Perfect for Us
Written: Feb 28 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, attractive, durable.
Cons: Pain in the $#%@ to put together. Active sleepers may fall out.
The Bottom Line: A nice looking, relatively inexpensive toddler bed that was tough to assemble, but worth it.
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| dagny21's Full Review: Cosco Nod-a-Way Toddler Bed 10-B01 |
Several weeks before we planned to move my son from his crib to a toddler bed, I started worrying about it. Not about how he would make the transition, as I was pretty sure he'd do fine with it. Instead, I was worried about the cost of the thing. I wanted a decent bed for my son, but I really didn't want to spend much money.
Wal*Mart to the Rescue
After a long and frustrating search of garage sales and resale stores, I'd resigned myself to spending more than I wanted to at a furniture or department store. And then I was in Wal*Mart one day looking for something else entirely when I had one of those forehead slapping moments. "Duh! Why didn't I think to look here in the first place!"
The cheapest toddler bed Wal*Mart had was $29.99 and made of white medal. I didn't particularly like it, but was ready to purchase it anyway for the sake of getting a bargain when I saw this white plastic toddler bed for $39.99. For just $10 more I could get a toddler bed that really looked like a "Big Boy Bed" and that I could be happy with looking at every day for the next couple of years.
Preparing Our Son
We bought this bed, along with a special new Thomas the Tank Engine bedding set, a full week before we put it together and asked my son to crawl in it. I talked about it with him every day, then on Friday night, we prepared ourselves for an exhausting weekend of wakeful nights, crossing our fingers that by Sunday night we'd all be able to get some sleep.
We let my son watch while we first put his new bed together, then took apart his crib.
Assembly
In the last few years my husband and I have put together a lot of furniture and larger toy items for my son. This is by far the worst "some assembly required" experience we've ever had. This bed took forever to get together, even with my husband(engineer) and his father(contractor) working together on it. It took about 2 hours to get it right.
Sleep Tight
After the bed was together and his new sheets, blankets, and pillowcase were on it, we let my son play on the bed while we took apart his crib. Then, we continued with the rest of his normal night time routine. Then, to our great surprise and relief, he crawled right in and went to sleep. He did wake up a few times that first night and run to the baby gate just because he could, but by Sunday night he seemed fully adjusted.
Safety
The only annoyance we've experienced is that the shape won't allow it to be flush against the wall, and there is a rather large gap through which his stuffed animals are constantly falling. The gap is large enough that we don't worry about his legs or arms getting stuck.
To help prevent children from falling out of the bed, the upper 3rd of it has a raised side. This allows children to climb into the bed, but keeps their upper bodies - so long as they don't scoot down much - safely on the bed. Frankly, I expected my son to fall out of bed a few times, but this hasn't happened in the 4 months we've owned this bed. My son is a fairly stationary sleeper though. In any case, the bed is pretty low to the ground, so as long as you make sure there are no toys for him to land on, your little one probably wouldn't get hurt even if he did fall out.
Recommended If:
You're very good at assembling furniture, and if money's tight but you still want a nice-looking toddler bed.
Find Related Reviews Below
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Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dagny21
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 in Kids & Family |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: Christine D
Location: Alaska
Reviews written: 388
Trusted by: 65 members
About Me:
Happily married mother of one boy.
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