DIY: Montessori Toddler Floor Bed with Free Plan

Because Oskar was a ‘wild’ sleeper and constantly woke himself up by bumping into the bars of his crib, I started searching for a toddler floor bed where he would have more freedom of movement. That’s how I ended up finding the idea for this Montessori floor bed after a search on the internet.

Update April 2024: Simon is almost 2 years old now, and there’s a little brother or sister on the way. That’s why we also made a Montessori bed for Simon. The boys now sleep happily together in one room, and so far, it’s going well!

Of course, you can buy a Montessori floor bed, but Tom and I thought it would be fun to design and make the bed ourselves. By studying the beds online, I drew up a design that was precisely tailored to fit this IKEA slatted base and mattress.

This mattress and slatted base might be a bit much for young children, but we bought them with the future in mind and hope that Oskar and Simon will be able to use them for many years to come.

The result is impressive! We are quite proud of our first DIY project. I find that making the bed ourselves gives us so much more satisfaction than buying it, so we intend to do several more DIY projects.

Check my free manual below so you can make this bed yourself!

What or Who is Montessori?

To explain what a Montessori bed is, it might be better to explain who Montessori is, or rather, who Dr. Maria Montessori was. When people talk about Montessori or the Montessori method of education, they are referring to the method developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian educator and physician who founded the well-known Montessori school.

What is The Montessori Method?

The Montessori method focuses on a child’s natural urge for self-development. In the child’s environment, both in upbringing and education, it should be made possible for the child to develop themselves.

Montessori Floor Bed

How does a DIY Montessori floor bed frame fit within this method? A Montessori floor bed is designed so that the child can go to bed independently. In general, it is a low bed, with or without a frame of bars. You have all sorts of floor beds on the internet. A simple floor bed with only a slat beneath a mattress or Montessori floor house bed frames like this one, and all sorts of other beds in between! 

Although I loved the Montessori house bed, I don’t think Tom and I have the skills to make such a bed ourselves. That’s why we decided to make a floor bed with a partial frame and an open section. With this bed, there still are some bed rails, but the open section on the side panel gives our boys the independence that makes a bed a Montessori-style bed. In short, Oskar and Simon can go to bed by themselves. In the beginning, we used to put a lot of cushions here to prevent them from rolling out of bed at night. 

Our Montessori bed consists of a slatted base, mattress, and wooden frame with side rails. You can easily change the dimensions of the bed so you can, for instance, make the bed fit a twin-size mattress, make a double, or even make a smaller size so you can fit a crib mattress in the bed.

How to Make the Montessori Toddler Bed?

Before buying and sawing the wooden beams, measure how large you want to make the bed. We used the following dimensions:

• A slatted base (IKEA) of 38″ x 75″
• The frame 51″ x 81″ x 22″ (outer dimensions), 38″ x 75″ x 22″ (inner dimensions)
• We left about 3″ of space between the beams.

We had the beams cut to size at the hardware store, but you can, of course, do this yourself. We were actually planning to save costs by sawing the beams ourselves. Since I hadn’t checked beforehand whether the wooden beams would fit in the car (oops), we were glad that the hardware store could do this for us free of charge!

At home, we sanded the beams so the boys wouldn’t get splinters. You can also paint the beams in a fun color if you like.

How Do We Like This Montessori Bed?

We’ve been using the bed for two years now. Oskar sleeps through the night now! In the beginning, the transition from cozying up between mom and dad to having his own room plus a big bed might have been a bit challenging. Fortunately, he immediately slept through the night but had some trouble falling asleep.

Fortunately, the Montessori bed is so big that I can lie in bed with Oskar and breastfeed him a little before he falls asleep peacefully. After a few days, Tom was also allowed to put Oskar to bed again (with the help of a bedtime story or singing a few songs), and after a few months, holding hands was enough.

The Second Montessori Bed

Now that Oskar and Simon are sleeping in the same room, each with their own bed, Oskar is fine with being a big brother. We can cuddle Simon for a bit longer, and Oskar chats for a bit before he falls asleep wonderfully by himself (!!). Sleeping has been a bit of a challenge, so we’re very happy that we’ve finally reached this point.

Because the boys sleep in the same room, we made the beds so that the openings of the beds face each other. Oskar’s bed has an opening on the right side, and Simon’s bed has an opening on the left side.

Simon still has to get used to his new bed; he still has a pile of pillows in front of the opening of his bed. If you don’t want to use a pile of pillows, placing soft rugs or something like that will be a good idea. If your child rolls out of the bed they will have a soft landing!

In short, we are completely in love with this bed!

Are you planning to make this bed, or have you already made it? Let me know below, I’m curious about how you like the bed!