Bed vs. Sleeper Sofa/Chair

[Ravenclaw]

We need to get a bed or a sleeper chair/sofa for DD's room but wanted your opinions on what you would do.
We're going to be here for 2.5 more years for fellowship. It's a 2 bedroom apartment. DD currently sleeps in our bed and her room is basically just a playroom. We're going to start transitioning her to a toddler bed soon in the 2nd bedroom; basically as soon as we figure out what other sleeping arrangement we can put in there. I don't want to just have her sleep on her own cold turkey, so DH & I plan to alternate sleeping in her room with her to get her used to it. We also need a bed in there for when family comes to visit. Most family will just visit for a week or so, so a futon would be fine for that purpose but my mom will be staying for a few months at a time. She has back problems just due to her age, so whatever we get needs to be fairly comfortable.

I've heard sleeper sofas are not very comfy but I heard that years ago, so I don't know if they've improved since then. I'd prefer an affordable sleeper sofa just for the aesthetic look (a toddler bed and a twin mattress will look kind of crappy and badly thrown together). But it is just temporary so if a sleeper sofa/futon/sleeper chair will just be uncomfy then I'll just go for the mattress set.

Any experience/advice?
Thanks!!

[SoonerTexan]

I've heard sleeper sofas are not very comfy but I heard that years ago, so I don't know if they've improved since then.

They haven't--trust me. Whoever is assigned to the sofa bed just ends up sleeping on the couch.

What about a daybed? It can sort of function as a couch and would be cute for a little girl's room. You could stick a trundle bed under it and have lots of comfortable bed space for company. I found an adorable wrought iron daybed (mattress included) on craigslist for $100 a few years ago...it's currently in use by my sister, but I plan to use it for a similar arrangement someday.

[SuzySunshine]

What about a nice Futon on one of those frames that goes from couch shaped to flat?

[Pollyanna]

If your mom has back problems then I would avoid the sleeper sofa and futon. Go for the nice matress set especially if your mom will be there for extended stays. Most anything is comfortable for a toddler though

[MDPhDWife]

I second the daybed idea. That's what we have in DD2's room with a trundle bed underneath. Even though she sleeps on her older sisters top bunk, the daybed & trundle are nice when we have sleepovers or overnight guests.

[scrub-jay]

This is what we have in our guest room and we really like it, it also has tons of storage space underneath. The only complaint our guests have ever had was that it was a little tight for two people (but my parents are used to a king, so what do you expect?) It is pretty comfy as is, but we put a thin foam pad on top of it (bc we had it around) and it is really nice now. I recommend one, but go to a store and try them out. They also look pretty nice. I think they are often called flip-flop sofas?

http://www.afwonline.com/furniture/b...p-sofa-5850164

[MDPhDWife]

Ooh, Crystal, I really like that! I had never seen or heard of those flip flop sofas before, but they seem like a neat idea!

[Meenah]

If your Mom will be there more than a few days at a time, I would get a good single bed. It will be better for your Mom, and your daughter will graduate to it before you know it.

[spotty_dog]

What we've done is to put the baby into a queen bed. (One side is pushed against the wall, the other side has a bed rail.) It's super comfy for me to lie down with her as she falls asleep, or even to stay with her most of the night if she's feeling restless (with this recent cold, ugh). When the in-laws visit, we can bring her back to the family bed, or in the future when she's a bit bigger, we can put down a fold-out cushion to make a special bed for her in our room.

[Ravenclaw]

Luanne - I think you're right. I think a proper mattress set will be the most comfortable. I just saw this which I like a lot: http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/bed...-covers-117546
Those daybed covers are a bit pricey though.

Crystal that flip flop sofa looks very cool. Have you had guests use that for an extended period, like a month?

Alison, that sounds like a good idea too but we already have a convertible crib in there that DH needs to convert to a toddler bed, so that will be on one wall. A queen bed would be too tight a fit in that room.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

You could always get a trundle day bed with a good mattress...

ETA and then I read the rest of the posts...lol

[scrub-jay]

Crystal that flip flop sofa looks very cool. Have you had guests use that for an extended period, like a month?

Well, I'd forgotten about this (DH just reminded me) - we took some time off before med school and moved home to my parents house for roughly 2 months and stayed in their guest room which at the time had one of these flip-flops. My mom also had a foam pad on it (I think...) to help balance out the slight fold in the middle. I slept very well on it, but it was a little short for DH (he complained about his feet hanging off), but we used that every night for 2 months. It equated to approximately a full bed, which was smaller than what we were used to, but as for comfort, it was just fine. There are no bars that you can feel (like a sleeper sofa or a futon) and the mattress is actually pretty thick. I really recommend checking some out at a local furniture shop because some may have more of a crease than others (if there are two people you can roll into one another). With a $20 foam pad from Target, our guests have slept well and dont notice the crease. I'd say it has potential for what you need, but I'd lay on it just to be sure. When we bought ours, we went in and discovered the one we wanted was actually a little too soft and we bought a different (more firm) one. Good luck.

[SoonerTexan]

Crystal that flip flop sofa looks very cool. Have you had guests use that for an extended period, like a month?

Actually, my parents have one of those too. I completely forgot about it. That is what DH used to sleep on when he would visit before we were married and it was my bed for a month before the wedding when I had to camp out in the gameroom. It was really nice. Costco occasionally has some.

[spotty_dog]

Alison, that sounds like a good idea too but we already have a convertible crib in there that DH needs to convert to a toddler bed, so that will be on one wall. A queen bed would be too tight a fit in that room.

Yeah, the queen and crib *barely* fit at the same time, so we took the crib down after about a week or two of transition time. We skipped the toddler bed with her (though it was great for Eddy until he was about 3 and we moved him into a twin mattress on the floor).

[Ravenclaw]

Yeah, the queen and crib *barely* fit at the same time, so we took the crib down after about a week or two of transition time. We skipped the toddler bed with her (though it was great for Eddy until he was about 3 and we moved him into a twin mattress on the floor).

That makes sense Alison. Since we have the crib/toddler bed already we want to use it for DD, and don't want to save it to use as a crib whenever we have another one since it's been recalled as a crib twice already. BTW, do you guys do AP?