Before my son was born, we had my old bedroom set in his room (then called The Green Room because it is painted seafoam green). This set consisted of two platform beds with a small table at the head of either bed.

When Danny was a little over two, I became more worried about him climbing out of his crib and hurting himself. The day I saw him put his foot up on the top rail of the crib (with the mattress in the lowest position), I knew it was time to get him out of the bed.

None of my children ever had toddler beds; they all immediately went into regular twin beds. Why should Danny be any different, especially since there was already a nice set in his room? I had given away the bed rail I had for my daughters. This was just as well, since finding a bed rail which would fit a platform bed became a big project.

Normally, bed rails are a no-brainer. They usually come in a sort of L-shape. One part slides under the bed's mattress while the other stands up along the length of the bed, preventing a child from accidentally rolling out during the night.

The problem with platform beds is that the mattress is placed in the bed frame itself. There are only a couple of inches between the frame of the bed and the mattress into which I could fit a bed rail. Almost all of the newer bed rails are designed to be folded down should you want to access the bed without having to pull out the entire frame. I knew going in that I would not be able to use this feature, but it created a problem. With most of the models I looked at, this meant there was too much of the rail sticking out from the mattress; it wouldn't fit in the few inches between the mattress and the frame.

Finally I came across the Evenflo Soft Bed Rail. The hardware here was compact enough that it fit between the mattress and the bed frame (I measured it in the store), although I still couldn't use the fold-down feature in Danny's regular bed.

The Evenflo Soft Bed Rail required no assembly. It is 47-inches long which meant that it covers almost all of the side of the bed. The only spots he can sneak through are the bottom of the bed, and a spot at the top where the second bed is catty-corner, so he won't fall off there. I could have moved it all the way to the top of the bed without losing that much protection near the bottom, but this way I have a nice spot to sit when I read to him and the other bed is there to prevent him from falling out.

The railing has two metal arms that slide under the mattress and hold up the part that keeps the child in the bed. This part is a nylon blue fabric with white mesh. The fabric is cushioned, so when a child bangs his head into it during, say, a temper tantrum, it won't result in a bruise (trust me, he's tried). Yet, it is also very sturdy and for all of his climbing over the railing (and now doing somersaults), it doesn't sag in the least. This cushioning covers the corners where the metal frame is as well. Evenflo has really done a great job trying to make this rail as safe as possible.

I've never actually found him sleeping against the rail, so I can't say for sure that it has prevented him from falling out. However, with the platform beds it does prevent him from falling against the wooden frame by accident when he is playing on the bed. This is a definite plus and is one more reason to have peace of mind when he's playing in his room.

The part of the Evenflo Soft Bed Rail that allows it to fold down is made of plastic. Since I haven't used it for folding down that much, I can't say how well it holds up with a steady usage. It does seem quite sturdy.

The Evenflo Soft Bed Rail folds flat should you want to take it traveling. I simply pack it first and lay other things on top of it on the floor of my van, or along the wall or back of the seats. The fact that it is so flat makes it easy to travel with. I've done this as Danny will sometimes want to sleep in a bed instead of his portable crib. Those are the times when I get to use the fold-down feature and it's quite nice. It folds down very easily, but not so easy that the child can push it down or operate it himself. I've also had no problems using it on various beds in hotels and villas. The last time I used it on a Murphy Bed and it worked just fine! The only problem was for the bed to close every day I had to take the rail out.

All in all, I have been completely pleased by this product. It took me a while to find a bed rail that suited my needs, but the Evenflo Soft Bed Rail worked perfectly and was worth waiting for.


© 2003 Patti Aliventi
revisions © 2004 Patti Aliventi





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