Tot to Teen Furniture

Stages

• One popular manufacturer of furniture that grows with children has outlined the stages the pieces fit. It covers the following ages; infant, preschool ‘tween and teen.

How it Works

• There are many convertible cribs on the market the can be converted from a crib to a day bed or toddler bed. The line of furniture that grows with your child into the teen years has the capacity to go one step further and convert to a traditional twin bed, ideal for teenagers. The crib and toddler bed use the same mattress, and the rails that are part of the crib later become a guard on the toddler bed. Take the rails off, and the bed then becomes a twin bed.

Advantages

• Cost aside, buying furniture that grows with your child from toddler-hood to the teen years comes with a another major advantage; the issue of storage. Parents no longer have to scramble with storing the crib to make room for the toddler bed only to have to replace it with a twin or full-size bed by the time your child is school age.

Cost

• Products in the tot-to-teen furniture line average around $700 at time of publication. Parents do need to plan for the extra expense of purchasing a twin-size mattress when the time comes. The cost for a twin mattress set averages around $250 and goes up. When compared to the cost of some convertible cribs, averaging around $400, that only convert to a toddler bed, the extra up-front expense of the tot-to-teen furniture may be justifiable for some parents.