxury for those of us with a designated playroom...if you don't have one, I understand the need to use the bedroom)
2) Would it be easy to rearrange the furniture, or would you be stuck with the bed used only against one particular wall or something?
Not criticizing or anything...just passing along what crossed my mind. It sounds like a dream bed for a little one and could make for fun memories. We put DD on a plain old double bed on a metal frame. It took us almost a year to get her a headboard, poor thing.