Categories: Parenting

Review of The Little Tykes Roadster Toddler Bed

My son started out life a skinny 5 pound boy. Less than a year later he had chunked right up to 22 pounds and was 31 inches tall. My son seems to have a build on him similar to a football player and it became obvious that he was going to need to be moved to a bigger bed and fast. I always thought the Little Tykes Roadster bed’ were cool, however at a retail price of almost $200.00 that was far out of my price range. There are so many options for toddler beds as well as beds that come with safety rails that I really did not know where to turn. I had been out shopping at the community yard sales in Holiday Shores Illinois when I drove past a Little Tykes Roadster race car bed that caught my eye. I continued driving and hitting some of the other sales. I kept thinking about the race car bed and decided if I drove by and it was there I would go ahead and buy it.

I was extremely fortunate and found the Little Tykes bed was still there and talked the folks down to $30.00. The bed was already assembled so I did not have to worry about assembly. I did however find that the bed will fit in the back of a mini van with the back seats down. The dimensions of the bed are 68″L x 40.50″D x 20″H. The Roadster also weighs about 62 pounds. This is great as it does not take up a lot of room.

I knew from previously shopping around for this bed that I would need to furnish plywood to use as a support. This is the one feature on the Little Tykes Roadster bed that I am not a fan of.I feel for the price of the race car bed Little Tykes should include a bunkie board. I did buy this bed at a yard sale so I did not have the same expectations as I would have when buying it new. I put a piece of plywood down, with a sheet over it to prevent splinters. I also discovered that even though the bed claims to fit well with a standard crib mattress there were still gaps between the mattress and the side of the bed. A few blankets and towels covers this in nicely.

My son loved his bed from the start. He was able to sleep in it all by himself from the first night. The only problem we have had is, my son tosses and turns so much at night that he kept falling out of the bed. The Little Tykes Roadster is close enough to the ground where this really isn’t a issue of safety as much as it is a hassle of him waking. We removed the plywood support and placed the mattress into the bed and it sits on the floor. I wasn’t real crazy about his mattress being on the floor but this has worked better for us. I have found the mattress fits much better this way and he no longer rolls out of bed. I would suggest using this method to anyone who is putting a younger child in there or to anyone with a child who moves a lot during the night.

Overall I think the Little Tykes Roadster Toddler bed is a great first bed. It is very durable and my son has a blast playing with the wheels. I have noticed that the price has came down in retail stores and is now roughly $150.00. I do suggest when buying the bed to buy directly from the store to avoid a rather hefty shipping fee that is incurred when purchasing the bed online. The Roadster also comes with cool stickers so even Moms and Dads can have fun as well decorating the bed.