Floor Bed for 1 Year Old: Cot, Floor Bed or Mini House Bed?

At one year old, most children still sleep happily and safely in their cot, with the base on its lowest setting. A floor bed for 1 year old children – a low bed with fall guards instead of high cot sides – makes sense once your child walks confidently, climbs over the cot rails or insists on getting in and out alone. A Mini house bed sitting directly on the floor is usually the next step around the second birthday.

Cot or floor bed: what suits a child of 12 to 18 months?

Around the first birthday there are three realistic options. None of them is right for every child. What matters is not the number of candles on the cake, but what your child can already do and how they sleep.

Option	Suits you if …	Keep in mind
Cot on the lowest setting	your child sleeps well and doesn’t climb	becomes a risk once they climb over
Floor bed with fall guards	your child walks well and wants to get up alone	the room must be childproofed
Mini house bed at floor level	your child is around 2 years old	we recommend it from about age 2

Many parents start asking because the cot suddenly looks “too small”. More often it isn’t the size at all – your child simply wants more independence. The signs in the next section help you decide.

How do you know your child is ready to move out of the cot?

A move makes sense if one of these signs applies:

1. Your child climbs over the cot sides or puts a foot on the top rail. This is the most important signal: a fall over the rail is more dangerous than rolling out of a bed at floor level.
2. They stand up in the cot and call for you because they can’t get out – and then struggle to settle again.
3. They keep bumping into the bars at night or sleep sideways, because a 60×120 cm cot mattress is getting cramped.
4. A new baby is on the way and needs the cot. Plan the move a few weeks before the birth, so your older child doesn’t feel pushed out.

If none of these applies, there is no reason to rush. Many children sleep well in their cot until their second or even third birthday.

Option 1: lower the cot base – when that is still enough

Most cots and cot beds have a height-adjustable base. As soon as your child pulls themselves up to stand, it belongs on the lowest setting, so the top rail sits as high above the mattress as possible. On our VERA Cot Bed, the lowest of the three positions is designed exactly for children who are starting to sit up and stand.

A cot bed with removable bars is a good in-between step: you open one side and your child can climb in and out alone during the day. The convertible NOVA 7-in-1 Cot Bed in beech wood, for example, later becomes a bed with a side opening and then a larger children’s bed.

Stay with the cot if your child sleeps well, doesn’t climb and you aren’t ready to childproof the whole room yet. You aren’t doing anything wrong.

Option 2: is a floor bed safe for a 1 year old?

A floor bed (often called a Montessori bed) sits directly or almost directly on the floor. Your child can get in and out on their own and learns early on that the bed is their own place. For this to work well at one year old, these conditions should be in place:

• Your child walks confidently or deliberately crawls out of bed backwards.
• The bed has fall guards along the sides – with one opening for getting in and out.
• The sleeping surface is firm: a firm, flat children’s mattress, no pillow, no thick sheepskins.
• The whole room is childproofed, because your child can now get up alone at night (see the checklist below).

Our Montessori beds TEO and MILO are built for exactly this: a 90×190 cm sleeping area, only 1–2 cm floor clearance, 55 cm high barriers with 5 cm slat spacing and one open side for getting in. MILO has round slats. Both are made from pine wood and are part of our First Toddler Beds range.

Expect your child to get up at night and play in the room for the first few weeks. That is normal and usually settles down. A calm, consistent bedtime routine helps more than a new bed on its own.

Option 3: a Mini house bed – the step around the second birthday

A Mini house bed sits on the floor just like a floor bed (0 cm height), but it has a wooden roof frame and a fall guard that you fit on the left or right and can remove later. For many children it becomes a little den they love going to sleep in.

We recommend our Mini beds, such as the LUNA Mini or the LUMINA Mini, as a first bed for children aged roughly 2 to 5. For a one-year-old, a toddler bed with barriers on several sides is often the better choice. If you would like to buy the house bed now, pay particular attention to the fall guard and to a childproofed room. The slatted base of the Mini beds carries up to 190 kg – enough for you to lie down beside your child at bedtime.

You will find more models among our House Beds. If you want to combine size, colour and fall guard yourself, you can see your bed from every side in the 3D configurator.

What size bed for a 1 year old: 70×140 or straight to 90×200?

In the UK, 70×140 is the classic cot bed and toddler bed size. It is smaller and takes up less space, but many children outgrow it at around four or five, and then you buy a second bed. With 90×190 or 90×200 you have a bed that lasts into the school years and beyond.

• 90×190 is the UK single size and fits smaller bedrooms well – our Montessori beds TEO and MILO have this sleeping area.
• 90×200 is the European single: 10 cm longer, so check that mattress protectors and fitted sheets are labelled 90×200. It is the most popular size at Little Loft.
• 140×200 is worth it if you regularly lie down with your child at bedtime. Read more in our guide Double Floor Bed for Kids: Who a 140×200 Bed Is Really For.

For a one-year-old, the mattress matters more than the width: firm and flat rather than soft, and a snug fit with no gaps at the sides. You can find a selection among our children’s mattresses.

Checklist: how to childproof your toddler’s bedroom

As soon as your child can get out of bed alone at night, the whole room becomes part of their sleeping space. The best way to check it is on your knees, at your child’s eye level:

• Fit window restrictors and don’t place the bed directly under a window.
• Anchor chests of drawers, shelves and wardrobes to the wall so nothing can tip over.
• Keep cables, blind cords and curtain cords well out of reach.
• No small objects, coins or button batteries on the floor or within reach.
• Fit a stair gate at the top of the stairs or across the bedroom door if your child shouldn’t wander the house at night.
• Keep the room at around 16–20 °C and use a baby sleeping bag instead of a duvet.
• Put a soft rug in front of the bed for the first few nights.

RoSPA’s advice on preventing accidents to children at home covers window restrictors, stair gates and anchoring furniture in more detail. For the sleeping place itself, the familiar rules still apply: The Lullaby Trust recommends a firm, flat mattress, no pillows or bumpers and a baby sleeping bag (The Lullaby Trust: safer sleep advice). If you have questions about your child’s sleep, your health visitor is a good person to ask.

Verdict: a floor bed for your 1 year old – switch now or wait?

If your child sleeps well and doesn’t climb, there’s no hurry: stay with the cot on its lowest setting. If they climb over the sides or really want to get into bed on their own, a floor bed with fall guards in a childproofed room is the safer choice. A Mini house bed is the lovely next step around the second birthday.

Not sure which model suits your child? Our Bed Advisor guides you to the right bed in a few questions – or you can design it yourself in the 3D configurator.

Frequently asked questions about a floor bed for a 1 year old