Must Haves in Toddler Bedrooms—and a VERY awesome coupon code!

So today, for Where To Wednesday, we decided to head to some toddler’s bedrooms and discuss what does and does not work for us.  First of all, I have to tell you that my kids’ rooms will win no design award!  I have SO many wonderful ideas on things that I would like to do to their room, but unless I can find some extra spare time to get anything done (you moms know what I’m talking about), I have to be content with what we have!  We actually moved into our house when I was in my third trimester with Andrew and had so many projects to tackle before these rooms—so as much as I love the cozy rooms my boys have, one day I inspire to make them even better!

2.  I LOVE having my kids’ names on the wall—not only does it look cute but it is a great learning tool for children as they get older.  What a great tool to learn all the letters in their name and learn to recognize their name!  I created these myself just with some letters from the craft store and a little craft paint—but there are SO many awesome places to purchase these as well!

3.  I love making my boys a cozy sleeping spot!  Aiden switched to a bed when he was 21 months—and despite his young age actually went through the transition quite well.  His bed is a twin-sized bed from Ikea which is a little lower to the ground than most other twin beds but perfect for this age.  He is very small for his age so I was a little nervous about putting him in a bed that was higher off the ground, but we LOVE this one.  He sleeps with all his favorite stuffed animals and his quilt which was handmade by myself, but don’t look too closely because there are imperfections!  We are working on the morning chore of making his bed every day–he is at the perfect age for just starting to learn.  Andrew is still in a crib, and although we switched Aiden at this age out of necessity for the crib, I definitely am not ready for him to move to a bed.  He is a great sleeper (knock on wood) and as long as he has two dog lovies and his blanket, he sleeps like an angel!

4.  And of course, there must be a place to store all the toddler clothes!  Both of them have a dresser from Ikea (love that store!).  Aiden’s dresser matches his bed, hence the reason we bought it.  All his clothes are accessible to him—which is great because he can dress himself, but also not so great if you are a Type A mom who likes to keep straightened drawers!  I have learned to let loose about certain things as my kids are getting older–I only straighten the drawers when laundry goes in about once a week, other than that I ignore the fact that there are shorts and shirts jammed back into the wrong drawers!  Aiden started dressing himself over a year ago—and I think one reason why is because we gave him free reign to his dresser.  Pants/shorts are in the bottom drawer, shirts are in the middle drawer, and then I love having the baskets.  These store socks, underwear, swimsuits, and a few out of season shirts for unseasonable days!  Andrew’s dresser is also sorted similar and thankfully, he doesn’t have the desire to turn his dresser into a tornado so it stays neat and tidy!

5.  Last, my boys have a few toys in their room!  We don’t spend a lot of time upstairs as it is just the three bedrooms, but I find it useful to have respective toys in each room for times when I’m doing chores upstairs or getting ready for the day.  We also spend a few moments upstairs before/after sleep time and right before bed.  This is also a great place for the boys to head when they want some alone time.  Eighty percent of the time when we arrive home from a morning of preschool/errands/or playmates, Aiden heads to his room for some down time before lunch.  And if you have had a 3 1/2 year old, I’m sure you have dealt with some bedtime battles (could be a post in itself, right?!).  Our rule is that you can play/read in your room as long as you are quiet until you go to sleep after we do our bedtime routine.  Aiden loves to create roads, play “Toy Story”, etc. during this time!

6.  And I have to share one of my most favorite things in Aiden’s room that is a MUST in this house!  We have the American Innovative Teach Me Time! Talking Alarm Clock and Nightlight.  It was a LIFE CHANGER!  You set the time when it turns to green in the morning and teach your child not to get out bed until then.  We purchased this when Aiden was between 2-2 1/2 and it really did save our life!  He was up at 5 am for awhile there and we had to do something, especially as Andrew was a nursing infant and we were TWO exhausted parents.  It really did work it’s magic (with a few tears to help teach the lesson!)—and we still use it to this day.  We have it set now for 7 am.  He is usually awake between 6:00-6:30, but plays quietly in his room until his clock turns green and busts into our room to tell me that his clock is green and it is time to get up!  Also, if you push the little feet on the bottom, it will tell you the time, a great learning tool for children.