2022 Guide for the Best Toddler Bed Rails

FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com - Detailed product guide for the best toddler bed rails

Kids have much to process at night, so it really is no wonder a lot of them are quite ‘active’ sleepers. I know our son is! We often find him with his feet on his pillow or wedged sideways between his toddler bed sides.

Of course you can’t keep a toddler in a crib indefinitely (I wish!) but when he was ready for a big-boy bed, I insisted on getting bed safety rails. We have enough broken nights as it is, a toddler falling out of bed in the middle of the night is not something I want to wake up to. Especially when a toddler bed safety guard is so easy to install. Toddler bed rails will keep your little one safely in bed while sleeping.

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Child bed rails really are one of the best inventions ever. I was actually considering a mattress on the floor for our little one (to minimize the drop), but a toddler bed with child bed rails is much more comfortable.

In this detailed guide for the best toddler bed rails we’ll tell you all about the different types of bed rails for kids and what to consider when you want to buy a toddler bed safety rail or a toddler bed bumper guard. We’ll also discuss travel bed rails for toddlers. We use the inflatable Shrunks bed rail ourselves for our little boy when we travel. These are the perfect way to turn a regular hotel bed into a safe place to sleep for your kids when they become too old to sleep in a toddler travel bed.

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What are toddler bed rails?

Bed rails for kids are a safety measure that help prevent kids from falling out of bed while they are sleeping. They come in the form of toddler bed bumpers or a toddler bed guard rail on one or both sides of the bed. Unlike with a crib kids can still easily access and exit their beds, they’ll just be more safe while sleeping. Bed side rails for toddlers are usually made of a metal frame covered with mesh fabric that are placed on the side of the mattress. Either they stay in place by the child’s weight (not a fool proof method) or they attach to the bed frame. A toddler bumper rail is placed on the edge of the mattress underneath the fitted sheet and will create a kind of ‘safety bumper’. If you’re kids are extremely active during the night, a bumper might not be enough to contain them.

Best toddler bed rails comparison

Types of toddler bed rails

There are different types of toddler bed rails. Basically we discern three major different types: fixed bed rails, swing down bed rails or bed bumpers. The best bed rails for kids depends on your situation. We’ll explain the different types in more detail below.

Fixed child bed rails

This is the basic bed gate for toddlers that we all know, a mesh covered metal frame that attaches to the side of the bed to create a safety gate on one or both sides of the bed. This type of universal toddler bed rail can be used for all beds, even bunk beds or loft beds. For twin beds or queen beds mesh bed rails for toddlers are available in an extra long size as well.

A mesh toddler rail is a toddler side rail that’s comfortable and soft for the child if they do end up wedged against it. There have been safety issues with bedrails that were attached to the bed, because kids could get wedged in the gap between the rail and the bed. That’s why the use of bed rails isn’t advised until kids can easily exit their bed on their own at age 2+. Safety 1st created a bed rail that fits over the mattress, instead of on the side of it. This type is even safe to use with baby. Some toddler beds, like those made by Ikea, come with their own removable bed rails.

Swing down bed rails

One thing that can be quite annoying of a fixed bed rail is that it’s hard to reach your child when they need comfort in the night, or they want you to lie in bed with them for a bit while reading a bedtime story. Of course we wouldn’t be human if we hadn’t come up with a solution for this. A slightly modified version of the basic fixed toddler bed barrier is the swing down bed rails, also available as extra long swing down bed rail. These adjustable bed rails for toddlers will prevent your little one falling out of bed as well as a fixed rail, but they have a major advantage. They’re called swing down bed rails because they can fold down. This makes it more comfortable to sit with your child while reading a bedside story and it’s a lot easier to make the bed. The Regalo swing down bedrail is very popular with a lot of parents.

Toddler bed bumpers

There are a number of reasons to consider a bed bumper over a mesh toddler bed rail, especially a fixed bed rail one. In particular the inflatable ones are very suitable for travel, as they’re also lightweight. As with the folding bed rails for toddlers, a bed bumper doesn’t hinder you from reaching your child. It’s actually quite comfortable for the child to lie in a little ‘nest’. Since the bumpers isn’t actually attached to the bed, but is simply held in place by the fitted sheet, it’s extremely easy to make the bed. As with all bed rails, the best bed bumpers for toddlers are the ones that fit your situation.

Bumpers are not safe to use on bunk beds or loft beds, but they work on all bed sizes and mattress types. Depending on the brand and the thickness of your mattress, they might be less high than a safety rail. Because of the space they take up, a bumper toddler bed rail is usually more suited for a twin or queen bed than a narrow toddler bed. There are two types of bed bumpers for toddlers, foam bumpers and inflatable bumpers.

Toddler bed bumper foam

Foam bed bumpers are basically really long and narrow foam filled pillows that you place on the edge of the mattress underneath the fitted sheets. The better ones have a removable hypoallergenic water resistant cover and a non slip bottom so they stay firmly on the mattress. Some foam bumpers are easy to roll up and come with a compression style travel bag. These are perfect for travel, especially road trips. Turn any hotel bed into a safe place to sleep for your little ones! Hiccapop sleep bumpers are a popular choice for foam bed bumpers.

Inflatable toddler bed rails

Safe but not caged in, that’s the obvious plus of bed bumpers. A blow-up toddler bed rail has as additional advantage that it’s extremely easy to put away when not in use. You just deflate them, fold them and put them away. These inflatable one are very suitable as travel bed rails. We use the popular The Shrunks inflatable bed rail ourselves. It only weighs 1.1lbs (0,5kg) and folds to a tiny package of 8’x5’x2.5’ (20x6x12,5cm), so it hardly takes up any space in our backpacks.

An inflatable safety rail is also perfect for a sleepover at the grandparents or at a friend’s house. The better inflatable bed guards are made of durable and sturdy PVC that can last for years. If you’re planning to take an inflatable bed bumper for travel, make sure to test it at home first.


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